How can your website speed improve SEO? The 10 point checklist
There are no two ways around it; your website speed is fundamental if you want to improve your SEO. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with our ultimate 10…
In today’s SEO Support Series installment, we’re talking all about Metadata.
Metadata can feel like a bit of an alien concept… because you can’t see it, yet it is so important. Which is why we thought it would be a valuable addition to this series.
Metadata refers to the HTML elements working behind the scenes within your website content; these elements connect the information on your site to search engines, clarifying its relevance and core points for search engines.
Basically? It helps get you seen.
In fact, your metadata drives your search engine optimisation. Without it, you’re going to seriously struggle to show search engines that your content is actually relevant. And if they don’t think it’s relevant? They simply won’t promote (or prioritise) it.
This is where things get a tad more complicated; there are several different types of metadata when it comes to SEO. These snippets of code each have a different purpose and must be utilised in different ways.
Whether you’re navigating your SEO on your own or working with a developer, it’s crucial to have a handle on what the varied terminology actually means.
Before we get into the nitty gritty, here are the types of metadata that we will be exploring today:
These will provide a strong starting point for using these small pieces of data to maximise your big data: aka, your wonderful website.
So, if you’re ready, grab a cuppa and a notebook… let’s begin!
Meta tags are a great place to start as they’re a useful overarching starting point.
Often, you will hear metadata referred to as meta tags; however, while meta tags ARE metadata, not all of metadata is a meta tag.
These tags can be broken down into smaller, more tailored sections.
To start off with, are the meta keywords. There’s a lot of debate about the importance of meta keywords (and note that these are different from the keywords you should be using throughout your content), as search engines have savvied up to meta keyword stuffing in recent years.
If you are going to use them, make sure they are RELEVANT. If you can get them right – and use them in a subtle way – they can still help to boost your SEO. And after all, a small impact is still an impact!
Next, you have the meta description. You may see this used as the descriptive block of text displayed in the search result listing. The meta description should clearly explain the contents of the page, including your main keyword or key phrase, with a call to action in less than 160 characters.
You should view your meta description as your opportunity to entice readers to click the link. While they aren’t used as a ranking signal, they are a vital way to influence your click through rate.
To amp up your site visibility, you can also use meta headline tags: these are marked from h1 to h6, and highlight the importance of the individual sections of your content. For example, the h1 tag would most often be used for a title or headline, and a h2 would mark out the subheadings to separate your content.
These should be used to draw attention to your key phrases, and show search engines what you deem as the most crucial takeaways for your content.
Finally, are the meta robots. And no – this isn’t some sci-fi addition to your guidelines.
The robots meta tag tells search engines which pages across your site need to be indexed. You might want to use this if your website includes pages that are necessary, but pretty thin on the content side.
The tag tells crawlers not to index and follow certain pages and, rather, process the page the way you want them to. This one is more complicated in terms of coding, but if you’re working with a developer it’s worthwhile knowing what it means if they mention it.
Title tags are perhaps the most important piece of metadata on a page. It’s also the first impression that you’re sending out into the world for your content; so it’s crucial that you get it right.
Your CMS will most likely generate the title tag or you based on the title and headline you create.
While your CMS will do the technical work, you need to get the title right in the first place.
A few tips on how to perfect your title tag include:
Without an adequate title tag, search engines will have no idea what your page is even about. Plus, your readers are going to be left in the dark.
Spend time making sure your title tags tick all the boxes; they really are the lifeblood of your website.
To close, you have alt attributes: this is your tool for maximising your SEO reach, but this time through visual content.
If you’re including images on your site (and if not, why not?!), you should make all of your images accessible to search engines as well as people. This is where alt text comes in: it is a text alternative to images. This alt text will be shown if an image cannot load (if the user’s internet speed is slow or they have disabled images), or it will be read by a screen reader for those with accessibility issues. Plus, it tells search engines precisely what the image shows and represents.
Search engines like this; it shows you’re the extra mile to make their lives easier. It can be tough for a search engine to figure out the content of an image, and so they really rely on these alt attributes. For Google Image Search, they even show the alt description to the user.
Finding the sweet spot between user experience and search engine capabilities is #1 for SEO; for that reason, your alt attributes are well worth the time it takes to fill them in.
Your metadata strategy can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be… but, if you want to put your site SEO first, it is something you need to explore!
For a more personalised, in-depth look at your SEO strategy, get in touch with a member of the Littlebigbox team.
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