HTML tags for search engine optimization (SEO)
HTML tags for search engine optimization help to increase the chances of a webpage appearing in search results. These tags help the search engine to find and read the contents of the page and make them available during a search. They also display parts of the webpage that are relevant to the search engine during a search.
HTML tags for search engine optimization
Now we will discuss the semantic HTML tags that help search engine optimization.
1. The <title>tag
The
<title>tag is one of the most important tags on a webpage. It is located at the<head>tag. This is the tag that describes the content of a webpage. The<title>tag helps search keywords to the search engine when a search is made. It is the text that shows up on the tabs of the browser. Check the image illustration below:
The
<title>tag is also used to generate the Search Engine Results Page(SERP). When a search matches the top keywords in the title, that page is likely to appear on the search results. Check the image below:
The
<title>tag is placed at the<head>tag when coding a webpage. Check the code snippet below:
<html><head><title>HTML tags for search engine optimization</title></head><body><div id="content"/></body></html>
2. The <meta description>tags:
The
<meta description>tag is used to give the page more description. It describes in few words what the reader can expect to see on the page. If the right keywords are present in the<meta description>tag and they correspond with the title of the page, then there is a high chance of ranking in SERP. On the SERP, the<meta description>appears immediately after the title. Check the image below:
In your HTML code, this
<meta tag>is also placed at the<head>. Check the HTML code below:
<html><head><meta description="name" content="Html tags that helps search engine optimization and ranks your page among the search engine results pages" /></head><body><div id="content"/></body></html>
3. The <h1> to <h6>heading tags
The
headingtags are used to structure the contents of the page. They place the contents in a hierarchy or order of importance. These headings, when properly used, help the search engine and human readers make meaning out of your page. Instead of using a bunch of divs try to use headings.In a webpage, your
<h1>should be one. Then the subheadings are placed in<h2>. Each<h2>will now have<h3>and so on. When your headings are properly written, the search engine can present different parts of your page in search results. Thereby, generating traffic.The headings are written in the
<body>tag. Check the code snippet below:
<html><head></head><body><h1>HTML tags for search engine optimization</h1><h2>What is html?</h2><h3>What tags make up HTML?</h3><h3>Examples of semantic tags</h3><h3>Examples of non-semantic HTML</h3><h2>What is search engine optimization?</h2><h3>Does SEO matter?</h3><h3>Tools to help SEO</h3><h3>Why you cannot do without SEO</h3><h2>...</h2><h3>...</h3><h4>...</h4><h3>...</h3><h4>...</h4><h3>...</h3><h4>...</h4></body></html>
4. The image alt attribute
The
alt(alternative) attribute is used to describe the images in a webpage. The alt is important for screen readers and when the page is unable to load properly. The search engine equally uses it for indexing during search results.When a search is made, the images on the webpage are found under the images category. These attributes help the ranking of your webpage. The image title and alt attributes are placed within an
<img>tag in the<body>tag. The alt is usually descriptive. Check the code snippet below:
<html><head></head><body><img src="./webpage.jpg" title="webpage image" alt="an image of a webpage showing search results"/></body></html>
5. The no-follow link attribute
A
no-followtag is an attribute that tells the search engine not to count points for the inbound links on the page. This is to help stop spammers from posting irrelevant links just to get SERP point. Simply add ano-followattribute to the inbound links. Check the code below:
<html><head></head><body><a href=”http://www.siteexample.com/” rel=”nofollow”>Link Text</a></body></html>
6. The anchor <a> tag text
The anchor tag text is the text added to a link to describe what the link is about. It is good for SEO because it helps the search engine recognize what the link is about. Check the code snippet below:
<html><head></head><body><a href="http://examplewebsite.com/" rel="nofollow">your anchor text</a></body></html>
7. The canonical tag
The
canonicaltag helps to tell the search engine to rank the page where this tag is placed as the primary page from all look-alike pages.
<html><head></head><body><link rel="canonical" href="https://examplewebsite.com/"></body></html>
Conclusion
Using HTML tags that are SEO friendly helps your page rank more on SERP. I will advise you not to take them for granted even if you have placed your page on adverts. Hope this article has been helpful.
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