# Search Engine Optimization (SEO) A helpful checklist / collection of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips and technics. ## Table of Contents * [URL](#url) * [Title](#title) * [Keywords](#keywords) * [Description](#description) * [Content](#content) * [Images](#images) * [Links](#links) * [Social Media](#social-media) * [Sitemap](#sitemap) * [Errors and access](#errors-and-access) * [Performance](#performance) * [UX](#ux) * [Mobile](#mobile) * [Validation and accessibility](#Vvlidation-and-accessibility) * [Search](#search) * [Analytics](#analytics) * [Tools](#tools) ### URL * Descriptive URLs: use a descriptive page url, which should reflect your targeted keyword * Subdomain or subfolder: subdomains are seen as separate domains * Hyphans: split words using hyphans * www or no-www: provide both domains, but set a prefered version in Google Webmaster Tools * Localisation: chookse a country-specific domain, for better local search results * [HTTPS](http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.be/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal.html): Security is a top priority for Google ### Title * every page shound have a unique speaking title (60 - 100 characters) ``` Website Title goes here ``` ### Keywords * Single: every page shound have a single unique targeted keyword * Research: rank for keywords with high traffic and less competition * URL: Keyword should appear in URL name * Title: Keyword should appear in page title * Heading: Keyword should appear in headings * Content: Keyword should apear in ~3% of article length * [Meta Tag](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK7IPbnmvVU): You can ommit the ``, search engines do not use this meta tag ### Description * every page shound have a unique description * max. 160 characters ``` ``` ### Content * Content: Content matters the most in SEO * Headings: Clear structure `H1` -` H6` max. 70 characters long * Strong: use `strong` tag to highlight your targeted keyword * Unique: do not provide duplicated content, use unique content types * Length: article should be at least 300 words * Freshness: new content is important. Updating pages or regulary posting is recommended ### Images * File name: use a short descriptive name * Alt tag: add an alt-tag this a description of the image (60 - 70 characters) * Dimentions: add the `width=""` and `height=""` attributes to the image * [Responsive Images](http://www.w3.org/TR/html-picture-element/): serve the most optimized image corresponding to the window size * Size: keep the filesize as low as possible * [Optimization](https://imageoptim.com/): Optimize images by removing some meta information ### Links * add meaningful title * Only add external links if you got a backlink to your site * add `rel="nofollow"` attribute to external links * add ~ 3 internal links to your content ### Social Media * Social link rank up your site * use social snippets [OpenGraph](http://ogp.me/), [Facebook](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/best-practices), [Twitter](https://dev.twitter.com/cards/getting-started) * Authorship information `` `Google` * [social profiles](https://developers.google.com/webmasters/structured-data/customize/social-profiles) ``` Facebook Twitter ``` ### Sitemap * HTML sitemap: An HTML sitemap allows site visitors to easily navigate a website. * [XML sitemap](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/183668): Help search engines to index your pages * [Image sitemap](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/178636): Increase that your images can be found in Image Search results * [Video sitemap](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/80471): Make sure, search engines know about all the video content on your site * [Mobile sitemap](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6082207): For feature phones, you can create a mobile sitemap ### Errors and access * provide 403 - Acced denied page * provide 404 - Page not found page * add a `robots.txt` file * Avoid `FILE_NOT_FOUND` errors ### Performance * Performance and loading time matters * only serve concatenated and minified files * if possible no redirects * compress images ([ImageOptim](https://imageoptim.com/)) ### UX * User friendly site * clickable links should not be too small ### Mobile * add viewport tag ``` ``` * create a mobile-friendly site ([shown in search results](http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.be/2014/11/helping-users-find-mobile-friendly-pages.html)) * [Mobile-Friendly Test](https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/) * [AppLinks](http://applinks.org/documentation/) ### Validation and accessibility * Write valid markup ([HTML Validator](http://validator.w3.org/) [CSS Validator](http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/)) * use [WAI-Aria](http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/) tags * use [RichSnippets](http://schema.org/) ### Search * [Provide a custom search](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/) ([schema.org/SearchAction](http://schema.org/SearchAction), [RichSnippet](https://developers.google.com/webmasters/richsnippets/sitelinkssearch?utm_source=wmc-blog&utm_medium=direct-referral&utm_campaign=sitelinks-searchbox)) ### Analytics * [Google Analytics](http://www.google.com/analytics/) * [Piwik](http://piwik.org/) * [Yahoo Web Analytics]( (web.analytics.yahoo.com)) ### Tools * [Google Webmasters](https://www.google.com/webmasters/) * [Bing Webmasters](http://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmaster) * [PageSpeed Insights](https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/) * [AdWords Keyword Tool](https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner) * [Google Trends](http://www.google.com/trends/) * [Structured Data Testing Tool](http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets) * [Structured Data Testing Tool](https://developers.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool/) * [Google+ Snippet Creator](https://developers.google.com/+/web/snippet/) * [seo tool by feedthebot](http://www.feedthebot.com/tools/) * [Twitter card validator](https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator) * [Facebook Debugger](https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug)