What are a website’s SEO tags? Learn the key points

Do you need to improve your website’s positioning? If so, you’ll want to know what SEO tags are and all the key points for optimising them.

META tags are essential for optimising your website. These parameters are used to describe your page and to transmit information about it to search engines, so that they can sort and display the results.

That’s why they are so important. If your site’s meta tags are well optimised you will get your website positioned among the top results from Google, Bing or any other search engine. They are the basic gears in the SEO machinery that it needs to operate properly.

What are the tags that we must optimise to enhance the SEO of a website?

There are two main tags that, although they will not be visible from the page itself, are key to positioning correctly in Google: the label title and the description.

The title tag

The title is the most important SEO tag to consider for optimising your SEO On Page. It is one of the most significant factors that Google takes into account to establish what the subject matter of a website is, so it is fundamental when it comes to positioning. The title is what shows in the window or tab of a browser and in the search results.

Tips for well-optimised titles:

• Each title on each page of your website must be different.
• You must include the keyword on the basis of which we are optimising the site, and which we will already have determined by doing keyword research. The positioning work will be done with that keyword. As with the title, you have to keep in mind that it must be a different keyword for each of the pages that make up the website.
• It should not exceed 70 characters, as if it is longer it will appear in a shortened form.
• It must be natural and descriptive regarding the content of the page. You shouldn’t have to twist things around too much just to insert the keyword “with footwear”, for example.
• Keywords shouldn’t be abused. This can cause Google to apply penalties, as well as to incur the user’s distrust.
• If the brand or name of the website is included, it is advisable to put it at the end, separated from the keywords with a hyphen or vertical bar. For example, a title could be: “Old and second-hand books. The Best Prices | Cervantes Bookstore “

The meta description

Users view this SEO tag as the page summary, so it should be written in such a way that it is attractive and inviting, and includes some kind of a call to action. This description can therefore be decisive as regards the click-through-rate. Although it is not a critical factor in the positioning of a website, the fact that it directly affects the click-through-rate means that it does have a great influence over it.

As with the title, this tag is not displayed in the visible content, but in the search results under the title.

In this example we can see how the title would look (the upper heading in blue) and the description (in black)

This SEO tag often generates a bit of controversy. The reason for this is that sometimes Google ignores the meta description and shows some of the text from your site in the results, if it believes it may be more suitable for the visitor.

Tips for optimising the meta description well:

• They must be realistic descriptions, which summarise what the person will actually find when entering the page. If this is not the case, it will have a negative impact on the rebound percentage.
• We will have to create a striking description to get a Click before other better positioned results. A call to action can be included to encourage users. This will improve the CTR.
• You must include the keyword or keywords for which we are optimising the page, but always in a natural manner.
• These should ideally be between 150 – 155 characters. Never more than 160, as Google will cut the length of the description.
• It is important not to duplicate the meta descriptions (the same as with the title). You have to use a different one for each of the pages that form the website.

Other types of SEO tags

In addition to the title and description, we also have to take the headers into account. These elements are one of the ways in which Google and those who visit your website are informed about the content and the subject of the pages that go to make it up.  Moreover, they are also very important to giving a good informational structure.

In case you are not clear about what headers are, you have them easily visible in any text editor. When you are setting up your website and enter the title of a section, or a section in a blog article, you can indicate if it is header 1, header 2, header 3 and so on. Depending on the header you specify, you usually change the text format (header 1 will be larger than the one that follows it).

Main header (H1)

The header H1 is the most important one for Google and must be unique for each page. You mustn’t confuse it with the title. As indicated, the title is the page summary which primarily optimises the website for search engines. The H1 however, is the first thing a visitor sees when entering a site. It should also be optimised with the keywords, but it may be longer than the title. It is not advisable for it to be identical to the title.

Tips for making the H1 well-optimised:

• It should be as high as possible on the page
• You have to use a single H1 header per page
• You should include the words or keywords in a natural manner, and which are easy to read for visitors to the website.

Secondary headers (H2-H6)

H2 to H6 are useful in helping Google and the other search engines understand the subject matter of the page. These headers also help to improve the reading experience as they organise the content into a hierarchy.

On the other hand, it should be remembered that the inclusion of keywords should not be forced, they should also be coherent.

Image optimisation

In addition to these SEO tags, we will also have to optimise the images on the page. All the images that are part of your website are analysed by Google, so you also have to consider them.

Image title

Before you upload an image you need to change the title so it relates to the page where it will be inserted. For example, if you are uploading an image to a part of your website that sells necklaces, the title of the image could be “long-silver-necklace” You should never upload images with the default name, for example “DC0089”, because it doesn’t contribute anything to the SEO.

Always include the keywords that are working on the page in the image title. You also have to separate each word with hyphens, as shown in the example.

The alternative text

The “alt” SEO tag or alternative text in the images is an important factor for site optimisation. This is the text shown on the website in case the browser is not able to view the image. This label must contain the keywords that define the image’s content which will also contribute to the positioning.

In addition to these two parameters, you also have to take into account the weight and size of the image. The reason for this is that they directly affect the loading speed of your website. A slow website negatively affects the SEO and user experience.