What are ALT Tags?
ALT tags are HTML attributes which are also known as “alt attribute or “alt description”.
An alt tag is used on images to provide the textual version of images for search engines. Search engines cannot interpret images and hence cannot rank websites accordingly. ALT tags provide text according to the images which can be read by the search engines and hence rank them more effectively. ALT tags are very beneficial for visually impaired users who use screen readers when they are browsing
How To Use ALT Tags?
ALT tags should be image specific but also relevant to the general idea of the webpage so that it can help in the SEO.
Given below are few tips on how to use alt tags:
- Describe the image in a specific manner.
- Keep your alt tag text less than or up to 125 characters
- Do not use words like “Image of” or “Picture of” since the search engines can detect the image.
- Use your keywords but don’t overuse them. You can use relevant keywords according to the image but using your target keyword in every image is a strict no.
How To Optimize Images for Search Engine?
- Optimizing images is an important factor for overall search engine optimization. It is important to use relevant images that should match to your content.
- The file format also plays a crucial role as the search engines prefer high quality content and high-resolution images. JPEG or PNG is the best file format one can use.
- Optimize your images further by reducing their size by using any of the online tools available. Use the images of 100 KB so
- A concise caption with relevant keywords for the image can help boost your ranking further. Not writing a caption can be a missed opportunity in terms of SEO and also user experience.
- Alt tags help your images to be read in text format. This can help people understand your content better. Web crawlers understand your images better and can boost your search rankings. They enhance user experience and also help in SEO.
Syntax of the Image: <img src=”https://learnimtactics.com/wp content/uploads/2018/12/me.jpg” alt=”LearnImtactics”>
Where to Use Heading Tags?
HTML has 6 levels of headings from H1 to H6. These tags form a top to bottom hierarchy and are used to understand the structure of a page better. H1 is the most important and h6 is the least important. Any number of heading tags can be used on a page. But if you use h3 tag directly after a h1 tag, you will break the hierarchy and that means the page structure is not SEO friendly. Ideally, you must not break the hierarchy of the heading tags on your web page to make it SEO friendly.
Some tips on how to use heading tags are given below:
- Use <h1> for the top-most heading. It should be used a single time to maintain its importance and relevance. Optimize the core or most relevant keyword in the H1 tag relevant to the page content.
- H2 is generally used for page sections and can be used multiple times. You can optimize here 2nd preority keywords in oragnic manners not just like stuffing.
- H3 is used for links or other important relevant sources.
- Do not stuff your heading tags with keywords. This makes it irrelevant.
- Heading tags should not be used as hidden text.
Why to Use Heading Tags?
Header tags provide a defined structure and makes the page more readable. Google and other search engines give more weightage to the HTML header tags than the text on the page. Here you can use your target keywords in the heading tags to boost your website rankings in the search engine.
What is Internal Linking?
An internal link refers to link from one page to another page within the same domain. Navigation of webpages in a website is an example of internal linking. But internal linking more specifically refers to links in the content and pages of the website.
How Internal Linking Helps in SEO?
Internal linking primarily aids in website navigation. It defines the architecture and hierarchy of the website and distributed the page authority throughout the webpages of the website. It is a free and fast process. It can have a huge impact on your website ranking and traffic.
Some pages of a website have more “authority” and “credibility” than others. When these pages have links to other pages of the website, it automatically adds authority and credibility to those pages. A website’s homepage is the best example of this. All the links on this page to other pages will pass on more SEO value and authority than any other page. When the authority of a page increases, it ranks better in search rankings and hence helps in SEO a lot.
How To Use Internal Links?
Total number of links on a page should not exceed 100 in any case. It should vary between 75 to 100 for optimum results. It is important to add links only where it might be helpful to the reader. If a link is irrelevant, then it is best to not add it.
An HTML internal link can have an absolute or a relative path. An internal link name is followed by a (#) sign. The <a> tag is used for anchor point name which is an internal link on the same page. Use descriptive keywords in anchor text can help the user have a sense of the topic they are navigating to.
Example: Syntax for set up an link <a href=”https://learnimtactics.com/seo-friendly-url-structure-beginner-guide/“>Beginner Guide for SEO Friendly Urls</a>
Using ALT Tag, Heading Tags and Internal Linking Effectively
If you have a target keyword, you need to optimize it for effective results. The keyword should obviously be used in the content of your website, but that is not enough. It needs to be highlighted adequately throughout your website.
ALT tags, heading tags and internal links are some of the best and most catchy places in your website where you can highlight your keyword according to the relevance. The search engines will crawl your website for the searched keyword and will find it in the heading, in the image text and also in internal links. These three aspects practically constitute the basic structure of your website. This will help in displaying your website in the top search results. Using ALT tag, heading tags, image optimization and internal linking effectively on your website can boost the keyword ranking and help in creating organic traffic for your website.
Conclusion
It might be a tough job to climb to the top of search results in today’s competitive internet era. A business cannot survive online without generating good traffic and top ranking in the search results. But with effective methods and focus on detailing, you will soon bear the fruits of good traffic and better ranking. Each and every aspect of your website is important, including image optimization or even HTML tags. Attention to these details can give your website the extra spark to outdo the competition and improve your ranking.
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