# Quick Start: Guidelines to get started with SEO Onpage - Increase Traffic Advanced SEO tools to boost any shop The [SEO Onpage](https://apps.shopify.com/fastify-seo-all-in-one) app is amazingly simple which requires just a little of your attention. ![Home page](/files/-LsI66Xb0fjM9tYqG4xt) Let's take a look at the Dashboard and learn about the **SEO Onpage** app. Click each feature on the **left toolbar**. ### 1. Audit your store ![Audit your store](/files/-LsIFQQGNP3-rDw5jjhJ) This is the section that you can see an updated Report about the **Key Performance Metrics** of your site. For more details, please refer to this post: [Audit your store](https://help.fastifyapps.com/audit-your-store) ### 2. Keyword explore, research ![Keyword explore, research](/files/-LsIFcsl5JQ2tcoo0EpE) **Keywords** are an important element in SEO. Choosing the optimal keyword will help you **increase your rankings and traffic** from Search Engines. For more details, please refer to this post: [Keyword explore, research](https://help.fastifyapps.com/keyword-explore-research) ### 3. Image ALT Text ALT data helps describe the images in words when people had slow Internet connections and it took a long time for images on web pages to load. Image “*ALT*” information also helps search engines like Google better understand what your images are about. ![UNLIMITED update image ALT Text](/files/-LsIHfqfC7zaJr3GrFUQ) Once loaded, you will see all your images and be able to quickly add alt information. [SEO Onpage](https://apps.shopify.com/fastify-seo-all-in-one) app helps add alt text to all your images within minutes. **Instead of you doing this manually** (which can take hours)- we're going to do this for you automatically with **UNLIMITED images** in a few clicks. Just select the fields you want to set as your tag and be sure to click the "SYNC" button to Sync the alt information for the images. ### 4. Image compression This a free tool to compress images and reduce images’s sizes. It provides 2 image compression types available: **Lossless** and **Lossy** ![Image compression](/files/-LsIMxqL7ghsGUxqlEMB) After reducing image size, **your website speed is improved** and thus contributes to **increasing SEO rank**. And if you don't like it, you can click **Restore** to revert the original images (**We always backup your origin images**) # Audit your store We believe that you have surf experiences on any website to find out information or something and felt annoyed when it loads slowly. Like you, your customers will also decide whether to continue viewing your page or not, depending on a load of speed website: faster or slower. Understanding the importance of metrics, “**Audit your store**” has been integrated with the SEO Onpage app for your convenience. Audit your store will come up with four key fields: performance, accessibility, best practice and SEO of your website in order to analyze the effect of the web and find out the proper solution. ![](/files/-Lt5NwpiEG2UlEpquLU6) Click “Audit your store” will help monitor your website’s performance, collect and analyze performance metrics and insights on best practices. ### 1. Performance We’ll show the metrics of Performance through an image in our shop. ![](/files/-Lt5OF8wB1-1Hi5hqscx) Performance shows metrics by the way of summary and divides into 3 level green, yellow and red. In order to add details of performance, you can click “learn more”. ![](/files/-Lt5QXJltFPii9RZ-qUe) ### 2. Accessibility Google analynist will suggest the issues of accessibility on your page and they show the handout of intructions for your page. ![](/files/-Lt5R2qGh_weBkL8VJr0) ### 3. Best practices ![](/files/-Lt5RDtNFTGJV-UQBTUM) ### 4. SEO The SEO score you have well achieved, the quality of your website will be higher appreciated by Google. ![](/files/-Lt5RRIJE7tjws5fMrX4) # Keyword explore, research “**Explore keywords**” is a tool that generates the most searched keyword list in a given time period: days, months, or years. The " Explore keywords" feature will provide the key that customer search on Google. Therefore; "Explore keywords" will suggest to keywords that customers look for it the most. Click “**Explore keywords”** your screen shows tool background in under image. ![](/files/-LtPvZz9zqIXP7-GlVuL) Like the above image, on November 11, 2019, the first position with a more 50,000 hit search is weather network in Canada. Go to Explore Search Volume, we’ll show you how to find the most keywords people search to support **SEO** for them. ![](/files/-LtPxUvuPd-UJ5pdk4vf) There are four parts of "**Explore search volume**" you can see. **The first** setting is **country** that you can do, you choose where target to customers. eg. Country : Canada. **Second**, you change the **Time:** past 7 days, months or in period of time you want to search. ![](/files/-LtPzbrPbdEzYTC_RfB4) **Third**, you can change **Category** or not. If you aim to field of category, targets more objects correctly. **Fourth**, there are five ways of search in **Type** but I always set "**Web search**" Finally, you click into **enter your keywords** in order to search keywords that are the most traffic and then click **Explore.** **e.g: I have seached keywords "shoes adidas" and then choosing country Canada you want to search. Next, it's time: past day(or 7 days or so on); and category: all category/ fashion/ footwear/.... Type: web search. Finally, you click explore and view the results.** ![](/files/-LtQ32jnOmns9xdgP1nF) ![](/files/-LtQ39gO7zJ9-IiVf5GM) # Image ALT Text Alt text (alternative text) is a description of the images in words and helps your customer understand images when they unable to see it in the case of slow Internet Connection. Using alt text on your images can make for a better user experience and help you enhance SEO image. Along with implementing image title and file naming best practices, including alt text may also contribute to image SEO. Image ALT Text helps you add text under all your images within minutes and our app will update continuously alt text on your images when you click. Go to **Image ALT Text**, fill in **Your settings**: **First**, I recommend that you should click **\[product\_title] \[shop\_name]** to easily follow for vistors. ![](/files/-LtQJa0ShUAqP49PKYGy) **Second,** you choose the other option and click the options you want to. You can the choose all options. ![](/files/-LtQJizONvs-aGmv954y) Finally, you click on **Save template** -> **Sync** to comletely set alt text images. ![](/files/-LtQIGibUM_g4Z8t8890) # Image Compression The feature is compressing all your images which **save 0.65 MB (54.2%) from 1.2 MB to 0.55 MB**. There are three types of images: **Article images, Asset images, Collection images,** and compression types: **Lossy JPEG - PNG.** Our SEO app will provide the fastest speed the page loading right after compressing. In addition, we have more features than other apps about compressing images which are Product image, Collection image, Asset image, Block post image, and Backup image. Once set, you can easily compress these four above features. ![](/files/-LtQQTyzeKzsbe_SYI-A) We guide the setting **Image Compression.** Fistly, you click **Image Compression** on the left the screen. Next, rolling in the mouse go to the **3. Your Setting** -->**Start new optimize.** ![](/files/-LtQRiZMUNn6ZSnPHUIw) Go to **3.1 Setting details** --> Click the one or more options: **Product image, Collection image, Asset image, Block post image** you want to choose. Next, you click ==> **Next step - Choose Compree Type.** ![](/files/-LtQS_ePVng8Y967p_Ht) Then, you choose one of the two **Compression: Lossy or LossLess** ![](/files/-LtQU8lvPoNmUz7SXSEg) The screen shows images preview and you check it. ![](/files/-LtTLUut-lVPmQ_wiNiV) Finally, rolling the mouse and click **Next step Start Compress. Then you completely set up Image Compression.** # JSON - LD **JSON-LD** stands for JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data, which consists of multi-dimensional arrays. **JSON - LD** is the most extensive annotates for the content of page or website and classifies in a unified way for search engines like Google to understand the page content. JSON - LD is associated with creating a more organized, better web overall. **Just click** " **Disable**"==> **Enable**; you completely **add JSON - LD on your site automatically.** ![](/files/-LtYRbJL4dwiP7nPaX66) Then you completely set up it, you can **Check** each feature. ![](/files/-LtYRzz8mPK7_qME3m-c) # SEO Products In order to optimize SEO correctly for product descriptions must include using the right keywords or improving something. This will help search engines understand your pages, which will help internet searchers find what you’re selling. SEO Products help you conduct easily. ### **Step 1:** Click **SEO Products** -->**Search**: Fill a name of product. e.g: On our web site have more products : **adidas** and then I will seach it. ![](/files/-LtogKseJ0roAOwoVWT-) ### **Step2: Click** the product: **Adidas Classics Backpack** Your products will be analyzed discriptions and suggested that you should improve something and list the good parts you have worked on. ![](/files/-LtohQdpD1hT5Tk_wp6Y) ### **Step 3:** There are 3 features you should concern: **URL research, Readability and Focus keywords.** #### **1. URL research:** SEO Experts will show SEO results: improve and good depending on the primary elements: the size of page, The ratio of page content to page code, The size of the page URL, Time used to load the page, and so on... We are show a example for our page. ![](/files/-LtoliA_DGIr_UfaManH) #### **2. Readability** Experts will evaluate for the readability of your website through Flesch Reading Ease; Subheading distribution; Paragraph length; Sentence length; Transition words; Passive voice; Consecutive sentences. You must read the details of SEO EXPERT's Evaluations by the Click to part of evaluation. ![](/files/-LtooWpTErXafgiy3bn7) #### 3. Focus Keywords The function of Focus Keyword is the most important of your web if you know advantages of its. Then fill in "ADIDAS | CLASSIC BACKPACK" and Save and check, the system will be save for the next your check. There are some of analyzations for your website : Title, SEO Title, Description, SEO Description . Click to know additional introductions details. ![](/files/-LtosROktdhlD2dLMRe0) ### Step 4: Mobile Friendly, Page Speed, and Structure Data The functions are Mobile Friendly, Page Speed, and Structure Data which you can click Explore Google. #### 1. Mobile Friendly ![](/files/-LtotukzPh3S807kTQ3a) #### 2. Page Speed ![](/files/-LtouCM_fkhky-rhonWS) #### 3. Structure Data ![](/files/-LtouZGpRWZCep7pE4BQ) # SEO Collections With the same SEO Products, SEO Collections shows the analytics of the SEO experts. Our app will be suggested information about Collection by SEO Experts to help you URL research, analyze of readability and focus keyword for your page. ### Step 1: Fill in name of Collection and Search. ![](/files/-LtslbbkSNCD131-RMAv) ### Step 2 : Rolling the mouse to SEO results #### 1. URL Research ![](/files/-LtsmX-rH3Ue8um1ZZcU) #### 2. Readability ![](/files/-LtsnJ8XiInOJw6Pylu1) #### 3. Focus Keywords Our app will improve your page SEO on collection by suggestions. ![](/files/-LtsoPHoiD8K2dUpwrnF) #### 4. Mobile Friendly ![](/files/-LtsxqyxSpLcv0z7o-Hc) #### 5. Page speed ![](/files/-Ltsxx54AvDgn02awcLl) #### 6. Structure Data ![](/files/-Ltsy2DF_C0PMlEu1QrW) # SEO Page You can fill the URL of page which need to ortimize SEO. ### Step 1: You must search the name of page to display the details intructions for SEO on page. ![](/files/-LtsvknMbhaz_0fp39yB) ### Step 2: Read the SEO results of your page. #### 1. URL reaseach ![](/files/-LtszPnBhmjJfN0kuNVY) #### 2. Readability ![](/files/-Ltsz35Ilfw7Ctz7j-ph) #### 3. Mobile Friendly ![](/files/-Ltt--Th8EFMf_0TOMdi) #### 4. Page speed ![](/files/-Ltt-NZZcJ7I-CFdvslC) #### 5. Structure Data ![](/files/-Ltt-a1A94QERfkkxk0N) # SEO Aticle ### Step 1: Search article of your page ![](/files/-Ltt1nhZ-wjkex9WRTYk) ### Step 2: Read SEO results and improve the SEO of your page ![](/files/-Ltt2Hnj5Mt0vCeGPMMR) # Broken Links Our app will recheck broken link and suggest to improve it. ### Step 1: You must to click **Recheck in Broken Links functions.** You roll the mouse check URL ![](/files/-LttTXgQD45xT2bkziLs) ### Step 2: Display error URL ![](/files/-LttTh2jfDtt2FsoVtj3) ### Step 3: If you want to repair error URL, you will contact to SEO app's support. We are happy to help you. # Setting advance : Google Console and Sitemap ### Step1: Choose Advance setting and then you click to Get key ![](/files/-LttYI_ML39ZCB7-KEjj) ### Step 2: Go to your gmail after choosing Get Key, you will receive a access token. Then you paste to **2. Paste Key and click Connect** ![](/files/-LttZK6JABaG7ePwIlsW) ### **Step 3: Fill in Domain and Save** ### Step 4: Go to **Google Console** Click from time to click time and search keywords at Focus keywords. ![](/files/-LttaWgTlxAbIIj_ukBI) Google will show statistical keywords, hot keyword and you need to evaluate primary key words to improve SEO for your page. ![](/files/-LttbNdlUj4y8wpxH32Z) ### Step 5: Site map The guides for setting up Site map ![](/files/-LttcPR-d_zjzey0_sOE) ![](/files/-LttdrUqw0ypd23-J_Y7) # What are transition words? ## What are transition words? Transition words are words like ‘most importantly’, ‘because’, ‘therefore’, or ‘besides’. Using transition words well makes your text much more readable, as these words give direction to your readers. Using them is like pouring cement between your sentences: the relation between two sentences becomes apparent by the use of transition words. They send a signal to your readers that something is coming up, and prepare them for the next sentence. If you’re summarizing a discourse, you probably use words like first, second, third, etc. Your readers will understand you’re summing up things if you use these words. If you want to compare certain matters, you could use words like same, less, rather, while or either. And if you want to conclude your story, you might use words as hence, consequently or therefore. | **Relation** | **Example of transition words** | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | Enumeration | first of all, also, another, furthermore, finally | | Cause | because, so, due to, for the reason that | | Comparison/contrast | similarly, likewise, rather, while, in contrast | | Conclusion | as a result, hence, consequently, therefore | | Fuzzy signals | seems like, maybe, probably, almost | | Emphasis | above all, most noteworthy, certainly, even more | ### What does the transition words check do? The transition words check in SEO app whether or not you use enough transition words. If at least 30% of the sentences in your text contain a transition word, the bullet will be green. If more than 20% of your sentences and less than 30% of your sentences contain a transition word, your bullet will be orange. The bullet will be red if less than 20% of the sentences of your text contain a transition word. That’s less than 1 in 5 sentences. ### Why are transition words important for readability and SEO? So what’s the connection between transition words and SEO? Using more transition words in your copy won’t make your article reach a higher position in the search engines directly. It isn’t that simple. So, sorry about that. That being said, transition words do contribute to SEO in the long run, because they improve the readability and the structure of a text. Transition words are of great significance for the readability of your text. If you use sufficient transition words, your text will become easier to read. And readability affects your SEO! Read all about that in our post about ranking and readability. Transition words also play a crucial role in structuring your text. This leads to a better understanding of your text by your readers. Well-structured text helps to attract readers to your blog and contributes to SEO! Read more about that in our post about ranking and text structure. ### Do you want to improve your use of transition words? Using transition words probably is something you’ll do automatically. Everybody uses them. You just need these words to tell your story. However, we noticed that lots of people use too few transition words in their copy. Your text will improve if you use more transition words. You can add transition words when our checks tells you that you’re using too few. You could also make yourself more aware of your use of transition words before writing your text. # Transition words: why and how to use them ### What are transition words? Transition words are words like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’ and ‘because’. They show your reader the relationship between phrases, sentences or even paragraphs. Transition words make it easier for your readers to understand how thoughts and ideas are connected. They also prepare your reader for what’s coming. Let’s consider an example. *I pushed the domino. As a result, it fell over.* When you start a sentence with ‘as a result’, your reader will immediately know two things: 1. What happened in the first sentence caused something; 2. The second sentence is going to describe the effect. By using the phrase ‘as a result’ here, you show that the two separate sentences are actually part of one process. Without having even read the rest of the sentence, your reader can already guess what’s coming. In a way, transition words are the glue that holds your text together. Without them, your text is a collection of sentences. With them, the individual parts come together to form one whole. Transition words don’t always have to be placed at the beginning of a sentence. Consider the following examples. *He’s a very nice guy. He took us out to dinner yesterday, for instance.* In this example, ‘for instance’ is placed at the end of the sentence. Nonetheless, it still provides the reader with information as to how the two sentences are related. *I enjoy his company because he always tells interesting stories.* In this example, ‘because’ doesn’t connect two sentences, but two clauses. Transition words can connect anything from short phrases to entire paragraphs. ### Types of transition words Transition words can be divided into several categories, based on the type of transition you want to make. There are often several words available for one transition. Sometimes they mean exactly the same, sometimes there are slight differences. If you’re not a native speaker or struggle with language in general, you’ll have to study and practice these transition words. That’s the only way to understand which transition words fit which situations. | **Transition** | **Example word/phrase** | **Example sentence** | | ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Cause and effect | Therefore, as a result, so, consequently | I’m tired. **Therefore**, I’m going to bed. | | Clarification | That is to say, in other words, to clarify | We’re letting you go. **In other words**, you’re fired. | | Contrast | But, however, on the other hand | I am not fond of fruit. **However**, I do like bananas. | | Example | For example, for instance | In the evening, I like to relax. **For instance**, I enjoy watching TV. | | Emphasis | Above all, most importantly, certainly | There are many reasons to exercise regularly. **Above all**, it keeps you healthy. | | Enumeration | Firstly/secondly, further, and, moreover, in addition | Today, I’m going to write a post. **In addition**, I’m recording some video lessons. | | Time | Meanwhile, during, subsequently, after that | I’ll start by telling you what transition words are. **After that**, I’ll tell you why you should always use them. | | Similarity | Likewise, similarly, in the same vein | She tried really hard to entertain her guests. **Similarly**, he put all his heart and soul in cooking a great dinner. | | Summarize/conclude | In conclusion, to sum up, in short | **In conclusion**, transition words are an important aspect of SEO copywriting. | ### Why are transition words important for SEO? Transition words make it easier to read and understand a text. And readability is very important for SEO. Although transition words don’t influence your SEO directly, they are one of the key factors to readability. Let’s explore the power of transition words with an example. Text A contains no transition words. Text B is the exact same, only we’ve added transition words to make it easier to read. **Text A**\ I’m going to discuss a few reasons why practice is important to learning skills. The only way to truly master a skill is by actually doing what you’ll have to do in the real world. I think practice can be a fun way of putting in the necessary hours. There are some people who will disagree. It is said that people tend to remember only 10-20% of what they’ve heard or read. That number rises to as much as 90% when you put theory to practice. Following up explanation with practice is key to mastering a skill. **Text B**\ **In this paragraph**, I’m going to discuss a few reasons why practice is important to mastering skills. **Firstly**, the only way to truly learn a skill is by actually doing what you’ll have to do in the real world. **Secondly**, I think practice can be a fun way of putting in the necessary hours. There are, **however**, some people who will disagree. **Thirdly**, and **most importantly**, it is said that people tend to remember only 10-20% of what they read or hear. **Moreover**, that number rises to as much as 90% when you put theory to practice. **In conclusion**, following up explanation with practice is key to mastering a skill. Text A is not a terrible paragraph. However, the differences are clear as day. Text B does a better job of showing there are three separate arguments to support the statement with a definite conclusion. The reader never has to wonder whether a sentence still belongs to the previous argument or to a new one. Moreover, it even shows the relationship between sentences within one argument. Therefore, people are going to find it easier to read this text and will stay on the page longer. And this is just one short, conveniently arranged paragraph! ### What can I do to improve? There are several potential problem areas when it comes to transition words. Let’s start with the good news: everyone uses transition words in some way. There are very few authors who never use the words ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, and the like. Using them correctly or frequently enough, however, doesn’t come natural to everyone. Using transition words correctly requires a couple of things. You have to: 1. Know the transition words, obviously; 2. Have a clear idea of the relationships between separate thoughts and ideas within your text; 3. Know how to apply transition words properly and in context; #### 1. Know your transition words Actually knowing the transition words is most commonly a problem for non-native speakers. However, many native speakers could also benefit from studying the less frequent transition words. In any case, it is easy to do. You simply look up a list of transition words and study their definitions. Don’t underestimate it either, though! Transition words are often quite nuanced and really depend on context, as we’ll explore later. #### 2. Be aware of how your thoughts and ideas relate to each other In the blog post assignments people hand in for feedback in our SEO training courses, we see a clear pattern. People who have a better idea of the structure of their text also use more transition words, and do it more effectively. Too often, people just start writing and then basically just see what happens. Break your text down into an introduction, body and conclusion, and make sure you know what goal every paragraph serves. Then, survey your text on a sentence level. Find opportunities to make transitions that make sense. If you struggle with this, try reading texts by other authors and see how they use transition words. #### 3. Know how to apply transition words accurately in context Knowing when to use which transition word can be quite difficult. We often see people using transition words incorrectly, even after they’ve read up on the theory. Honestly, the key to mastering this is practice, practice, practice. Write sample sentences in which you connect two sentences with each other using transition words. Do the gap-fill exercises our SEO copywriting course provides. And if you really want to be sure you’re doing the right thing, hand in the blog post assignment you’ll find in the same training and get real-time feedback on your use of transition words! ### Conclusion Transition words are very important for the readability of your text. However, many people struggle with them. If you do, study them and make sure you practice a lot. Our SEO Copywriting training can help you with that. In addition, make sure you’re aware of the structure of your text. In this way, it will be easier to pick the best transition words available. # What does the not enough content check do? ### What does the not enough content check do? The not enough content check assesses whether your post or page contains at least 50 characters. To properly evaluate the readability of your content, the SEO Onpage app needs a minimum number of characters. If your post or page contains less than 50 characters, the plugin’s readability checks won’t be able to give you the best results. ### Why is enough content important for the SEO readability checks? The readability checks in the SEO Onpage app need a certain amount of characters to properly evaluate the content. When your text has less than 50 characters the results won’t be as meaningful. For example, if your text only consists of one, long sentence, containing difficult words and passive voice, you won’t get good results from the readability analysis. Even though it’s not necessarily a bad sentence, when combined with some easier, shorter sentences. Try to avoid this: it’s important to make optimum use of the SEO app checks, to fully optimize your text’s readability for your audience and the search engines. ### Do you want to improve the amount of content? Make sure you add more than 50 characters to your post or page if you want the readability checks of the SEO Onpage app to fully assess your text. You need quality content, for your audience and to rank well in the search engines, so write some more text! # What does the Flesch Reading Ease check do? ### What does the Flesch Reading Ease check do? The Flesch Reading Ease check assesses if your copy is easy to read or not. It does this by looking at two aspects of a text: how the amount of words relates to the amount of sentences, and how the amount of syllables relates to the amount of words. If you do not use too many difficult words and you keep your sentences rather short, the check will pass. Of course, our understanding of what is difficult and what is easy to read really differs. But it is usually believed that a good web text can be easily understood by a 13-15-year-old. The Flesch Reading Ease check returns a number on a scale from 0 to 100 — the lower that number, the harder your text is to read ### Why is the Flesch Reading Ease score important for readability and SEO? As you may have guessed, a text that gets a bad Flesch Reading Ease score and is therefore very difficult to read, generally doesn’t do well in terms of readability. The reason for this is simple: Reading from a screen is hard enough already, without having to plough through long words and lengthy sentences. If a text is too hard to read, odds are, your visitors will simply leave your website, potentially leading to a higher bounce rate and lower ranking in the long run. So, from a holistic SEO perspective, it’s important that your texts aren’t too difficult to read for your audience. With Google’s algorithm becoming more human-like, and rise of voice search, reading ease and readability are only going to become more important in terms of ranking. ### Do you want to improve your Flesch Reading Ease score? Before you start editing your text, you have to decide: how easy to read does this text need to be for your audience? If you have a mom blog, or sell clothes, for example, your texts should probably be easier to read than when you’re an academic, blogging about your scientific research. Keep your audience in mind! Nevertheless, your text will always benefit from clear use of language. If you want to get a higher Flesch Reading Ease score, focus on two things: try shortening your sentences where possible, and check your use of difficult words (with more than four syllables). Use shorter, simpler alternatives, if you can. # What does the subheading distribution check do? ### What does the subheading distribution check do? The subheading distribution check assesses whether you’ve used enough subheadings in your text. Most texts of over 300 words need subheadings, to help readers scan the text. So, this check will notify you if your text is longer than 300 words and doesn’t contain any subheadings. It’ll also let you know if a text section following a subheading is too long — i.e more than 300 words –, and suggest you add subheadings to improve the readability of that part of the text. ### Why is subheading distribution important for readability and SEO? Readers like to scan content, to get an idea of what the text is about and to decide which sections of the text they’re going to read. Subheadings help them do that. Scanning the text becomes significantly harder for your readers when your text doesn’t contain any subheadings, or the subheadings are followed by long stretches of text. If visitors can’t quickly find what they’re looking for, they’ll probably leave your site and look for another answer to their query. This is why text structure and heading use also impact SEO: search engines will pick up on people bouncing from your site: apparently, this page doesn’t give searchers what they’re looking for. This may negatively affect your rankings. Additionally, search engines use your headings to determine what the content on your website is about. If your text doesn’t have enough headings, this will not only be harder for them, but you’re also missing out on an opportunity to optimize your headings for your keyphrase or phrases! Of course, we have an assessment for that as well. ### Do you want to improve your distribution of subheadings? We advise putting a heading above every long paragraph, or above a group of paragraphs which form a thematic unit. The text following a subheading generally should not be longer than 250-350 words. Also, keep the following two things in mind when restructuring your text: firstly, a paragraph should start with a core sentence and then elaborate on this core sentence. When restructuring your text to add a heading, make sure the first sentence of your paragraph contains the most important information of that paragraph. Secondly: adding whitespace should help make information in a text become easier to process. So, don’t add whitespace and headings, just because it looks better or because the plugin told you to. Consider how information is structured in your paragraphs and what the relation is between paragraphs, and how a subheading can help make that information easier to digest. # What does the paragraph length assessment do? ### What does the paragraph length assessment do? The paragraph length assessment checks whether your paragraphs are too long. We advise you to keep the length of your paragraphs below 150 words to ensure maximum comprehension while reading. Long paragraphs tend to be hard to read and can make a text appear less attractive. ### Why is it important to improve your paragraphs for readability and SEO? Good content is an essential part of any SEO strategy. No content, no rankings. But as search engines get better at reading and understanding text, they also get better at filtering out the cruft. A well-written, authoritative and understandable text will have a much greater chance of ranking than something that was quickly thrown together. A great article is defined by awesome paragraphs. These paragraphs tie the text together and help people — and search engines — to understand it. ### Do you want to optimize your paragraphs? Good writing doesn’t come natural for a lot of people, but with practice you can learn how to write a good text. And the more you write, the better you get. Eventually, you’ll find it easier to come up with an idea, how to form that idea into a text and how to structure that text via paragraphs and subheadings. There are a couple of things to remember when writing a paragraph. First, you have to see a paragraph as a thematic unit. Everything you want to say inside that paragraph should be contained within that paragraph. Second, a good paragraph starts with a core sentence and spends the rest of the paragraph to elaborate on that. This way, a reader can just read the first sentences of the paragraphs and still get a grasp of what the article wants to say. Third, use SEO Onpage app to help with your readability. The plugin helps you to cut down on that pesky passive voice, those long sentences and dense paragraphs. # What does the sentence length check do? ### What does the sentence length check do? The sentence length check assesses what length your sentences are. It calculates how many words you use in one sentence. It then calculates the percentage of sentences that are longer than 20 words. If more than 25% of your sentences is longer than 20 words you should shorten some of your long sentences.\* ### Why is the length of your sentences important for readability and SEO? Readability is important for SEO. Because Google likes to show (and people like to find and share) high-quality content, which is informative, nice to read and easy to comprehend. Typically, a text that consists of many long sentences is hard to read, because long sentences are more difficult to process. A lot of people lose track of the meaning of a sentence when it’s very long. If a long sentence is followed by other long sentences the reader might fail to understand the meaning of a text completely. That’s not the experience you’d like to give a visitor of your site and not an experience Google likes to give their users either! ### Do you want to write sentences that are easier to understand? If the readability analysis gives you a red bullet for sentence length, you’re using long sentences too often. Click on the eye icon next to the check to see which of your sentences consist of more than 20 words. The SEO Onpage app will highlight these sentences for you. Go through these sentences, reread them and see which ones you can cut into 2 or maybe 3 sentences. It’s no problem if some sentences consist of more than 20 words, but try to keep the occurrence under 20%. Also, try to avoid using a long sentence after another long sentence. Try to mix longer and shorter sentences, this improves the readability of your text. \*These are the boundaries for English. If you write in another language the boundaries for maximum sentence length as well as the prevalence of these sentences may differ: find the exact boundaries per language here. # What does the passive voice assessment do? ### What does the passive voice assessment do? The passive voice assessment checks whether the number of sentences containing passive voice exceeds the recommended maximum amount. You’ll get a green bullet if less than 10% of your sentences have passive voice. It’ll turn red if you go over 15%. Passive voice makes your writing more distant and your message less clear. Try to write in an active voice — it will make your writing much stronger! ### Why is it important to improve your texts for readability and SEO? Readability is key if you want to get your message across to both humans as well as machines. An easy to read text is much more enjoyable to read. Scientific fact: People understand passive voice worse than they understand active voice. This has to do with the grammar, but also with the unusually switched focus. In the passive voice you first learn about what was affected, then how and why, before you get to who or what was affecting. The active voice is logical, short and to-the-point. Here’s an example: * Active: “SEO app calculates your SEO score” * Passive: “The SEO score is calculated by SEO app” The active voice is much nicer and easier to read, don’t you think? That’s not to say you should never use the passive voice. Sometimes, you might find that the passive voice fits better or there is no alternative found in the active voice. You can do whatever you want to write the text you want, but it is a good idea to keep your use of passive voice in check. ### Do you want to optimize your writing? You already know SEO Onpage app checks your writing to see if it contains a lot of passive voice. Try to follow its suggestions, because it gives you a lot of valuable insights into the readability of a text. For instance, if you write lots of passive voice SEO Onpage app automatically marks your text as harder to read. Fix the sentences that you can fix — it’s no problem to keep a few passive voice sentences. If you know what SEO Onpage app looks for, you’ll find that you’ll automatically avoid passive voice during writing. # What does the consecutive sentences check do? ### What does the consecutive sentences check do? The consecutive sentences check assesses whether your text contains three or more sentences in a row all starting with the same word. This includes headings starting with the same word as the previous or following sentences. ### Why is variety in how you start your sentences important for readability and SEO? Generally, a paragraph that contains many consecutive sentences all starting with the same word, won’t be a nice read. The words will feel repetitive and the text will lack flow. That’s obviously not great for readability. Worst case scenario: readers might get annoyed and leave your website. So, while an occurrence of three identical sentence starters may seem of little importance for SEO to you, keep in mind that serving your audience the best content you possibly can is the essence of a holistic SEO strategy. ### Do you want to improve the variety of your sentence beginnings? The check will notify you when you have three or more sentences in a row starting with the same word, and it can show you where, highlighting the sentences in question. Try rewriting these sentences, so they don’t all start with the same word. In some cases, you can’t avoid having several sentences in a row starting with identical words, for example for enumerations. Writers sometimes also deliberately start several consecutive sentences with the same word, to place more emphasis on them. In those cases, you can ignore the red bullet you get from this check. In short: If the consecutive sentences check gives you a red bullet, make sure to check out where in your text this occurs. If you did not repeat sentence beginnings deliberately, rewrite your sentences and vary things a bit more to avoid repetitiveness in your text. # Text length: how long should a blog post be? Text length: how long should a blog post be? In SEO Onpage App you get scored for the length of your text. But how do you know how long your blog post should be? And why do we care? Find out all about text length and how to improve it, while maintaining readability. ### What is text length? Defining text length is quite obvious: it’s how long your text is. In the SEO Onpage app, we determine text length by the number of words. A blog post should contain at least 300 words in order to rank well in the search engines. Long posts will rank more easily than short posts. However, long posts require strong writing skills. Not every writer can write readable blog posts of more than 1000 words. ### Why does text length matter? You have a higher chance of ranking well in Google if you write really long blog posts, of 1000 words or more. We see it ourselves; we have written quite some articles that are over 2500 words, and they really help in the growth of our organic traffic. There are a number of reasons why blog post length is important for SEO. These reasons all have to do with the fact that in lengthy texts, Google just has more clues to determine what your text is about. If you optimize your copy well, your focus keyphrase will naturally be in the text. The longer your text, the more often it will mention your focus keyphrase. There’s no need for keyphrase stuffing though. As your text is longer you’ll be adding more headings, links, and pictures, in which you mention the keyphrase. Also, if a page consists of too little words, Google is more likely to think of it as ‘thin content’. As the chances of thin content answering searchers’ questions are slim, Google probably won’t rank it very high. The goal is to serve users the best answer possible, and thin content is more likely to be considered of not much value to them. A longer text will also help you rank for multiple long tail variants of the keyphrase you’ve optimized your text for. That’s because in a lengthy text, you probably address multiple topics. Your article will have a chance to turn up in search results for all these long tail variants. Combined, the traffic to those posts will result in a growth of the organic traffic to your site. Learn more about this check in SEO in our explanation of the text length check. ### Keep readability in mind Don’t overdo it and make your text long just for the sake of it. Badly written, lengthy articles will not be read all the way through. People will probably click away from your site rather soon. These articles also won’t be shared on social media, and people probably won’t return to your website to read more. In the plugin, we recommend 300 words at the very least. If your article consists of fewer words, that’s too little to rank with in search engines. But keep in mind: blog posts containing more than 1000 words can become hard to read. You’ll need some proper writing skills in order to write easy-to-read articles of more than 1000 words. Large pieces of text could very well scare off your audience. In the end, badly written and lengthy articles won’t rank well in Google, simply because of the bad user experience. Curious to dive in and learn the ins and outs of writing awesome copy that ranks? Check out our SEO copywriting training. ### How to write a good, lengthy text Writing high-quality content is hard. Especially when your goal is to write lengthy articles in order to make your organic traffic grow. If you’re an experienced writer, you can write very lengthy posts of over 1000 words. If you know you’re not the best writer, we’d advise you to aim for around 700-800 words. In any case: make sure structure and readability are flawless. If your text length score is an orange or red bullet, you need to add content. Write more original, quality text. Stay on-topic though. You’ve selected a focus keyphrase and your text should revolve around that. The SEO Onpage app readability analysis helps you, by checking things like how much you use your focus keyphrase, and how well you’ve distributed it throughout the text. The most important thing when lengthening your text is that whatever you add should be relevant to your user. Think about questions a reader could have about the subject you’re covering. Can you answer those? Can you link to other relevant blog posts? Are there aspects of the subject you can elaborate on without losing focus? Take some time to think about the subject and what you can tell your readers, it could be well worth it. Keep in mind that you structure your text though, so it remains easy to read! ### Use headings One way of structuring your text is by using headings. Headings within a text serve (at least) two purposes. First: they show a top-down hierarchy. You immediately see that a subject has, for instance, three subheadings that elaborate on it further. Another function is for scanning. These days, most people scan a web page rather than read it all from the introduction to the end. Let them know what a paragraph is about by using clear headings. That also makes your text pleasant to read, as a heading tells you what the next piece of text is about. Readability is very important. In fact, we believe that readability ranks! Headings make your long text easier to grasp for search engines and users alike. The SEO Onpage app also helps you achieve better readability for your content. It checks if your sentences are of good length for example, or how to distribute your focus keyphrase throughout your content. To learn more about improving your readability, check out our article on the Flesch reading ease score. # Including your focus keyphrase in your introduction The SEO Onpage app checks whether you’ve included your focus keyphrase in the first paragraph of your text. That might feel rather logical but it’s easily forgotten! Why is this an aspect of our SEO check? And how do you solve this and turn your orange or red bullet green? Let’s look at the importance of your introduction for SEO. ### The importance of using your focus keyphrase in your introduction The first paragraph of a text is your introduction. That is a key location for both users and search engines. As said before, grabbing your reader’s attention right at the beginning is essential if you want them to stay on your page. Google also considers your first paragraph an important one. Including your focus keyphrase in your introduction is like giving search engines specific clues about your article. You should also know that sometimes, Google uses your first paragraph to create a meta description for your page itself. Make sure that your introduction accurately reflects what your text is about and include your focus keyphrase in there, and you should be fine. Remember: most people scan web pages rather than read them immediately. Make it easy for them by mentioning the actual subject of the page right at the start! ### Passing the focus keyphrase in introduction check We believe the use of your focus keyphrase in your introduction is important enough to have built a check for it, in our SEO Onpage app. Solving a red or orange bullet for this check might sound easy: just make sure you do use your focus keyphrase in your introduction text. But, it’s also easily forgotten. Let’s discuss some pointers that might help. A good paragraph starts with a core sentence, after which you elaborate. This applies to your first paragraph, the introduction, too. Think of a core sentence that mentions your focus keyphrase, and move on from there. Elaborate and/or discuss what to expect from the rest of the text. You could decide to start with a short anecdote or example, to catch the attention of your reader. If you do so, follow that up with your focus keyphrase as soon as you can, so it’s clear what your page is about. Not just to your reader, but to search engines! ### Why is the bullet orange or red? Several things could trigger the “focus keyphrase in introduction” check in SEO. This might help you figure out what’s happening! You’ve mentioned your subject, but not your focus keyphrase; You’ve used an anecdote to attract attention, which doesn’t include your focus keyphrase; You have mentioned your keyphrase or its synonyms, but not within one sentence; You have mentioned a synonym for your keyphrase, but not told SEO Premium it is a synonym. So, make sure the words you’ve entered as your focus keyphrase are mentioned in your first paragraph. And even more specific: they need to be within the same sentence. For search engines and readers to understand what your text is about quickly, you need to state the subject clearly. So even if you decide to start with an anecdote, for example, make sure to add a sentence that does clear up the subject of the text. ### Your introduction is like a first impression You never get a second chance to make a first impression. This saying is true for both people and texts. If the first paragraph of your text is unclear, off-topic or just boring, people will lose interest. They will put the book aside or click away to another website. Especially with online readers: if the page doesn’t match their interest, they’re just a click away from millions of pages that could be more interesting. With that in mind, what could you do to make a potential reader stay on your page and read your entire text? How can you make a good first impression? ### How do you write a good introduction? We’ve covered the importance of using your focus keyword introduction. But how do you write a great introduction in general? You know your first paragraph is important to grab the reader’s attention. We’ll start with the basics: what elements should be present in your introduction? ### Use your introduction paragraph to: #### 1.Introduce your topic Tell your reader what your text is about, preferably in the first sentence of your first paragraph. Keep it short and simple. Attention spans are very short online and you don’t want your reader to wander off. Consider using the inverted pyramid writing style. This method encourages you to get to the point immediately so you grab the attention. Some say the purpose of the first paragraph is to get your reader to read the second paragraph! #### 2. Explain what your reader can expect Take your reader by the hand. Tell them what they can expect from the rest of your text. Mention your purpose and explain your structure if this could help your reader decide whether this text would be useful for him. A lot of writers tend to forget that there are many ways to find a site. Your audience does not only consist of returning visitors that know your stories and products. Take the perspective of a new visitor, that lands on a specific blog post through the search results. Does the introduction of this post give the visitor enough clues to hold on to? #### 3. Tempt your reader to read along There are two ways to encourage your reader to read the rest of your article. The first one focuses on content. By introducing your topic and explaining what your reader can expect, you’re providing information. For some readers, this information alone could be enough to keep reading. Other readers might need a little push. You could use stylistic elements to trigger their interest some more. ### Some last tips If you’re still having a hard time making sure your focus keyphrase is in your introductory paragraph, here are some tips left that might help you. First: the use of synonyms. In SEO Premium you can set synonyms and related keyphrases for your focus keyphrase. That enables you to write a less repetitive text, which is good for your readability. By entering the synonyms, SEO Premium takes them into account when analyzing for the different focus keyphrase checks. Including the check to see if your focus keyphrase is mentioned within a sentence of your introduction paragraph. Do think about this though, why would you use a synonym instead of the phrase you’ve decided is most important? And here’s another tip that might help you if you’re struggling. Although it’s the first paragraph of your text, it’s definitely not set in stone that you should write it first! It might even be easier to write after you’ve finished the full post. You’ll have a better idea of the angle and content of the post, which might make it easier to write a great and enticing introduction that includes your focus keyphrase. # Using your keyphrase in your meta description Using your keyphrase in your meta description The SEO Onpage app SEO check provides feedback about your meta description. One of the requirements is that you mention your keyphrase in your meta description. Why does it matter? And: what does it take to turn that bullet green? Let’s start off with the specific elements in this checks: the meta description and the focus keyword, also known as keyphrase. After that, we’ll dive into how to do this right. ### What is a focus keyphrase? A focus keyphrase is the search term you decide you want a page to rank for. People using that specific search term should find that specific page. You base your keyphrase on keyword research. Doing that enables you to figure out what words are actually used by people, and what related search queries there are. You might be able to answer to those too! Choosing the perfect focus keyphrase is not easy, it’s also not an exact science. You’re looking for a combination of words that suits your audience and has a relatively high search volume. So basically, find out what your audience is actually looking for so you can answer to it. ### What is a meta description? A meta description is a short piece of text, up to about 155 characters — although Google sometimes likes to show longer descriptions. It’s what search engines often show in search results. Here’s an example of a meta description: ![](/files/-LtxP9S2x01C-j3KlbGr) The text within the pink border is the meta description of the page the link goes to. The purpose of the meta description is to entice searchers to click on your link. You want to get them to visit your website. Oftentimes, Google uses the meta description you offer. That’s why we urge you to write a good meta description, which includes your focus keyphrase. ### Why is it important to use your keyphrase in your meta description? First and foremost: if the search term people use matches text in the meta description, that pleases both Google and potential visitors. As Google is set on serving the best possible answer to a question, it’ll be more inclined to highlight that meta description in the search results. This should entice more people to click on your link as it stands out. Also, the recognition could work. If you are looking for something and according to the meta description, this page seems to be about exactly that, you’ll want to click. ### How to get that green bullet The check in the SEO Onpage app analyzes whether all (content) words from your keyphrase are used in your meta description. That means if you don’t mention it in the meta description at all, you’ll get a red bullet. You’ll also see a red score when you’ve used it too much: no one likes keyword stuffing. Your potential visitors don’t, and Google doesn’t. You’ll get an orange score if you have mentioned all the words from your keyphrase in the meta description, just not within one sentence. Search engines are pretty smart nowadays, but you still need to make it clear that this is what your page is about. Your meta description is only short, about 155 characters. Make sure to use your keyphrase or focus keyword at a whole at least once in those 155 characters. Maybe twice, but no more than that. You’ll turn that bullet green in no time! ### Using synonyms We know that Google also understands synonyms, and highlights those too. Here’s an example: ![](/files/-LtxPOLdWkvl_Y2nPQGg) Example of keyphrase synonyms highlighted in a meta description We searched for “board game”, and Google seems to recognize “tabletop game” as a synonym. Make use of that! A few highlighted words draw more attention than just the one. Also, having different words highlighted looks less repetitive, which could be more attractive. Our SEO Premium plugin also understands synonyms. It lets you enter synonyms and related keyphrases for your keyphrase, which are then taken into account when the plugin analyzes your content. This also works for the check of having your focus keyword in your meta description. If you’ve included your keyphrase and a synonym, that counts as two mentions. ### Need some help deciding on your focus keywords? Doing keyword research is a very important step in starting your SEO strategy. Do it right and it’ll help you improve traffic, sales, and user satisfaction. Find your niche, there might be golden opportunities waiting for you. Doing this research also helps you come up with a lot of subjects to create content about. Your keyword research sheet will be a great source of inspiration! Not sure how to conduct keyword research exactly? That’s alright, that’s why we offer a Keyword research training. We’ll walk you through the steps so at the end of the course, you have your own ready-to-use keyword research sheet! # The ideal length of a meta description The ideal length of a meta description In the SEO Onpage app, we provide you with feedback about the length of your meta description. In this article, we’ll give you some information about meta descriptions in general, and about the ideal length of a meta description. Let’s dive in! ### What is a meta description? Before we go into detail about the length of a meta description, let’s first explore what a meta description is. If you search for something in a search engine, the search engine will provide you with a list of search results. These search results usually consist of three elements: a title (in blue) a URL (in green) a meta description (in black) The meta description is basically a description of what the page is about, shown in the search results. ![](/files/-LtxR-WdkCSAJ7C3l4_Q) ### Why are meta descriptions important? Meta descriptions are important for two reasons: 1.for increasing your click-through rate; 2\. for increasing your ranking in Google. If your search result stands out from the other search results, you’ll have a higher chance that people will click on your result. That will lead to more traffic. As more people click on your result, Google will notice that people prefer your page above the other ones. So, in the long run, a good meta description could improve your ranking. ### The ideal length of a meta description A meta description can be up to 155 characters – and sometimes even more. However, there is no ‘right number’ of characters here because your description may be cut short depending on what Google adds to your search result. Google may, for instance, add the date to an article, which reduces the number of characters. Sometimes, Google makes up the text for a snippet, therefore overriding your meta description. Also, Google changes the maximum length of a meta description every now and then. A while ago, Google showed search results with long meta descriptions (around 320 characters). After a few months, they changed it back to short meta descriptions again. So, keep an eye on the news about Google. Make sure to check out our blog, we’ll keep you posted on every important change. ### How to improve your meta description If you get an orange or red bullet for the length of your meta description in the SEO Onpage app, your meta description might be too short or too long. It might even be missing. We’ll give you a few basic tips on how to improve your meta description. #### 1. Always write a meta description We can’t stress this enough: don’t forget to write a meta description! Your meta description is the invitation to your page. Make sure people feel invited to click your link. #### 2. Make sure to use the space Your meta description can be up to 155 characters, so use the space to convince people to click your link. Keep in mind that your description may be cut short when Google decides to add a date, for example. Or Google itself picks a text to show in the results. So, check what your meta description looks like in the search results every now and then. #### 3. Make it actionable Try to convince people. Write in an active voice, and include a clear call-to-action. Write something like this: ‘Hello, we have such and such new product, and you want it. Find out more!’ Invitations like Learn more, Get it now, and Try for free come in handy here. #### 4. Make sure it matches the content of the page Google will find out meta descriptions that try to trick the visitor into clicking and might even penalize the site that do this. But apart from that, misleading descriptions will probably increase bounce rate and is a bad idea for that reason alone. You want the meta description to match the content on the page. #### 5. Make sure it is unique If your meta description is the same as those on other pages, the user experience in Google will be hampered. Although page titles might vary, all pages will appear to be the same because all the descriptions are the same. So, make sure to write a unique meta description for every page of your site. # How to optimize your images for SEO ### How to optimize your images for SEO One of the assessments of the SEO Onpage app checks if you use images, and if you use your focus keyphrase in the alt attributes of these images. But you may be wondering: what are image alt attributes? Why is it important to optimize images for SEO? And how do you go about that? Let’s find out! ### What is an image alt attribute? You can add an image alt attribute – also called: an alt text or alt tag – to an image to show descriptive text in place if the image can’t be displayed to the visitor for any reason. This could be because visitors have turned off images in their web browsers. They could also be using a screen reader due to visual impairment. The image alt attribute ensures that no information gets lost in these situations. In addition, search engines use alt text to determine what’s on the image. An alt text should contain enough information for search engines and people who can’t see the image to understand what the image represents. Keep in mind, though, that while the alt text needs to be descriptive, it also needs to be brief. Most screenreaders seem to cut off an image alt text at around 125 characters. Let’s take a look at an example. ![](/files/-LtxT0dPPQqvQbxjpadf) Now, let’s consider three possible alt attributes: 1.‘girl with phone’ 2\. ‘girl using a mobile phone on the street while holding an umbrella’ 3\. ‘girl with curly hair dressed in a purple coat using a mobile phone on a busy street while holding an umbrella’ Which one do you think is the best example of an alt attribute for this image? Although the first one is brief, it’s not descriptive enough. And the third one might be very descriptive, but it is way too long for the image. Number 2 is both descriptive and brief, and therefore a good example of an alt attribute for this image. ### How to add alt attributes But how do you go about adding alt attributes for an image? Well, first of all, you could use HTML code to add alt attributes. To add an alt tag to your image, simply add alt=”alt text” to your image code, like this: ![](/files/-LtxTPwCrNToiJrYQisl) Easy, right? If you use WordPress to manage your site, it’s even easier. Simply open the ‘attachment details’ for the image to add the alt attribute, as shown in the image below. ![](/files/-LtxTXMbcaBafY50LwH6) Add alt tags through attachment details in WordPress ### Why is it important to optimize images for SEO? We’ve seen why image optimization is important for your users, but why is it important for SEO? Images can improve almost any post or page – remember the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”? Your article will become a lot more attractive with images. Also, you provide both users and search engines with a textual description of the image if you add an alt text. As we’ve seen before, this improves accessibility, but it also increases your chance of ranking in image search. And as seen in Google’s vision for the future of search, visual search is getting increasingly important, which means that ranking high in image search could turn out to provide you with a nice bit of traffic. So, if you have visual content, it might make sense to put image SEO higher on your to-do list. ### How to optimize your images for SEO We’ve discussed alt attributes, but this isn’t the only aspect of image SEO that’s important. If you want to fully optimize an image for SEO, there are lots of things you should do. In this article, we’ll discuss a few basic tips on how to optimize your images for SEO. #### 1. Add images to your text This one’s simple: you should try to add images to every article you write, to make them more appealing. Images will also help readers and search engines understand your text better. #### 2. Add alt text to your images As we’ve discussed in this article, you should always add an alt attribute or alt tag to your images. This ensures a descriptive text is shown in place if the image can’t be displayed to the visitor for any reason. In addition, it provides Google with a textual description of the image, which they use to rank your post in image search. #### 3. Use your focus keyphrase in your alt text Because search engines need context about an image to understand what’s on them – and to rank your page in image search – it’s important to use the focus keyphrase of your article in the alt text. The SEO Onpage app checks if your alt tags use the focus keyphrase. If you have SEO Premium, it even checks for synonyms of the keyphrase you added to the post. If your text contains ten images, you don’t have to include your focus keyphrase in all accompanying alt texts. We have set a margin that helps you find the right balance. #### 4. Use your focus keyphrase in the file name Google also uses the file name to determine what an image is about. That’s why you should also use your focus keyphrase in the file name. It’s simple: if your image shows two rabbits laying in the grass, the file name shouldn’t be DSC3492.jpg, but two-rabbits-laying-in-grass.jpg. #### 5. Scale your images and reduce file size Loading times are important for UX and SEO. The faster the site, the easier it is to visit and index a site. Images can have a huge impact on loading times. That’s why you should resize the image to how you want it displayed. For example, if you want to show 250×150 px image, you should scale the image to 250×150 px and not let the page load a full 2500×1500 px image. Also, make sure that the scaled image is compressed, so it is served in the smallest file size possible. There are several tools available to help you reduce the size of your images, like kraken.io or ImageOptim. # The importance of outbound links The importance of outbound links The SEO analysis of the SEO Onpage app checks if you have outbound links in your content. What are outbound links? Why are they important? And how do you improve your score for this check? ### What is an external link? The world wide web consists of several things, and links between those parts are indispensable. If a piece of content isn’t linked to, how would search engines know how to find it? Let alone visitors, they would never get there. So, links are needed for an interconnected web. Links are either internal or external. An external link is a link between two separate websites. Links within a website are called internal links. Those are very important for site structure and SEO too, but that’s a different check. The outbound links checker assesses links that are external, so between websites. There are two types of external links: #### Inbound links Also known as backlinks; these are links from other websites to yours. #### Outbound links These are links from your website to another website. The outbound links check in SEO focuses on the latter: links from your website to another website. ### Why do outbound links matter? We feel that every page should include an outbound link. If you don’t add one, you’ll see a red bullet. We feel so strongly about this because our mission is SEO for everyone. We very much believe in creating equal chances for everyone in the connected web. Websites need to connect to each other to be found, by search engines and users. So help each other out a little, and help us connect the dots of the web. It’ll make it easier for search engines to find websites, but also gain insight in how pages relate to each other. We can build a better web, together. This is why SEO Onpage app checks for outbound links: we need your help to structure the web. We want interesting websites to rank in Google. We obviously won’t force you, but we do very much appreciate your help. So outbound links definitely matter for SEO. For SEO in general though, not just your website’s. ### Improving by adding outbound links If you haven’t scored a green bullet on the outbound links check, that means you haven’t included any outbound links into your content. Fixing this is pretty straightforward: add a link to a different website than your own! Choose relevant links though. Think about other websites or pages that might help your visitor. Credit sources you’ve used yourself, or that have inspired you. Give people the credit they deserve! And if you think your visitors might like to learn more about a subject and you don’t want to offer that specific content yourself, send them over to someone who does. You can go through existing content to see where a link to a different website would be in place while being relevant. Also, while creating new content, keep this check in mind. It might become a whole lot easier to think of relevant outbound links while you’re writing. Also: if you’ve purposely only added nofollow links, your bullet for this check won’t turn green. That’s because nofollow links don’t let search engines follow them through to the other website. That way, they don’t contribute or add value. We’d rather see follow links! ### Learn more about holistic SEO Would you like to learn more about all aspects of SEO? Curious about our holistic SEO view, and how that ties into our mission “SEO for everyone”? We’ve created an online course that walks you through all the important parts of SEO. It’s fun and you’ll know how to improve your website’s SEO within hours! Interested? Have a look at our All around SEO training, there’s a free trial video. # Internal linking: why and how to do it Internal linking: why and how to do it SEO Onpage app analysis tells you to add internal links if your text doesn’t contain them. But what are internal links? How should you add them? And what pages should you link to? That’s what we’ll discuss here. ### What is an internal link? An internal link is any link from one page on your website to another page on your website. Both your users and search engines use links to find content on your website. Your users use links to navigate through your site and to find the content they want to find. Search engines also use links to navigate your site. They have a hard time showing a page in the search results if there are no links to it. That’s why internal linking is so important. There are several types of links. In the SEO Onpage app analysis , we’re talking about links within your content. By that, we mean the piece of text you’ve written in the editor. We call them contextual links. Contextual links point your users to interesting and related content. Moreover, they allow search engines to find out what content on your site is related and to determine the value of that content. The more links an important page receives, the more important it will seem to search engines. Therefore, good internal links are crucial to your SEO. ### Adding a link in WordPress Adding links in WordPress is very easy. First, select the piece of text you want to add the link to in the editor. Then click the link icon (image 1). Then paste or type the URL you want to link to. ![](/files/-LtxWkJa_PFkDf4fQGb9) ### What pages to link to When adding internal links, always consider what pages would be best to link to. Start by considering what articles are most important when it comes to the topic you’re discussing. It can be quite difficult to keep track of this, especially if your site is quite big. If you have SEO Premium, our internal linking tool does the thinking for you. It shows you the most relevant related pages and suggests adding links to them. Remember that you want to link to your most frequent pages most often. Keep track of how many links your pages receive on your posts and pages overviews. The left column shows how many links are on the page itself. The right column shows how many links are pointing to that post. If your most important pages aren’t receiving the most links, you should reconsider your linking strategy. ### Conclusion Internal links allow users and your search engines to navigate your site. If a post isn’t linked to at all, that page won’t be shown in the search results. Moreover, the number of links pointing to your pages gives Google information about what pages are most important to you. Therefore, it’s crucial to add internal links to every page on your site. # The ideal width of the SEO title In SEO Onpage app, we provide you with feedback about the length of your SEO title. But what exactly is an SEO title? Why is it important for SEO? And how can you improve your SEO title? We’ll try to clear things up in this article. ### What is an SEO title? Let’s start with the basics. When we’re talking about the SEO title, we’re talking about the HTML title tag (or page title). If you look at the source of a page, you’ll find it in the head section. It looks like this: ![](/files/-LtxZDZX3blw_5vWnWAO) The SEO title is part of the search result. If you search for something in a search engine, the search engine will provide you with a list of search results. These search results usually consist of three elements: an SEO title (in blue) a URL (in green) a meta description (in black) SEO title in search results ![](/files/-LtxZoDeB6a7_gVLd0ZK) In addition, the SEO title is shown in the browser. In tabbed browsers, this title is usually shown in the page tab, as shown in the image below. ![](/files/-Ltx_53hJ1-mqfIkmCaJ) Don’t confuse the SEO title with the main heading or H1, which the user sees on the page itself. These two are not the same. However, the main heading is important too, and if you want to dive deeper into that, we have an entire article about headings and SEO. The (SEO) purpose of a page title An SEO title or page title is important for SEO for two reasons: 1.to help you rank for a keyword; 2\. to make users want to click through to your page. The page title is one of Google’s most important ways to figure out your page’s topic. That’s why you should make sure to include your focus keyword in your SEO title to increase your chance of ranking for it. In addition, if your search result stands out from the other search results, you’ll have a higher chance that people will click on your result. That will lead to more traffic. And as more people click on your result, Google will notice that people prefer your page above the other ones. So, in the long run, the page title influences your ranking directly as well. ### Ideal title width for SEO You might be wondering how many characters your SEO title must contain. Well, that depends. Rather than using a character count, Google has a fixed width in which it can show the title. This means it will show many more i’s than w’s, so how many characters you should use depends on your choice of words. For Google, the width of the SEO title can be up to 600 px. You can check what your SEO title will look like in the search results in the snippet preview in the SEO Onpage app. The tool uses the mobile version as a default but you can also switch it to the desktop version. Our snippet preview takes the fixed width into account and shows your title as it will appear in Google searches. If your title is too long or too short, the green line underneath it will turn orange. ### How to improve your page title So, you got an orange or red bullet for the width of your SEO title in the SEO Onpage app? This is probably because your SEO title is too wide or too short. It might even be missing. We’ll give you a few basic tips on how to improve your page title. #### 1. Always create an SEO title This may sound obvious: don’t forget to create an SEO title. Your page title or SEO title is important, for attracting more visitors but also to let search engines know what your page is about. #### 2. Make sure to use the space You’ve got 600 px to convince people to click your link, make sure to use it! Don’t just write down what the page or post is about, use the space to write an enticing title that people can’t resist. #### 3. Don’t make it wider than the viewable limit If your title is wider than the 600 px limit, your title will be cut off. You don’t want that! The SEO Onpage app will tell you if your title is too wide, so if it does, make sure to shorten it. #### 4. Include the focus keyword Make sure to include your focus keyphrase in your page title, as the page title is one of Google’s most important ways to figure out your page’s topic. Not having the focus keyphrase in the title severely damages your chance of ranking. #### 5. Include the site name The last tip is about branding. Your page title needs to have your brand in it, preferably in a recognizable way. If people search for a topic and see your brand several times, even if they don’t click on it the first time, they might click when they see you again in their next page of results. In addition, if you don’t include your site name in your SEO title, you’ll also run the risk of Google automatically changing the title for you. They think the site name should be in your title, and if you don’t include it, well… they might just change your title and add it for you. # What does the not enough content check do? ### What does the not enough content check do? The not enough content check assesses whether your post or page contains at least 50 characters. To properly evaluate the readability of your content, the SEO Onpage app needs a minimum number of characters. If your post or page contains less than 50 characters, the plugin’s readability checks won’t be able to give you the best results. ### Why is enough content important for the SEO readability checks? The readability checks in the SEO Onpage app need a certain amount of characters to properly evaluate the content. When your text has less than 50 characters the results won’t be as meaningful. For example, if your text only consists of one, long sentence, containing difficult words and passive voice, you won’t get good results from the readability analysis. Even though it’s not necessarily a bad sentence, when combined with some easier, shorter sentences. Try to avoid this: it’s important to make optimum use of the SEO checks, to fully optimize your text’s readability for your audience and the search engines. ### Do you want to improve the amount of content? Make sure you add more than 50 characters to your post or page if you want the readability checks of the SEO Onpage app to fully assess your text. You need quality content, for your audience and to rank well in the search engines, so write some more text! # Untitled