# Critical Factors

Accessible to Engines

Pages that can’t be crawled or indexed have no opportunity to rank in the results. Before tweaking keyword targeting or leveraging other optimization techniques, it’s essential to make sure this page is accessible.

Broad Keyword Usage in Document

Search engines and users are both seeking the targeted keywords in the text of the page. Employing keywords in the document element is not only a best practice, but an essential part of SEO (and good user experience).Employ the keyword at least once in the document text of the page.

Employ the keyword at least once in the document text of the page.

Broad Keyword Usage in Page Title

Search engines consider the title element to be the most important place to identify keywords and associate the page with a topic and/or set of terms. SEOmoz’s correlation research has also shown that rankings are heavily influenced by keyword usage in the title tag.Employ the keyword in the page title, preferrably as the first words in the element.

Employ the keyword in the page title, preferrably as the first words in the element.

Appropriate Use of Rel Canonical

If the canonical tag is pointing to a different URL, engines will not count this page as the reference resource and thus, it won’t have an opportunity to rank. Make sure you’re targeting the right page (if this isn’t it, you can reset the target above) and then change the canonical tag to reference that URL.

# High Importance Factors

Appropriate Keyword Usage in Document

Text content is very important for modern SEO. In order to optimize your chances of ranking higher for the targeted keyword(s), we recommend using the targeted keyword(s) at least 4 times.Add at least 4 instances of the targeted keyword(s) to the document text of this page.

Add at least 4 instances of the targeted keyword(s) to the document text of this page.

Avoid Keyword Stuffing in Document

We’ve seen evidence that excessive use of keywords can negatively impact rankings and thus suggest moderation.

Avoid Keyword Stuffing in Page Title

Using the targeted keyword(s) more than twice in the title tag may be perceived as keyword stuffing (a form of search engine spam) by the engines, and thus we recommend against it.

Avoid Multiple Page Title Elements

Web pages are meant to have a single title, and for both accessibility and search engine optimization reasons, we strongly recommend following this practice.

Exact Keyword Usage in Page Title

Search engines consider the title element to be the most important place to identify keywords and associate the page with a topic and/or set of terms. SEOmoz’s correlation research has also shown that rankings are heavily influenced by keyword usage in the title tag.Employ the keyword in the page title, preferrably as the first words in the element.

Employ the keyword in the page title, preferrably as the first words in the element.

Keyword Placement in Page Title

SEOmoz’s correlation research has shown that pages which employ the targeted keyword(s) at the front of the title tag benefit greatly in the rankings. There is a direct relationship between proximity to the front of the title element and prominence/rankings as seen by the engines, and the further back in the page title the keyword appears, the worse the correlation with high rankings.Place the targeted keyword(s) at the front of the title tag.

Place the targeted keyword(s) at the front of the title tag.

No More Than One Canonical URL Tag

The canonical URL tag is meant to be employed only a single time on an individual URL (much like the title element or meta description). To ensure the search engines properly parse the canonical source, employ only a single version of this tag.

# Moderate Importance Factors

Exact Keyword Usage in Document

Search engines and users are both seeking the targeted keywords in the text of the page. Employing keywords in the document element is not only a best practice, but an essential part of SEO (and good user experience).Employ the keyword at least once in the document text of the page.

Employ the keyword at least once in the document text of the page.

Keyword Usage in Image Alt Attribute

Keyword usage in the alt attribute of an image employed on a page is surprisingly positively correlated with good rankings. It also helps considerably with image search, a popular and oft-employed vertical/universal search system.Add the targeted keyword(s) to the alt attribute of a relevant image/graphic. If no images exist, consider adding one to the page.

Add the targeted keyword(s) to the alt attribute of a relevant image/graphic. If no images exist, consider adding one to the page.

No More Than One Meta Description Element

Multiple meta descriptions may confuse the search engines and will not help with rankings or search traffic.

Sufficient Quantity of Characters in Content

Search engines seek pages that contain machine-readable content that fulfills the goals of their visitors. The 300 character limit, while somewhat arbitrary, is in a reasonable range for what the engines appears to fulfill ‘minimum’ unique content in most cases.Add a minimum of 300 characters (not counting spaces) of substantive, unique content that will provide value to visitors.

Add a minimum of 300 characters (not counting spaces) of substantive, unique content that will provide value to visitors.

Sufficient Quantity of Words in Content

Search engines seek pages that contain machine-readable content that fulfills the goals of their visitors. The 50 word limit, while somewhat arbitrary, is in a reasonable range for what the engines appears to fulfill ‘minimum’ unique content in most cases.Add a minimum of 50 words of substantive, unique content that will provide value to visitors.

Add a minimum of 50 words of substantive, unique content that will provide value to visitors.

Appropriate Characters in the URL

Characters which are less commonly used in URLs may cause problems with accessibility, interpretation and ranking in search engines. It is considered a best practice to stick to standard URL structures to avoid potential problems.

Avoid Keyword Stuffing in the URL

Keyword stuffing in the URL may be perceived by search engines as a spam tactic and will also likely turn off potential visitors when seen in the search results.

Keyword Usage in URL

Keywords in the URL string help to add relevancy to the page for search engine rankings, assist searchers and users in identifying the page’s content/topic when viewing the URL and provide value when used as the anchor text of referring links.Employ the targeted keyword(s) in the URL string of the page. If you’re targeting a 2+ word phrase, use hyphens to separate individual words.

Employ the targeted keyword(s) in the URL string of the page. If you’re targeting a 2+ word phrase, use hyphens to separate individual words.

Static URL

URLs with dynamic parameters have been shown in SEOmoz’s correlation research to have dramatically worse performance in search engine rankings than static URLs.

# Low Importance Factors

Appropriate Keyword Usage in H1 Tag

Although employing targeted keywords in the H1 tag does not correlate well to high rankings, it does appear to provide some slight value. It’s also considered a best practice for accessibility and to describe a page’s content, hence our recommendation.
However, keyword stuffing may be perceived negatively by the search engines and can impact rankings. Thus, we suggest keeping keyword usage in the H1 to 2 or fewer uses.Employ between 1 and 2 instances of the keyword in the H1 tag.

Employ between 1 and 2 instances of the keyword in the H1 tag.

Appropriate Page Title Length

The visible portion of the page title in the search results extends to 66 characters, after which the engines will often truncate with an ellipsis. In order to optimize for the best possible title (and provide the most compelling call to action for searchers) keeping the title tag under 66 characters in length is recommended.

Avoid Keyword Self-Cannibalization

It’s a best practice in SEO to target each keyword with a single page on your site (sometimes two if you’ve already achieved high rankings and are seeking a second, indented listing). To prevent engines from potentially seeing a signal that this page is not the intended ranking target and creating additional competition for your page, we suggest staying away from linking internally to another page with the target keyword(s) as the exact anchor text. Note that using modified versions is sometimes fine (for example, if this page targeted the word ‘elephants’, using ‘baby elephants’ in anchor text would be just fine).

Keyword Usage in Bold/Strong/Emphasized/Italics

In testing, search engines appeared to have a preference (albeit slight) for pages that employed a targeted keyphrase with one of these elements than those missing it. This may also be valuable to users who can more easily find references to their search query thanks to this highlighting.Add emphasis using the , , , or tag to one instance of the targeted keyword(s) on this page.

Add emphasis using the , , , or tag to one instance of the targeted keyword(s) on this page.

Keyword Usage in the Meta Description

Using the queried keywords in the meta description tag gives it a much better chance to be used by the engine as the page’s snippet. It also creates prominence and visibility for searchers, as the engines will make query terms in the search results snippets bold.
However, employing keywords excessively in the meta description may be used as a spam signal to the search engines and will likely detract from a searcher’s desire to click on a listing.Employ the targeted keyword(s) at least once but no more than 3 times in the meta description tag.

Employ the targeted keyword(s) at least once but no more than 3 times in the meta description tag.

Meta Description Usage

The meta description, while it does not influence rankings in the results, can still be valuable to employ to improve the click-through-rate of searchers from the results page and to provide context to those visitors about the page’s topic/focus.Add a meta description tag to the page, describing the page’s content in a way that will make it compelling to searchers who see the snippet in search results.

Add a meta description tag to the page, describing the page’s content in a way that will make it compelling to searchers who see the snippet in search results.

No More Than One H1 Tag

Best practices for both SEO and accessibility require only a single H1 tag. The H1 is meant to be the page’s headline, and thus, multiple H1s are confusing. Consider employing H2, H3 or CSS styles to achieve the same results with text visualization.

Avoid Excessive External Links

Linking externally is generally a good thing, but as with many optimization tactics in SEO, moderation is the best path. Employing a high number of followed external links may prevent the engines from passing much value through any given link and can also trigger potential issues of spam/manipulation (particularly if those links are not pointing to high quality/trustworthy sites).

Avoid Excessive Internal Links

Employing an excessive quantity of internal-pointing links may not directly harm the value of a page, but it can influence the quantity of link juice sent through those links and dilute it’s ability to help get link targets crawled, indexed and ranked.

Appropriate URL Length

Search engines will often truncate the URL display at 76 characters and appear to pass less keyword value in longer URLs. Thus, we recommend limiting URL length when possible.

Minimal Subfolders in the URL

The quantity of subfolders in a URL appears to correlate to rankings. URLs with fewer trailing slashes perform better than those with more. Additionally, search engine representatives have recommended that excessive, subfolders in a URL string may be a signal that the page is very deep in a site’s structure and may be less valuable/worthwhile to crawl, index and rank.

# Optional Factors

Appropriate Meta Description Length

Since the meta description isn’t used for rankings, and the snippet cuts off after 156 characters (in most instances), it’s unwise to have a longer meta description tag. Words beyond this count won’t be seen by anyone.

Avoid Using Meta Keywords Tag

Search engines have, for years, ignored the meta keywords tag as a ranking signal. Although it technically does not harm rankings, it can be used by competitors as a method to extract your targeted terms and thus, we recommend against its use.

Employ External Links

Linking externally is something the engines have suggested provides potential ranking rewards, and many who’ve tested this confirm. Thus, we suggest that on any page specifically targeting a keyword, linking externally to at least one (and possibly several) useful, valuable resources is often a best practice.Add a link to a valuable, external resource that visitors may appreciate.

Add a link to a valuable, external resource that visitors may appreciate.

Keyword Placement in H1 Tag

Just as keyword prominence in the page title element can positively impact rankings, so too do we recommend making the targeted keywords the first terms in your H1. Since the H1 appears to have such a light impact on rankings, we feel this recommendation is optional.

Canonical URL Tag Usage

Although the canonical URL tag is generally thought of as a way to solve duplicate content problems, it can be extremely wise to use it on every (unique) page of a site to help prevent any query strings, session IDs, scraped versions, licensing deals or future developments to potentially create a secondary version and pull link juice or other metrics away from the original. We believe the canonical URL tag is a best practice to help prevent future problems, even if nothing is specifically duplicate/problematic today.Add a canonical URL tag referencing this URL to the header of the page.

Add a canonical URL tag referencing this URL to the header of the page.