So with that in mind, we are going to assume that you are optimizing content based around topics and keywords. Let’s get started! And also check out our Ultimate Guide to RevOps here, once you are done with your blog optimization!
The Optimize tool in HubSpot will scan your content for the following:
- Crawling and indexing
- Mobile friendliness
- Topics
- Content
- Title
- Meta Description
- Header
- Images
- Links
When you have all of these boxes checked, search engines are able to analyze and crawl your content to better understand what it is you are writing about, ultimately helping you rank better in search over time. Let’s dive into each of these in more detail.
Crawling and indexing
If this box is checked, it means that you are allowing search engines to crawl and index the content you create.
How to fix it: Check your robots.txt to make sure that pages are allowed to be indexed. Or check your HTML header to make sure there is not a “no index” meta tag.
Mobile friendliness
With more people using smartphones, it is SO important to make sure your pages are mobile friendly to create a great end user experience. If this box isn’t checked, your users will have to pinch the in and out to read your content.
How to fix it: If you are experienced in backend coding, you can add or update your viewport tag to make your templates mobile friendly.
Topics
Using your content strategy, you will want to tie your content to the pre-identified core topic and subtopic keyword the piece is about.
Within your content, you will want to include your subtopic keywords attached to the topic throughout the piece (HubSpot gives you the recommended subtopics you will want to include to make it easy!). You also want to include your subtopic keyword in your title and meta description, but make them unique. By including your subtopic keyword and other keywords throughout your content search engines will be able to clearly define what your content is about.
Content
At bare minimum, have at least 300 words in your content. Think micro blogs. For short blogs and newsletters shoot for around 600 words. For in-depth blogs, in-depth articles, white papers, and e-book chapters shoot for around 1,000 - 1,500 words. For thought leadership, in-depth e-books, and in-depth white papers shoot for at least 2,000 words.
Title
Having a title is obvious, but you want to make sure that it is less than 70 characters so it doesn’t get cut off in search. And make sure that your domain name and title are unique so it looks trustworthy to search engine bots.
Meta Description
Your meta description is the snippet that appears under your page name on search pages.
You want to include your subtopic keyword in your meta description and make sure that it is 155 characters or less so the main point of your content doesn’t get cut off at the end. Also, make it unique from your title since searchers will see the title above.
Header
You want just ONE H1 tag in your content. Your H1 tag helps search engines and readers easily identify what your content is. General rule of thumb is that your blog title is your H1 tag.
Images
Alt text is important to have on your images because it describes them to readers who can’t see them. As technology continues to advance, including alt text with your images ensures all users, regardless of visual ability, can appreciate the content on your site.
Links
Within your content you want to have less than 300 outbound links. Too many outbound links may cause search engines to view your page as low-quality or as spam. HubSpot will tell you how many outbound links your content has so you can always be in the know.
And that is a wrap! Do you feel confident in how to optimize your content for search engines now? We sure hope so. You can use these steps to optimize your blogs, landing pages, and web pages that are all stored on HubSpot. Are you ready to take your content marketing efforts to the next level? Then check out this Ultimate Guide to RevOps and take your Sales and SEO game to the next level!
