5 SEO Tips for Web Developers

Web development and SEO may not seem like a dynamic duo like peanut butter and jelly. However, it is vital that a developer caters their website to SEO as much as possible. I know what you’re thinking – most developers won’t write a single line of content for their website so how can they enhance SEO?

 Here are five SEO tips for web developers to follow when building out a web page.

1. Use Proper URLs

This may sound like an obvious tip, but it is easy to overlook. Make sure the URLs have the page name in them. A URL should look like this: www.website.com/page-name, and not like this: www.website.com/?p-454578. Adding the page name provides a small SEO boost, but more importantly, it’s more appealing for the user to click on if they see it in search engine results. Additionally, it makes it easier for the user to type in a specific page they want to visit directly.

2. Strategically Place Keywords

There is no need to overstuff keywords into the content of the page. A big buzz phrase in today’s SEO is “keyword density”. People are overly concerned with how many times their keyword should be placed in the content. Google has upgraded its algorithm to be able to understand context and words in relation to each other. It sounds scary, but it means that Google doesn’t need to see your keyword 20 times to understand what the page is about.

Although it’s still important for keywords to show up early in content, it is necessary that the target keyword is in at least the page title or the H1 header. Some other good spots to place keywords are in anchor text and the meta description of the page.

3. Don’t Overdo It

It has become common practice for some to use headers as a place to dump keywords. While it is important to have the targeted keyword in the main header, that doesn’t mean it’s effective to have 10 different headers that all include the same keyword. Headers should be used to naturally break up content and to accurately describe the section of content that follows. However, there should only ever be one H1 header on a page. Use H2 and H3 headers when breaking up content, and be sure to actually use the header tags – don’t just bold the words or increase the font size. They may look the same, but Google sees headers as more valuable than bolded or bigger text.

4. Create Unique Meta Descriptions

While meta tags are now almost exclusively related to spam and should never be used, meta descriptions are still alive and well. Meta descriptions won’t give your page a large SEO boost, but they do inform the user of what your website is about if they see it in search engine results. Every page should have its own, unique description. Write these meta descriptions to explain why someone should visit your website. These descriptions will help increase your click through rate on SERPs, or search engine results pages.

5. Use Alt Tags for Images

As you may know, alt tags are used to describe the images on your website. While it may seem monotonous to insert tags for every image on your website, it needs to be done. Alt tags aren’t for stuffing keywords either, so only use tags that accurately describe your image. Google will use these tags and descriptions as ranking factors for image searches.

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Take these five SEO tips for web development when creating your site or reoptimizing it – implementing SEO elements on the more technical, behind-the-scenes side can help improve your ranking in organic search results. Looking for help with your site’s SEO? Want to create an SEO strategy before going through a website project? Reach out to us and let us know how we can help.

Updated: Apr 13, 2022