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How to Tap Into the Power of HTML Elements
Search Engine Optimization
By: Stephen S Alison
In order to tap into the power of HTML (Hypertext Markup
Language) elements, you first need to know what they are. In
HTML, elements are bits of markup that tell a web browser to
display or format parts of web pages.
For example, <p> means paragraph, and <b> means bold – there are
plenty more. These elements are used constantly when writing web
pages. You should basically think of your HTML elements as the
organizational and visual formatting of your HTML document.
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By learning HTML, you can tap into the power of HTML
elements and create a more interesting website as well as
tipping off search engines as to what the most important
information on your web page is. Many people starting out on the
web just use ‘easy editors’ (also known as WYSIWYG for what you
see is what you get) that show the page as it will appear,
without ever looking at the code that the page is actually made
from.
This is fine if you intend to distribute and are only interested
in the look of the page. Visually artistic people are often
drawn to using WYSIWYG (pronounced wise-ee-wig) editors when
creating their web pages because it allows them to see exactly
what they are doing and frees them from the time consuming task
of learning HTML. |
The structure of HTML is based on logic, order, and syntax and
is, therefore, relatively simple to use. To make a heading, you
use the heading elements (<h1>, <h2>, <h3>, and so on up to
<h6>). To start a new paragraph, you use a paragraph element
(<p>). To format a list, you use a list element (start with <ul>
then use <li>). In order to learn HTML it is a good idea to go
to www.w3schools.com As XHTML is gaining more and more
popularity among web masters (and search engines) it may be a
good idea to learn that instead. XHTML is basically a more
standardized version of HTML and it is worth learning. If you
learn XHTML along with CSS, you will have be able to make
extremely powerful web pages.
Once you understand that all you’re doing is providing these
simple structures, you realize the understated power of HTML.
You see, once your HTML structure is in place with the
appropriate markup, you can add CSS (Cascaded Style Sheets) for
visual presentation, using a graphics design program. Good
elements provide meaning and structure to your content, making
it simple to add whatever design you want afterwards.
That said, the most important HTML elements (also called tags)
that you will run into are <title> and <h1> (through <h6>).
Whatever you put between <title> and </title> is what appears in
the blue margin at the top of the browser. This is also what
search engines use as the link text to your site. Your title
should be relatively descriptive and include as many key words
as it can without becoming abrasive. Seven or eight words is
generally a good length for the title of a web page.
Next are the <h1> tags. Generally, when you are trying to
optimize a web page for the search engine you will use this as a
subheading. Header tags (h1-h6) are all weighted by search
engines as more important than regular text because the search
engine assumes that you will only make text larger if it is
important. This is a good rule to live by. If you place your
subheading within a header tag you will probably get slightly
better search results for the key words in this subheading.
Remember that the difference between the way that a search
engine sees an <h1> tag and an <h2> tag is minuscule so set your
header numbers based on visual preference rather than search
engine standards.
Another tag that is very important is the <a> tag (or anchor
tag). This tag is used to link to other web pages and it is
invaluable to your web page because search engines like to see
relevant links on your web site. Make sure that you only link to
relevant sites, and while your at it, try to get a return link
so that your page rank increases.
Other tags such as <b> (bold) tags and <i> (italics) tags will
also help out. You can put these around your key words or less
important subheadings. These won’t do quite as much for you, but
they will definitely help to some extent and should be utilized
when practical.
The difference between your site and other sites of equal page
rank and similar material will be how well you utilize HTML
elements to exemplify your work. You can very easily modify your
web site so that things stick out where they should. Solid
knowledge of HTML is your best friend when you are performing
SEO activities. Remember, “If you build it, they will come.”
Some Guidelines for Using HTML Elements
While the BLOCKQUOTE element is intended for longer quotations
and Q is intended for shorter quotations, the Q element causes
all sorts of problems because it’s not very widely supported.
You shouldn’t use it at the moment – hopefully next-generation
browsers will support it.
The BR element is one of the more abused ones. If you understand
how HTML works, you should realize that its use is rarely
justified: use the P element for paragraphs instead of using the
BR element to provide paragraph-like breaks.
Now that you’re armed with some simple information, you should
consider learning more about HTML and how to use it. You used to
need to learn HTML before you could create a web page,
and that gave a lot of people the edge when it came to more
advanced web design and development later on. If you want to
catch up, you need to know what you’re doing on the technical
side of things.
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