The following should be provided for each web page:​

​Keywords​

• Each page should be optimised for at least one primary keyword and one secondary keyword, as a minimum.​
• Target long-tail keywords.​

On-page optimisation​

Headings and page structure: structure page content with descriptive headings and subheadings.​

• Heading tags let search engines know what a page is about. Include H1 (main) and H2 (sub) heading tags (or more), containing keywords where possible.​
  • Html tags: <h1>This is heading 1</h1>, <h4>This is heading 4</h4>​
• Page titles (also known as title tags) provides a webpage title for search engines/browsers. It appears in the browser tab.​
  • Html tag: <title> </title>​

Heading Tags for SEO​

<h1> Most important information​

<h2> Second most important​

<h3> Third most important​

<h4> Fourth most important​

Internal and external links: ​

• What are they?​
  • Internal links are hyperlinks to other pages on the same domain and external links are links to pages on other domains. ​
• Use keyword-rich anchor text where possible and always be descriptive about where the link goes to.​
  • Bad examples: click here, read more, website​
  • Good examples: download the salary guide, high-performing teams, permanent staffing​
• Links should be useful for the reader and relevant to the subject that you are writing about.​

URLs: should be concise, clear, and descriptive. Separate words with a hyphen ("-"). Should not include STOP words. E.g. and, a, of. ​

Incorporate visuals such as images to break up the page.

Metadata​

• Should explain what the page is about and why a user should click. ​
• Meta Title and Meta Description should be included. Used by search engines to gauge relevance of webpage. ​

Meta titles​

• Be no longer than 60 characters (including spaces). Please note that seven characters are automatically appended into each meta title, so this needs to be taken into consideration.​
• Dashes (-) should be used as a delimiter rather than pipes (|) – e.g. Our range of funds - Fund Centre. ​
• Be unique to each page; do not duplicate title tags across pages.​
• Include the primary keywords that page is targeting but without forcing it.​
• Be descriptive and readable; if it makes sense to a user, it makes sense to a search engine.​
• Consistent: feature the organization's brand name – so users know where content is from: Page Summary | Hays​

Meta descriptions​

• Ideally 120–160 characters.​
• Be attractive and inviting, giving users a clear reason to click. ​
• Start with action words and contain a clear CTA. ​
• Do not duplicate the page title/meta title.

Page file name character length​

• Page file name should not exceed 75 characters.​

​PDFs and documents​

• Ensure documents have a proper title, specified in the document properties tab, before being published.​
• Ensure the pdf/document is saved as optimized for web (good UX) and ideally no larger than 25 mb (the smaller the better). ​
• Good practice:
  • 5mb ideal target for typical 1-2 page documents.​
  • 25mb for large image-rich documents​
  • 100mb absolute max

​Final Key points to consider​

• Check that your copy is free from spelling and grammatical mistakes.​
• Duplicate copy – Ensure copy is rewritten and not duplicated within one or more sites.​
• Check that the keywords you want your page to rank for are included within your page content. Keywords placed in headings, lead paragraphs and relevant links help the page to rank higher. Be careful to get the balance right though. Overusing a keyword or ‘keyword stuffing’ can penalise your website.​
• Build links to appropriate pages within your website and any relevant external website sources. Think of link building as a way of creating a better user experience for your website visitors. ​
• Complete the SEO and metadata fields within the content management system (CMS). Make sure that the page title and page description are unique so that search engines can tell the difference between the pages.