How to format text and image content Correctly for search engine optimization
In addition to setting up the All in One SEO Pack or WordPress SEO by Yoast, you should always make sure that you format website content correctly.
There are only three things to remember here.
1. Text link Descriptions
Every time you put in a link, always make sure the link has a description.
I selected one of my links here, clicked on the Link button 
to edit it, and then I inserted a title that describes a link.
This link is pointing to the artist themes page, so I’ll simply added the alt text “Artist Themes by Artbiz.ca.” Hover your mouse over the link and you will see it as a tool tip.
The link is within my site so I set the target to same window. If it is an external link you may want to check the box next to “Open link in a new window/tab”.
click image to enlarge screenshot instructions
2. Image link Descriptions
When it comes to images, you’ll also have to make sure an image has an alternate description, so that search engine knows what the image is about and people who use browsers that don’t show images or text-to-speech browsers also see what the image is about.
To do this click the image in your editor, select the Edit button, and go in and give it alternate text. We called the example image below “Blue Bar Blog artist theme by artbiz.ca.” You can see it by hovering your mouse over the image.
Save your work and now the image will be indexed properly.
this is the image example
click image to enlarge screenshot instructions
3. Using Heading Tags
Finally, if you have subheadings inside your post, make sure you actually tag them, and tag them according to a hierarchy.
Your post title will always be heading 1 and is applied by WordPress.
The level headings that we can apply a tag to in this article are the 3 topics – like 3. Using Heading tags here – this should be heading 2, and if you have any subheadings underneath that those would be 3, 4, and 5, and so on.
By tagging these headings, Google and other search engines will know that these are break points inside your article where more information is provided. It will also say where that information is.
When you’re writing you may have a style guide to work with. If this is your own site, the following will be useful to you when choosing what text styles to apply in your content:
- Heading 1 through to Heading 6 – in most themes headings within a post or page will start at Heading 3 (H3), going down to H6. The higher the value, the more important a search engine will consider it, but remember that H1 is usually reserved for the site title at the top of the page, and H2 for the post or page’s title. Interfering with that order can result in search engine penalisation.
- Use Unordered or Ordered lists for lists that are relatively short, but resist the temptation to use them for lists of paragraphs – instead, use the Heading styles.
- Use Bold and Italic in moderation. Do NOT use bold as a substitute for heading styles – bold is not as important to a search engine.
- Some themes may override your styling decisions – for example, enforcing alignment, what an italic actually looks like and so on. You should experiment with this.
- Most themes will highlight links in a different colour and with hover properties – you shouldn’t need to worry too much about these.
- What something looks like in the visual editor and how it will look on the page are quite different, unfortunately – make good use of the Preview button before publishing.
In Conclusion
By adding this information, you’re actually making it easier for the search engines to understand your content, and that in turn will make it easier to index.
When you’re done with all your changes, remember to click Update.
Now your page is far more understandable for search engines and for your visitors.
By formatting your content correctly and using the SEO plug-in, your content is far more likely to be found by search engines and the visitors to your site.
Writing good content and setting up things for SEO usually just means being specific and accurate. There is no magic; just write what you know, and you’ll be fine.
Hi Kim, I just found your blog. It’s great! I learned something new already. I’ve been using WordPress for years, but I can see I have much more to learn! Thanks.
That’s great Peggy, I hope to keep you well informed.