Content optimization, also known as “on-page SEO,” involves refining your content to help it rank higher on search engines.

By optimizing your content for SEO, you’re ensuring it’s clear, relevant, and easily understood by search engines, which helps them serve it up to the right audience for relevant search queries.

In this guide, we’ll take you through every essential step to fully optimize your on-page SEO, setting you up for the highest chance of ranking success.

And if you’re a SurgeGraph user, you’re in luck – you’ll see how easy it is to optimize each item on this list with our powerful SEO tools, including the Auto Optimizer.

Not yet a SurgeGraph user? No worries. This article will cover useful tips on optimizing on-page SEO elements that you can manually adjust, even if you don’t use SurgeGraph.

1. Boost Your SEO Score

The first step to optimize your content is to look at your SEO score. If it’s low, you want to make sure to boost it. If it’s already well-optimized, that means you’re set to publish your content.

What is the SEO Score?

The SEO score in SurgeGraph tells you how well-optimized your content is in terms of on-page SEO.

You can easily find your SEO score on the right sidebar. It’s calculated on a scale of 1-100 and is conveniently color-coded like so:

• Red (1 – 33): Under-optimized
• Yellow (34 – 66): Moderately-optimized
• Green (67 – 100): Well-optimized

The SEO score is calculated based on whether your content follows gold-standard SEO best practices.

So, the higher your score, the better optimized your content is, and the better your chances of ranking on Google.

However, this doesn’t mean that you need to get a perfect score of 100 – aiming for a score within the well-optimized range is good enough.

5 Reasons Why We Updated the SEO Scoring

Recently, with the launch of the new SurgeGraph Vertex, we’ve made changes to how we calculate your content’s SEO score, including the criteria we look at, the weightage associated with each criteria, and the calculation formula.

Here are 5 reasons why we did this:

1. Moving from “Target Keyword” to “Search Query”

Instead of a single target keyword, you can now enter up to three search queries. This change allows you to cover a broader range of related topics and better align with how users search today – often by using longer phrases, questions, or complete sentences rather than keywords.

Additionally, search engines have evolved, utilizing advanced technologies like BERT and large language models (LLMs) to better understand the context and meaning behind search queries rather than relying solely on exact keyword matches.

By switching to search queries, SurgeGraph ensures that the content you generate aligns more closely with how real people search, resulting in improved content generation, SEO optimization, and search performance.

2. To provide more helpful suggestions

Previously, our suggestions for improving SEO scores were quite vague and required some brainpower from you to figure out what you needed to do. In short, they weren’t straightforward or helpful enough.

In this new version, we provide clear, specific steps to boost your content score so you don’t need to waste time thinking. Instead, you can implement the suggestions straight away.

3. To filter out bad influences from the SERP

We’ve made it so that the SEO scoring benchmark and suggestions are based on relevant and high-quality pages from the SERP’s top 10.

We recognize that some pages ranking in the top 10 may not be that great, so we filter out these bad pages so that they don’t influence and drag down your content.

4. To improve the reliability and drop outdated criteria

Google is always evolving its search engine algorithms, which might cause some criteria to be outdated and no longer help you rank better.

Hence, we’ve refined the scoring criteria to prioritize SEO elements that bring impactful results and removed outdated criteria to ensure your content aligns with the latest best practices.

5. To make the scoring more relevant for specific article types

Different article types now have their own customized SEO scoring criteria for improved relevancy. For example, Product AI articles (roundup, reviews, and comparison) will have dedicated criteria for product-related items.

How to Boost Your SEO Score

The easiest and fastest way to boost your SEO score is by using the Auto Optimizer. Simply click on Auto Optimize, and we’ll analyze your content to look for optimization opportunities. Then, you can either review the suggestions one by one or simply apply all.

However, the Auto Optimizer can only optimize certain but not all SEO elements.

Therefore, you can also refer to the SEO suggestions checklist. The more items you check off from the list, the higher your score.

Next, we’ll go over every on-page SEO element you should optimize, why they’re important, and how to optimize them.

2. Optimize the Number of Words, Headings, and Paragraphs

The structure of your content is shaped by its word count, headings, and paragraphs. To ensure your content is well-structured, you need to use the right balance of these elements.

This is why these factors are evaluated as part of your SEO score in SurgeGraph.

You can find the word count, headings, and paragraphs on the right sidebar, just below your SEO score. The big numbers represent your content’s totals, while the smaller ones are target numbers calculated based on the top-ranking pages for your search query (i.e., your competitors).

To achieve a full score, aim to meet or exceed these targets.

Why Word Count Matters for SEO

If you do a Google search for an informative keyword right now, you’ll notice that the top-ranking pages are long-form, in-depth articles with thousands of words.

In fact, plenty of SEO case studies have shown that longer content tends to rank higher in search results.

Here’s why content with a higher word count typically performs better:

1. Helps Google understand your content

Longer content provides more context and indicators like keywords that help Google understand better what your content is about. Not only will this improve your chances of ranking for your search query, you can also rank for more long-tail keyword variations.

2. Avoids being classified as thin content

Pages with very low word counts don’t have much depth, which typically results in thin content, something Google considers not helpful to users and hence won’t be ranked high. Conversely, longer content is more comprehensive, which signals to Google that your content is highly informative and helpful for users.

3. Improves your content’s competitive advantage

If your content has a significantly lower word count than the top-ranking pages for your search query, Google may interpret this as an indication that your content is less comprehensive than the existing high-ranking pages, and hence rank you lower.

Why Headings And Paragraphs Are Important For SEO

Headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) indicate the hierarchy and importance of content on the page, which helps search engines understand the relationship between different sections.

Additionally, Google often pulls content from headings for featured snippets, so properly using structured headings can increase the chances of your content being highlighted in the SERP.

Headings also improves readability as it allows users to skim and locate relevant information quickly. This can reduce bounce rates and increase time on page, which are positive signals for SEO.

Similarly, breaking content into more paragraphs makes it easier for users to read and process information, as large text blocks can overwhelm readers and lead them to abandon the page.

How To Optimize Number Of Words, Headings, And Paragraphs

To optimize your content, aim to meet or exceed the target numbers for word count, headings, and paragraphs.

However, avoid keyword stuffing or adding fluff. The goal is to provide comprehensive, valuable information.

Here are some tips to optimize your word, heading, and paragraph count:

1. Choose a Higher Word Count Setting

Before generating content, select a higher word count like 2,500-3,500 or 3,500-4,500 words. 

2. Customize and Expand the Outline

Review the generated outline and add more headings, subheadings, and talking points to cover the topic comprehensively. Use the Topic Coverage meter to gauge how thorough your outline is.

3. Use Custom Commands

Apply Custom Commands to your outline to add depth. For example, create commands like “Provide detailed explanations, helpful information, and examples to illustrate the points.” Read this article to get sample Custom Commands.

4. Use Expert Command

Highlight any part of your content to access the Expert Command dropdown menu, then enter a prompt or select from the preset “Expand” to expand the content.

5. Add More Headings

Under the “SEO Reference” tab on the left sidebar, click on “Headings” to see those found on the top 10 SERP pages. If you find a missing topic, easily add it by clicking the three dots and selecting “Add” or “Add & Write.”

6. Auto-Generate H3s

When building your outline, check the “Subheading” box in the Outline Preferences to automatically generate H3s. Alternatively, after building the outline, you can enable “Auto Generate H3” under any H2 to increase the number of headings.

3. Add Enough Images

The number of images refers to the total count of images included in your content.

Below the number of images in your content, you’ll find a target number, calculated based on the average number of images on the top-ranking pages for your search query.

To achieve a full score for images, you need to meet or exceed this target.

Why Images Are Important in SEO

Beyond making your content look nicer, images also help to:

1. Improve Readability and User Experience
   Images break up large blocks of text, making the content more engaging, easier to read, and less overwhelming. In fact, certain concepts might be more effectively conveyed through images rather than plain text. Overall, images significantly enhance user experience, which can reduce bounce rates, send positive signals to Google, and ultimately help improve your rankings.
2. Drive Traffic From Image Search
   Images can rank in search engines’ image search results, driving additional traffic to your site. For certain queries, users may prefer to click on images rather than text links. High-quality, relevant images can capture this audience.

How to Optimize the Number of Images

By default, SurgeGraph automatically adds relevant images to your content, either using stock images or through an AI image generator (Content Vision add-on required).

However, if you’re still not hitting the target number of images, or if you’re not satisfied with the images and want to replace them, you can add more images in three ways:

1. Generate AI Images with Content Vision
   Use our built-in AI image generator, Content Vision, to create unique AI images based on your own prompts (add-on required). We’ll also reprocess your prompt in the backend to improve it for better-quality images – this means you only need to input simple, straightforward prompts while we handle the complex prompt engineering.
2. Select Stock Images from Pixabay
   Click on the image icon in the toolbar to search and add stock images from Pixabay.
3. Add Your Own Images
   If you prefer not to use AI-generated or stock images, you can upload your own images directly.

4. Use Decorated Text

The number of decorated text refers to the number of text formatted with bold, italics, or underline in your content.

You can view the number of decorated texts and the target number in the right sidebar.

Why Decorated Text Is Important in SEO

Having decorated text helps you in two ways:

1. Improves readability for users
   Decorated text helps to highlight key information, making your content easier to scan and understand. This can improve the overall user experience by emphasizing important points and guiding readers through the content.
2. Boosts relevance to search engines
   Bolded keywords can signal the relevance and importance of specific terms in your content. The recent Google algorithm leak also revealed that Google pays extra attention to text that’s bolded or sized bigger.

How to Increase the Number of Text Decorations

1. Use the Auto Optimizer

On the right sidebar, click on the “Auto Optimize” button. Then, scroll down to “Add Decorations”. Review the suggestions, and accept those you like (or you can one-click-accept-all if you prefer). The Auto Optimizer’s suggestions will consist of bolding keywords or phrases that are important.

2. Do it manually

Of course, you can also do it manually (by decorating text yourself). Here’s some tips for adding text decorations:

• Bold: Use bold text to emphasize critical points, or key terms.
• Italics: Italicize text to highlight quotations, titles, or other content that needs subtle emphasis.
• Underline: I personally don’t use underline that much; however, if you want to, you can use it sparingly to draw attention to specific phrases or links.

5. Use Exact Match Keywords or Keyword Fragments in Title

Exact match keywords refer to your full search query. On the other hand, keyword fragments refer to keyword “chunks” extracted from your search query.

For example, let’s say your search query is “how to improve website loading speed for better user experience”.

The exact match keyword here is “how to improve website loading speed for better user experience”.

The keyword fragments could include: “improve website loading speed”, “improve website speed”, and “website loading speed”.

You can see what your keyword fragments are on the right sidebar by clicking on “See Analysis” under “Keyword Density”.

To get full marks for either criteria, you want to make sure that you include your search query or keyword fragments in your title.

Why Having Keywords in The Title is Important for SEO

When users search for information online, search engines try to “answer” their queries with the most relevant content.

And the title is one of the major things search engines look at to determine how relevant a content is to a search query.

If your title contains the search query or relevant keyword fragments, it signals to search engines that your content is likely relevant to the user’s search intent (of course, it looks at other stuff too). This can boost your ranking on search results.

Additionally, a title that matches closely to a user’s search query is also more likely to catch their attention and get them to click on it because it aligns with what they’re looking for. This leads to a higher CTR.

How to Include Exact Match Keywords or Keyword Fragments in The Title

Other than manually adding the keywords to your title, you can also use the Auto Optimizer for a faster and easier way.

Just click on Auto Optimize, and you’ll see a suggestion for optimizing your title where you can review and accept it if you like it.

6. Keep Title Length Around 60 Characters

Title length refers to the number of characters in your title.

To achieve a full score for title length, ensure that your title falls within the 55-65 character range.

Why The Title Length is Important For SEO

Google typically displays the first 50-60 characters of a title in search results.

If your title exceeds this length, it might get truncated mid-sentence, potentially hiding important information or keywords that could attract clicks.

On the other hand, if your title is too short, it may not effectively convey the content of your page, reducing its chances of being clicked.

How to Optimize the Title Length to Around 60 Characters

You can use the Auto Optimizer to get a title suggestion that’s optimized for both your keywords and length. Just click on Auto Optimize, review the suggestion for the title, and accept it if you like it.

Alternatively, here’s some tips if you’d like to manually optimize your title’s length:

1. Start your title with the most important keywords.
2. Remove unnecessary or filler words that don’t add value, such as “the,” “and,” or “in,” unless they are important for readability.
3. Come up with different title variations to see which ones fit best within the optimal character limit without compromising its meaning.

7. Use Keyword Fragments in Headings

As defined previously, keyword fragments refer to keyword fragments found within your search query. For example, if your search query is “easy home workout routines for beginners without equipment”, the keyword fragments from this search query could include: “home workout routines”, “workout routines for beginners”, and “workout without equipment”.

To get a full mark for this criteria, you want to make sure you’re including these keyword fragments in at least one of the headings.

Why Keyword Fragments in Headings is Important For SEO

Search engines like Google look at headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to determine a page’s structure and main topics. When keywords are used in headings, it signals to search engines that your content is relevant to those terms, which improves its chances of ranking higher for those queries.

Also, pages with well-structured headings that include keywords are more likely to appear as featured snippets or in rich search results. Google often pulls content directly from headings to answer specific queries, so having targeted keywords in those headings can help secure these positions.

How to Include Keyword Fragments in Headings

Here are some practical tips to help you integrate keyword fragments into your headings:

1. Retrieve Keyword Fragments

SurgeGraph automatically extracts the keyword fragments from your search query. You can see what these keyword fragments are by clicking on “See Analysis” under “Keyword Density” on the right sidebar. Review these keyword fragments and then proceed to the next step.

2. Review the Existing Content Structure

Examine the current structure of your content and the existing headings to understand the flow and hierarchy of the information. This will help you determine where each keyword fragment can be integrated naturally.

3. Match Keyword Fragments to Relevant Headings

Look at each keyword fragment and find the sections where it fits best. For example, if a keyword fragment is “workout routines for beginners,” match it to a heading that covers exercises or training plans designed for newcomers.

4. Insert Keyword Fragments into Headings Without Altering the Meaning

Adjust the wording of the headings to include the keyword fragments without changing their original intent. For instance, if the original heading is “Exercises You Can Do at Home,” you could revise it to “Beginner Workout Routines You Can Do at Home Without Equipment.”

8. Add Contextual Terms

Contextual Terms are keywords or phrases that are conceptually related to your search query. They include a combination of:

• NLP keywords
• Keywords frequently found on top-ranking pages
• Entities
• Advanced variations of all three

You can check how many Contextual Terms are present in your content compared to the target in the SEO suggestions list under the Contextual Terms item.

To achieve a full score, aim to meet or exceed the target number.

Why Contextual Terms Are Important for SEO

Using Contextual Terms in your content helps Google better understand the context and topic of your content. Only when Google correctly interprets your content can it index and rank your page accordingly.

For instance, when targeting the keyword “apple,” Google relies on Contextual Terms like “pie” or “fruit” to determine that your content is about the fruit, not the tech company.

How to Use Contextual Terms in Your Content

If you used SurgeGraph to generate your content, it will automatically include Contextual Terms.

However, if you’d like to add more Contextual Terms, here are 2 ways to do that:

1. Use the Auto Optimizer

Click on Auto Optimize on the right sidebar, and scroll down to the Contextual Terms suggestions. Then, review the suggestions and accept those you want to add to your content.

2. Refer to the SEO Reference

You can find Contextual Terms in the left sidebar under SEO Reference.

SERP Terms are keywords frequently found on the top-ranking pages, while Advanced Terms are entities, NLP keywords, and advanced variations of all three (SERP Terms, entities, and NLP keywords).

The Contextual Terms are color-coded based on their optimization status:

• Green: The term has been used within the optimal range.
• Yellow: The term is under-optimized. Increasing its usage is recommended.
• Red: The term is over-optimized. Reducing its usage is recommended.
• Gray: The term has not yet been used in your content.

You’ll also notice numbers to the left of each Contextual Term.

The number on the left shows how many times you’ve used the term, while the number on the right shows the optimal range of usage.

Additionally, you can click on any term to see its source and examples of usage.

9. Optimize Keyword Density

Keyword density refers to the percentage of the number of times a keyword appears over the total number of words.

In SurgeGraph, your keyword density is calculated from the average of multiple keyword densities: the exact match keyword (search query) and the keyword fragments extracted from the search query.

To get a more clear breakdown of each of the keyword, the target keyword densities, and their current keyword densities, click on “See Analysis” under Keyword Density.

To get a full score for this criteria, you want to make sure your keyword density meets the target keyword density.

Why Keyword Density is Important for SEO

Maintaining an optimal keyword density strikes the right balance between keyword presence and readability, allowing search engines to effectively understand the topic and relevance of your content.

A keyword density that is too high can lead to keyword stuffing, which can result in penalties or lower rankings in search results. Conversely, a keyword density that is too low may cause your content to lack relevance for a specific search query, hindering its ability to rank well.

Additionally, with SurgeGraph, you’re also including keyword variations and phrases surrounding your main search query. This helps with semantic SEO, as it helps search engines better grasp its context.

How to Optimize Keyword Density

To optimize your keyword density, first, you want to check the “See Analysis” section under Keyword Density to view the breakdown of your target and current densities for each keyword.

Then, try to integrate the keywords into your content where they fit organically and avoid forcing keywords into places where they don’t make sense. Also, try to spread the keywords throughout the entire piece rather than concentrating them in one area.

10. Ensure High Topic Coverage

Topic coverage refers to how comprehensively your content addresses all topics of your main topic.

We evaluate this by comparing the topics in your content with those covered by top-ranking pages.

If you cover all the relevant topics found in the top-ranking pages, you’ll receive a full score of 100%. If your score falls below this, it means there are topics covered by the top-rnaking pages that are missing from your content.

To get a full score for this criteria (in terms of the SEO score), aim for a perfect score on the topic coverage meter by ensuring your content thoroughly covers all relevant topics.

You can view your topic coverage score on the right sidebar, just below your SEO score.

Importance of Topic Coverage in SEO

A case study analyzing 11.8 million search results found a strong correlation between comprehensive topic coverage and higher Google rankings. Pages that extensively cover a topic tend to outperform those that only partially cover it. This happens for several reasons:

• Demonstrates Authority and Expertise
  Thoroughly covering a topic establishes your website as an authoritative source. In-depth content builds trust, increases engagement, and encourages sharing. Over time, this can lead to natural backlinks from other websites, further enhancing your SEO.
• Signals Valuable Content to Search Engines
  Search engines like Google prioritize content that covers a topic comprehensively. By addressing various aspects, subtopics, and related questions, your content signals value to search engines, improving its chances of ranking higher in search results.
• Improves Keyword Optimization
  When you cover a topic in-depth, you naturally incorporate a wide range of terms and phrases related to your main keyword. Using semantically related terms also helps you rank for more queries while avoiding keyword stuffing.

How to Optimize Topic Coverage

To improve your topic coverage score, you want to add headings or topics that are missing from your content.

This can be done either during the outline building stage, or after content has been generated.

First, refer to the “SEO Reference” tab on the left sidebar. Then, click on “Headings” to view the headings found on the top 10 SERP pages.

If you notice a missing topic, you can easily add it to your content by clicking the three dots and selecting “Add” or “Add & Write.”

11. Add Alt Text for Images

Alt text (alternative text) for an image is a brief description that is added to the HTML code to describe what the image is showing.

Why Alt Text Is Important

Alt text serves two primary purposes:

1. Accessibility
   Alt text enables visually impaired users to understand the content of an image through screen readers that read out the alt text to explain what the image shows. Moreover, when images fail to load, the alt text is displayed in their place, which maintains a good user experience.
2. SEO
   Search engines like Google cannot “see” images, so they rely on alt text to understand and index them properly. This contributes to better search rankings, particularly in image search results. Additionally, including relevant keywords in alt text (without overstuffing) can improve your rankings for specific search queries.

You can track how many of your images include alt text by checking the Alt Text item in the SEO suggestions checklist.

How to Add Alt Text to Your Images

To add alt text, click on an image and select “Add alt text to image”. Then, enter the appropriate description in the provided box.

12. Use Keyword Fragments in URL

Keyword fragments in URL refer to the presence of any of your keyword fragments in the URL slug.

The URL slug is the part that comes after your domain name and identifies a specific page on your website. The URL slug should describe the content of the page using words that are separated by hyphens (-).

Keyword fragments refer to keyword “chunks” found within your search query. For example, if your search query is “the ultimate guide to choosing the right skincare products for sensitive skin”, the keyword fragments from this search query may include: “choosing the right skincare products”, “skincare products for sensitive skin”, and “skincare for sensitive skin”.

To get full marks for this criteria, make sure to include any keyword fragment in your URL slug.

Why Keyword Fragments in the URL Are Important For SEO

The URL is one of the things search engines look at to understand the content of a page and whether it’s relevant to a search query. Hence, including important keyword fragments helps search engines understand your content better, increasing your chances of ranking well in search results.

How to Include Keyword Fragments in URL

To easily include keyword fragments in your URL, you can use the Auto Optimizer.

Just click on Auto Optimize, review the suggestion for “Optimize URL”, and accept it if you like it.

13. Optimize The Meta Description

The meta description is a brief summary of your content that appears below the page title in search results.

To get a full score for the meta description, you want to make sure you:

• Add a meta description
• Use 150-160 characters
• Include the keyword (exact match)

Why Meta Descriptions Are Important

A well-written, compelling meta description can attract more clicks, hence increasing your Click-Through Rate (CTR).

A high CTR signals to search engines that your page is relevant to users, which helps boost its ranking. 

Additionally, when the meta description includes keywords that match the search query, they may be bolded in the SERP.

This can draw attention and reassure users that your content will address their query.

How to Add Meta Descriptions

You can easily generate a compelling and optimized meta description using SurgeGraph’s Meta Description Generator.

To access the generator, first click the Export button and then click Generate. You can also click Regenerate if you’re not happy with the meta description.

As mentioned before, to get a full score, your meta description should include your keyword (exact match) and be between 150-160 characters in length.

Note: If you export your content to WordPress, we are unable to export the meta description automatically, as it is beyond our control. Hence, you’ll need to manually copy and paste the meta description you’ve generated.

14. Add Outbound Links

Outbound links, or external links, refer to links in your content that direct users to other websites.

To achieve a full score, make sure you have at least one outbound link for every 800 words.

Why Outbound Links Are Important For SEO

Some people may see outbound links as counter-intuitive for SEO. After all, why direct your hard-earned audience to other websites when what you want to do is to keep them on your website instead, right?

Well, outbound links are actually helpful to boost your credibility with both readers and search engines. For example, when you cite a fact, statistic, or case study, linking to the original source shows that your content is well-researched and backed by reputable sources.

Additionally, it helps users find more information about topics related to your content. When visitors find value in your page and the links you provide, they are more likely to trust your site and return in the future, boosting engagement metrics like time on page and reducing bounce rates, which sends good signals to Google. 

But you want to make sure that you’re only linking to authoritative and relevant external sites. Never, ever link to a website with a bad reputation to avoid being associated with them.

How to Increase the Number of Outbound Links

Here are some ways to add outbound links to your content:

1. Use the Auto Optimizer 

Simply click on the Auto Optimizer, and it will analyze your content to find the best outbound links to include.

Then, you can review the suggestions and click accept to apply them all or whichever you like.

2. Add manually

If you have specific websites you want to link to, you can also easily those links yourself.

To add a link, highlight the word or phrase you want to use as the anchor text. Next, click on the link icon in the toolbar. Then, enter the URL of the page you want to link to.

15. Add Internal Links

Internal links are links in your content that point to other pages on your website.

The SEO suggestion list will tell you the optimal number of internal links you want to include in your content. Meet or exceed this number, and you’ll get a full score for this criteria.

Why Internal Links are Important For SEO

Here are some SEO benefits of having internal links:

1. Distributes Link Juice

Internal links can boost the rankings of less authoritative pages by distributing link juice (also called “page authority” or “link equity) from higher-performing pages to lower-performing ones.

2. Increase Time Spent on Site

Internal links help users find additional information on a topic through internal links that guide them to related content. This encourages visitors to explore your website more and increase the time they spend on it (which sends good signals to Google that your website offers helpful content to users).

3. Helps Search Engines Discover and Index Your Pages

Search engines use internal links to crawl, discover, and index pages (especially new ones) on your website. By making sure your pages are interlinked, you make it faster and easier for search engines to index and rank your pages.

How to Optimize Internal Links

Here are 2 easy ways to add internal links to your content:

1. Use the Auto Optimizer

First, you want to click on the Auto Optimizer, scroll to the Link Optimization section, and then connect your domain to SurgeGraph so that we can analyze your website and look for linking opportunities).

Then, we’ll suggest outgoing internal links (links from your current content to other content) and incoming internal links (links from other content to your current content), which you can review and insert in one click.

2. Auto Insert Custom Links

Sometimes you might have specific pages within your website that you want your current content to link to.

You can easily automate this without having to struggle with finding the right place and anchor text by using the “Auto Optimize for Custom Links” feature.

First click on Auto Optimize, then you’ll see a dropdown that says “Optimize Existing”. Click on this dropdown and choose “Optimize Custom”. Then list your internal links in the Custom Links field and click “Auto Optimize Now”. Finally, review and accept the suggestions. 

16. Use Link Keywords in Anchor Text

Link keywords refer to keywords, brand names, or domain names found within the URL of a link.

For example, let’s say the URL is hbo.com/tenet-movie-explained-with-time-stamps.

• Keywords could be: “tenet movie” or “tenet move explained”
• Brand names could be: “Tenet” or “HBO”
• Domain names could be: “HBO” or “hbo.com”

When adding an external or internal link, we recommend using an anchor text that contains a link keyword.

Using the example above, if you’d like to insert that URL, you should use anchor text like “tenet movie,” “Tenet,” or “HBO” to get a full score for this criterion.

Conversely, you won’t get points for using generic or irrelevant anchor text like “click here” or “inception movie explained”

You can track whether you’ve used link keywords in anchor text under the “Linking” category in the SEO suggestions checklist.

Why Using Link Keywords in Anchor Text is Important for SEO

Here are some reasons why using link keywords are important:

1. Improves Link Relevance

Keyword-rich anchor text clearly communicates to both users and search engines what the linked page is about. This helps Google assess the relevance of the destination page and boosts the SEO performance of both the linked page and your own content.

2. Enhances User Trust

When users see an anchor text that accurately describes the content they’re about to visit, it builds trust – they know what to expect when they click on the link.

How to Use Link Keywords in Anchor Text

To get a full score for URLs, you want to use link keywords in your anchor texts.

While manually finding suitable parts of your text containing link keywords and turning them into anchor text is one option, here are some easier ways to ensure link keywords are used in your anchor text:

1. Use the Auto Optimizer

You can use the Auto Optimizer to automatically insert specific URLs with the anchor text you choose.

1. First, click on Auto Optimize.
2. Then, select Optimize Custom from the dropdown menu.
3. In the Insert Custom Links box, enter the URL followed by a space and then the anchor text. You can specify multiple anchor texts if needed.
4. Next, click on Auto Optimize Now. If your chosen anchor text doesn’t exist in the content, SurgeGraph will find suitable phrases that can be slightly tweaked to insert your desired anchor text.

Once the process is complete, review the suggestions, and accept the ones you like.

2. Use Expert Command

You can also use the Expert Command feature to rewrite specific parts of your content and include link keywords by following the steps below:

1. Highlight the text you want to modify.
2. In the input field, type a prompt such as “Include the phrase ‘tenet movie explained’ in this paragraph.”
3. Expert Command will rewrite the paragraph to include the link keyword.

Do note that this approach works best when applied to paragraphs where it’s contextually relevant to insert the link keyword. Trying to force it into an irrelevant section may produce awkward results.

17. Optimize Product Headings [Product AI Articles Only]

With Product AI articles (reviews, roundups, and comparisons), the SEO algorithm evaluates the headings for keywords that are contextually relevant to the products.

The requirements differ depending on the type of article:

• Reviews: Headings should contain the product specifications or features.
• Roundups: Headings should feature the product name.
• Comparison (Item to Compare): Headings should include the product name.
• Comparison (Criteria for Comparison): Headings should contain the product specifications or features.

You can monitor the status of your product headings in the SEO tab under the category “Headings.”

To achieve a full score for this criteria, ensure that your headings are contextually relevant to the product specifications or names, depending on the type of article.

Why Product Headings are Important for SEO

Effective product headings improve both user experience and SEO performance.

They help users quickly identify the content of each section, making it easier for them to find relevant information.

For search engines, contextually relevant headings contain essential keywords that help with indexing and ranking.

How to Optimize Product Headings

Here are some examples of what good headings would look like for each Product AI article type:

• Reviews: Use headings that feature the product specifications or features.
  Example: “6.8” Display with Adjustable Warm Light”, “Extended Battery Life up to 10 Weeks”
• Roundups: Use headings that include the product name.
  Example: “Amazon Kindle Paperwhite”, “Kobo Nia”, “PocketBook InkPad Lite”
• Comparison (Item to Compare): Use headings that feature the product name.
  Example: “Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Analysis”, “Kobo Nia Analysis”
• Comparison (Criteria for Comparison): Use headings that include the product specifications or features.
  Example: “waterproof”, “battery life”, “warm light”

Tips on Ensuring the Right Keywords Are Used in the Product Headings

1. Check the Headings During the Outline Building Process

When building your outline, do a quick review to ensure that the product name or features are included in the headings.

If they are missing, you can easily add them to relevant headings so that they are incorporated into the final content.

2. Use Expert Command

Utilize the Expert Command feature to refine your headings. Use a prompt that instructs it to incorpoate the product’s name or key features into the headings.

18. Optimize Product Specification Coverage [Product AI Articles Only]

Product specification coverage refers to how thoroughly your Product AI article addresses the specifications or features of the product being discussed.

We evaluate this by looking for important keywords and phrases related to the product’s specifications.

For example, if you are reviewing gaming headphones, specification terms could include “frequency response,” “battery life,” and “connection type,” rather than vague terms like “affordable” or “high-quality.”

The more thorough your coverage, the higher your score. If you haven’t achieved a full score for this criteria, it means there are some important product specifications that haven’t been covered in your article.

To get a full score for this criteria, you want to make sure you cover the product specifications thoroughly through the usage of important keywords and phrases.

Why Product Specification Coverage is Important For SEO

When your content is rich in relevant keywords related to product specifications, it is more likely to appear in search results for specific product queries. This can lead to an increase in organic traffic, as your page attracts users searching for those precise terms. For example, using “20-hour battery life” in your content will make it more likely to rank for queries like “Barracuda X battery life” compared to using a generic term like “high-quality performance.”

How to Optimize Product Specification Coverage

By default, content generated by SurgeGraph automatically optimizes product specification coverage, ensuring that important keywords and phrases related to product features are effectively included.

However, if you didn’t use SurgeGraph or want to enhance the coverage further, here are some tips:

1. Do Keyword Research: Start by identifying relevant keywords related to the product specifications. Focus on long-tail keywords that reflect common queries about product features. You can use keyword tools to do this.
2. Analyze User Reviews: Users often discuss specific features that are important to them, which can provide insights into what to include in your content. This will also help ensure you are covering aspects that potential buyers care about.
3. Include Specifications When Writing: When writing your article, try to include as many specifications based on your keyword research and user review analysis. 
4. Use Headings and Subheadings Strategically: Organize your article with clear headings and subheadings that reflect the product specifications. For example, use headings like “Battery Life,” “Audio Quality,” and “Connection Type”.

19. Optimize Product Table Content and Structure [Product AI Articles Only]

All Product AI articles (reviews, roundups, and comparisons) include product specification tables that provide detailed information about each product (e.g., features and specs).

The SEO scoring algorithm analyzes and scores these tables based on their structure and content (e.g. whether there’s sufficient information about the product).

To achieve a full score in this area, your product tables should be well-structured and include comprehensive details about the product.

Why the Product Specification Table is Important in SEO

Here are a few reasons why having well-structured product specification tables can improve your content’s SEO performance:

1. Improves User Experience

Users searching for product information want details that help them make informed purchasing decisions. Product tables organize information in a clear, concise way, making it easier for users to compare features. This keeps users engaged longer, reducing bounce rates and increasing time spent on your page – both of which send positive signals to search engines.

2. Higher Search Rankings and CTR for Product Queries

Product specification tables often include keywords related to product features, specs, and comparisons. This improves your page’s ability to rank higher for product-related search queries. Additionally, Google may extract key details from your product tables to display as rich snippets or featured snippets in search results, which can significantly increase your click-through rate.

How to Optimize Product Specification Tables

By default, all Product AI articles generated by SurgeGraph will automatically include product specification tables.

SurgeGraph creates the tables based on the product information retrieved from the product links in the document creation step. This means you don’t have to go through the trouble of manually building those tables yourself.

Instead, here are some additional steps you can take to ensure the tables are the best they could be:

1. Ensure Accurate Product Links

Whether your product links come from Amazon, the SERP, or any other platform, make sure to double check them before generating your document. If the link lacks detailed product information, it will be reflected in the final content.

2. Customize the Table Section in the Outline

In your article outline, SurgeGraph automatically creates table sections for each product heading. However, if you want take it a step further, you can customize the table by specifying the columns when building the outline.

3. Add Missing Information

If the product table lacks important details, you can manually add the information or use Expert Command to fill in the gaps. For example, you can use a prompt like, “Add specifications for battery life and screen size to this product table.”

Conclusion

And that wraps up all the on-page SEO elements you can optimize to boost your chances of ranking higher.

Feel overwhelmed by the long list? No worries.

This is exactly where SurgeGraph will ease the burden for you with the powerful SEO tools at your disposal (including the convenient Auto Optimizer).

If you haven’t already, join SurgeGraph now and easily optimize your content for the best ranking success.

FAQ

1. Do I need to achieve a perfect score of 100 before publishing my content?

Nope! Getting a score within the well optimized range (above 70) is good enough.

2. Can I just use the Auto Optimizer to optimize everything for me?

Typically, using the Auto Optimizer will boost your SEO score to above 70, though not all the time. Because it can only optimize certain items and not all, you might still need to perform some manual optimization.

3. I need more help.

Email support at hello@surgegraph.io.