The structure of a page is today an important step in the understanding of texts by machines. The structuring of information with code has changed over time and our growing use. The HTML5 version introduced the notion of semantic tags to better structure an HTML page in order to help machines better understand the information present on a web page.
This is a very important step for referencing (SEO) , the search engine is increasingly capable of understanding the content of a web page to present the most relevant result to Internet users.In short, you can improve your SEO with HTML tags
Discover in this article how to use HTML 5 to improve your natural referencing and our online visibility.
What is an HTML tag?
HTML is a markup language that allows content to be structured and presented using different tags. The browser on our computer or smartphone reads the tags to display text, images, audio, video, etc.
For example, the <p> tag lets you say that it is a paragraph, <nav> the navigation menu, <Hn> the titles, etc.
By structuring your content as best as possible with as much semantic information as possible, you increase your chance of positioning yourself best in search results with targeted keywords.
To answer our query, the search engine must first understand the question and then show us a consistent result. If for humans it is easy to understand the text, it is necessary to give more information to search engine robots with the code to help it understand the information.
To convey more information to the machine, HTML5 has added some semantic tags in its latest version.
What is Semantic HTML5?
The role of an HTML tag is to display the content requested by the user using the web browser. Since the HTML5 version, semantic tags provide more information on what they contain.
It provides information to the machine to help understand the meaning and structure of the page. The machine understands the elements present in the content more easily. These beacons therefore facilitate communication with the machine.
Why use HTML semantic tags?
Semantic tags, in particular, help search engines understand the meaning of a page and index it accordingly. For example, the <hn> tag is used to denote a title, while the <p> tag denotes a paragraph. By using these tags correctly, developers can ensure that their pages are accurately indexed and ranked by search engines. Additionally, semantic tags can also help improve the readability of a page for users.
For SEO reasons
By structuring your content in semantic tags, you increase your chance of positioning yourself at the top of the SERP. These tags will give indications to indexing robots about what the tag contains. Using these tags can only be beneficial for your natural referencing.
For accessibility
Accessibility has become an important element to take into account in web creation. And the use of semantic tags can improve this accessibility. To give the more than 1 million people with visual disabilities the opportunity to read, we can adapt our website using code to be read by a screen reader.
By clearly defining the structure of a page, semantic tags make it easier for users to read and understand the content. They therefore play an important role in both SEO and ease of use.
To facilitate code maintenance
Any good web developer knows that using the right HTML tags is essential to creating a well-structured website. Not only do these tags help define the content of a page, but they also play an important role in maintaining the code. It will be easier to navigate a few weeks or months later.
Before these tags, developers were forced to use the <div> tag which did not allow the page to be structured. For example, if the developer wants to change the appearance and presentation of articles, simply modify the CSS by targeting the <article> tag. This saves valuable time for integrators and developers.
Some examples of semantic tags:
“nav” tag
It is a tag that contains information about navigation elements, menu, etc. These are links that send to other pages on the website. On an HTML page, you can have several navigation tags.
“header” tag
<header> tag displays introductory contents from the top of the page like navigation menu, logo, search box, author name, etc. The <nav> tag can also be found in a <header> tag. A <header> tag can be a descendant of an <article>, section, aside, etc. tag.
Semantic tag “article”
This tag adds structured data to present an article and could improve search engine presence. Data and tags that are linked to the <article> tag can help the search engine better understand the content.
A page can have several article tags, especially on the blog page.
Google explains adding structured data to articles
Semantic tag “section”
The HTML section tag is a great way to semantically group related content on a web page. By using the section tag, you can give your web pages a cleaner structure and make it easier for browsers and search engines to understand the content of your page.
Additionally, the section tag can be used to create sections within a document, such as a chapter in a book or an article in a magazine. By using the section tag, you can make your content more accessible and easier to navigate .
Semantic tag “footer”
The HTML footer tag is used to define the footer of a document or section.
They usually contain information such as the page author’s name, copyright information, contact details and other small pieces of text, navigation links and copyright information, etc.
The footer tag must be used inside the body tag. It can contain headings, paragraphs, lists, images and other inline elements. The footer tag can also be used to wrap multiple elements in a footer container.
The role of semantic footer tags is to improve the accessibility of web pages.
Screen readers often read the content of a footer before the main content of the page. By using semantic footer tags, developers can ensure that all important information in a footer is presented in an accessible manner.
“hand” tag
Main tag represents the main information of the page and is a purely informative tag. There can only be one <main> tag in an HTML document. This is the unique text in the document.
Using the main tag allows for better division of a page with other semantic tags. This is indeed the tag that replaces the old role=main tag
“Aside” tag
Like other semantic tags, the <aside> tag has a special semantic meaning. This tag allows you to divide the page more precisely. The content found inside this tag is additional information or which is not necessarily directly linked to the content, but which may provide additional information.
Other important HTML tags for SEO
Meta tags
HTML meta tags are tags used in the header section of an HTML document. They provide information about the document, such as the title, author, keywords, and description of the document. Meta tags are not visible to users, but they are used by search engines to crawl and index a website. They are used by search engines to help determine what a web page is about and what it contains.
For example, the <title> tag describes the purpose of the page. This is one of the main tags that is scanned when a page is indexed by a search engine. It is placed inside the <head> tag.
The meta description tag is a more detailed description of a page which has the role of encouraging people to click on the result displayed in the SERP.An example of a search engine result
To conclude: consider improving your SEO using HTML tags
Using HTML5 semantic tags on your web pages helps Google understand the structure and information present in the document. They also play a role in on-page optimization for SEO, so using them correctly is highly recommended. This could only be beneficial for your SEO strategy and your visibility on the web.
