To those who believe that a high Google position results from pure chance, think again. When you see a website at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), you can be certain that a lot of effort is being made behind the scenes to get them there.
The term for this kind of effort is search engine optimization (SEO), and it may seem daunting at first, but it quickly becomes second nature. Because of this, we’ve decided to break down the intricate procedure of on-page SEO into an easy-to-follow on-page SEO guide.
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What Is On-page SEO?
On-page SEO, as the name suggests, refers to the improvements made to a single web page to increase its visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) for searches about the keyword(s) it is targeting. You may see some of the adjustments we’ve made to the website while others are happening in the background. As a result, more targeted visitors will be drawn to the page, and your site’s overall SEO strength will increase as more pages are optimized.
On-page vs Off-page SEO
It’s important to review SEO fundamentals to grasp the distinction between on-page and off-page optimization. There are essentially three categories of search engine optimization:
The term “on-page SEO” describes actions taken on the page, such as enhancing the content or incorporating keywords.
Backlinking, directory submissions, social media marketing, guest blogging, press releases, and other off-site SEO tactics are all examples of “off-page SEO.”
Source code, sitemap, speed, security, structured data, and other non-S-words are all part of “technical SEO.”
These initiatives are shown as intertwined rings, not only for aesthetic sake. For example: if your on-page content isn’t good, you won’t obtain any backlinks (off-page), yet compressing pictures (on-page) might help your website load faster (technical).
The Importance of On-page SEO
On-page SEO is crucial since it provides Google with information about your website and its value. It’s useful for making your site more accessible to humans and search engine crawlers.
You should optimize your website for them to rank well on Google and other major search engines and encourage new visitors.
The name “on-page” SEO refers to the fact that the optimizations you apply to a page are really visible to visitors, as opposed to off-page and technical SEO factors.
You are solely responsible for all aspects of on-page SEO; therefore, getting it right is essential. Let’s talk about some on-page SEO basics right now.
How To Develop Content For SEO
If you’re still familiar with SEO, creating content for it might seem daunting. Yet, after you’ve mastered the technique, it’ll be as natural to you as breathing. If you want your content to rank well in search engines, you should do the following these things:
1. Conducting Keyword Research
Start with some basic keyword investigation. You need to know what keyword you’re going for to do any of the actions outlined in this piece. We outline the process for you, but here are a few pointers:
The bulk of your keyword research and on-page SEO work will be done in your blog entries.
Learn how to use keyword research tools to uncover low-competition, high-volume phrases.
Each page should focus on a single keyword or keyword topic. To illustrate, we’ve optimized this article for the search terms “on-page SEO,” “on-page SEO checklist,” and “what is on-page SEO,” rather than creating many pages that would compete with each other on the search engine results page.
Try searching for them on Google. Even if you follow these procedures to the letter, your page can only rank well if the information presented answers the questions the targeted keyword poses.
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2. Quality of Content
As defined by Google, thin content is not original material and does not provide much value to the reader. This includes auto-generated text, thin affiliate pages, scraped content, and gateway sites.
If your page lacks any of these features, it does not imply it does not have thin content. Value is the keyword in the preceding sentence. For a keyword to be successfully used on a page, it must
- Reliable: facts check out, delivering on what was promised in the headline.
- Useful: means it answers a user’s question or solves their problem when they look for it.
- Implementable: every “what” must be followed by a “how,” even if the “how” is a link to another source.
- Understandable: Text broken up by photos, bullets, call-out quotations, and other visual components is far more readable than content that relies only on headings for organization and cannot be skimmed.
- Optimal length: at least 1,500 words if the page you’re optimizing is a blog post. The top 50 blogs on Hubspot tend to be between 2,100 and 2,400 words long, so that’s the range they suggest. But, they do note that one-third of those popular blogs are under 1,500 words.
3. Using Keywords
If you’re writing organically, the keyword and LSI keywords will appear in the text without seeming forced. Yet, there are some instances when you should purposefully insert your term. This involves, however, is not limited to:
- Page title: What you see in the title bar is what you get when you load a page.
- Title tag: This is the page’s title as it will appear in search engine results.
- The page’s first 100 words: Be careful to work this in organically.
- Headings: We recommend using at least two H2 headings on every page.
- Meta Description: Your page’s description will appear in search engine results.
- Image alt text: An image’s text replacement.
- Image file name: Don’t just label your picture “Screenshot-1” or a “chart.”
Refrain from confusing the preceding list; we will explain each item in more detail in the next sections of this tutorial.
4. Images
Pictures are an on-page optimization in and of itself since they keep visitors on a page for longer, and page dwell time is a ranking consideration. What follows is a list of things you should do to optimize your images:
Optimize for latency: You can improve load times by using tools to resize photos so their width doesn’t exceed the maximum width of the page and by compressing them to minimize file size without compromising quality. A content delivery network may be something you should investigate if your site is exceptionally huge and image-heavy (CDN).
Insert alternate text: A picture’s textual equivalent appears here. Keywords should be included here to help Google (and screen readers) understand the picture’s context.
Communicate value: Include visual aids like graphs, screenshots, and even your artwork to clarify the ideas on the page. In other words, visuals with substance.
Do not rely just on pictures; alt text is limited to a few words, so if you want to emphasize a certain phrase in your content, you need to thoroughly explain that term in the page’s main text.
Filename optimization: Name your picture file with your goal term to improve search engine rankings. Ensure there are no extra spaces after any dashes or underscores in the filename. If you don’t, search engines may substitute characters like “%20” or other gibberish that detracts from the credibility of your picture and lowers its rating.
5. Title Tag & Headers
Every page on a website has two possible titles:
- Title tag: Often called meta title or SEO title, this title will show above the fold when a user clicks on your website from a search engine results page. The ideal length for a title tag is 60 characters or less and should include the term you’re optimizing for. If you want your headline to appear in full on mobile devices, it’s important to put the focus keyword at the beginning.
- H1 tag: The H1 tag displays the page’s title at the top. You may be more inventive and express additional value here, but the keyword should still be included. You shouldn’t feel obligated to switch around your title tag and H1 tag, but it’s important to know you can if you want to. Nonetheless, having a catchy title is essential for on-page SEO since it affects how many people click through to your page. The headline that packs a punch:
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- Provides a sense of worth. Why should someone read this? A headline like “7 Yoga Poses to Try Today” doesn’t entice readers to click on it. Conversely, “7 Yoga Poses That Enhance Sleep” is effective.
- Maintains a level of honesty without making false promises. Only try to pass it off as an ultimate guide if it isn’t, and don’t alter it to make it more in line with other high-ranking sites for that query if it still needs to.
- Has a descriptive quality. The page title “Services” may work for your website, but it will likely be misunderstood by those using search engine results pages (SERPs). Choose “Economical Norfolk Landscaping Service Bundles” instead.
- Is extremely intriguing. You should refrain from shouting or overusing exclamation points! Power words like “supercharge” may replace the less impressive “enhance.”
6. Headings
With headings, you may divide up the content on your website into logical chunks. They tell your readers where on the page they are, but Google also needs to know this to determine whether your page is relevant to the keyword you’re using. Nevertheless, it needs to have our ability to recognize headers based on font size and weight. On the contrary, Google only reads HTML.
You may use one of six different header tags. You can either use the drop-down choice of header tags provided by your CMS (WordPress, Squarespace, etc.) or manually insert them into the HTML code to get the desired effect.
- <H1> Each page should contain just one H1> tag since it serves as the title.
- <H2> The H2> tag denotes the most important parts of your writing. You should always have at least two that include the keywords you’re targeting, which should be simple to achieve with one section in your article and the conclusion, and a well-optimized page might have anywhere from two to twenty-two H2s.
- <H3> They are used to mark the various points being made within every H2 section. Employ them just when necessary, and don’t bother having keywords here.
- <H4> to <H6> These titles aren’t doing anything for your SEO, and if you break up your material that much, it isn’t that legible either. Sometimes, though seldom, I’ll pop an H4.
Increase your chances of ranking on the first page of Google by using heading tags to make your website visible in search results for more precise searches connected to the page. Make sure your headers are informative. Skimming the headlines should provide the reader with a sense of what the page is about.
7. Meta description
Use the meta description if you want a summary of your page to display below the title in search engine results. Think of the meta description as the commercial for your page; a good one will convince search engine users that your content is the solution to their problem. This is a checklist for your meta description:
- Maintain a character count of 155–160.
- Feature the primary keyword and, if appropriate, related terms.
- Provide concrete next steps and highlight the benefits to the reader. The following is an illustration:
- Power words and synonyms for commonly used terms are provided in this article for use in advertising.
- Make your marketing emails, social media posts, advertisements, and more stand out with this comprehensive collection of over 350 powerful words and phrases.
Google may not always use the meta description you supply. Depending on the query, it generates them on the fly from your content, so be sure to include appropriate heading tags. Remember that the meta description also appears in preview snippets, such as those on social media.
9. Links
On-page optimization for search engines involves internal and external links (also called backlinks). In this step – SEO audit, we cover a lot of ground, including some excellent information on linking, but here are the essentials.
10. Adding External links
Your site’s external links lead visitors to other websites. Websites with a high domain authority should link to relevant subject pages as an on-page SEO best practice. In turn, this increases Google’s confidence in your site’s credibility. In his latest piece, SEO expert Brian Dean recommends linking to at least three high-quality sites.
11. Internal Links
The internal links on your page will direct the viewer to different sections of your website. In addition to having internal links on your page, you should have other pages on your site connected to the one you’re trying to optimize.
Anchor text should always include the target keyword and be unique to the linked page. This improves usability and helps your website rank in search results if you can get links to your page using that term in the anchor text.
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Conclusion
Use our elaborate on-page SEO guide to make these adjustments on your website, or have someone else do it after you’ve finalized your SEO strategies. Finishing will take time, so do 5-10 pages each week.
Remember that search engine optimization is a continuous process. You should always work to become better at it.
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