Before we start talking about on page SEO, it is important to touch on SEO. SEO is the process of boosting a website’s visibility organically (without investing money for paid ads), with the aim of ranking higher on search engines like Google for a specific word or phrase known as keywords. Some other factors that influence SEO and on page SEO specifically include keywords, meta descriptions, internal links, and images (image alt text in particular) to name a few.
as a Promise Media agency Brisbane will explain and explore all of these terms and more, so that after reading this article you will have a good understanding of how on page SEO works and to use the knowledge you gained to help rank your website higher on the search engine results pages on search engines like Google. We have spread over SEO services in Melbourne and SEO services in Sydney to deliver an exceptional results for our clients.
If you are looking for an all in one on page SEO guide that will guide you through A to Z in on page SEO, you’ve come to the right place. This article will explore on page SEO in a way that is easy to understand.
This guide on on-page SEO will try to answer all your questions about it, allowing you to get an idea about the terms and phrases used in SEO.
What is On-Page SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization which is enabling search engines to discover content that allows users to find your website that makes a choice about what your website is through a search engine like Google.
There are different types of SEO including on page SEO, off page SEO and technical SEO all which helps make your content discoverable. One of the most important aspects of SEO is ensuring accessibility for search engine bots to crawl the content on websites to rank them on the SERPs or search engine results pages.
On page SEO is part of the whole SEO process where webpages are optimized for both the end users and search engines. If this is done properly, it can help rank your webpages high on search engines like Google and drive extra traffic without having to pay for ads, which is also called organic traffic.
Organic traffic is a great way to grow your brand awareness, as most people search online with the intent of buying rather than seeing a random ad on social media that might not be relevant to them though they saw it. Focusing on on-page SEO will help you get your products and services in front of people who are looking for products and services like yours to help solve their problems and make their lives easier.
Investing in on page SEO will help you drive more relevant traffic to your website and help you acquire new leads and generate more sales because the traffic and views you get will be more focused rather than random because your content has been optimized for on page SEO.
How is On-Page SEO different from Off-Page SEO
On-page SEO is everything you might do on a webpage to help rank your pages higher on search engines. This involves optimizing your content for specific target keywords or phrases your target audience might search for on search engines.
Meanwhile, off-page SEO includes all you can do to optimize your content outside a website or externally to boost the search engine rankings of your website. This is done through acquiring backlinks. Backlinks are the most important off-page SEO factor. Some examples include building backlinks using social media and PR.
Both on page SEO and off page SEO are important when it comes to an excellent SEO strategy. What is worth stating is that you have complete control over on-page SEO factors. This makes on page SEO an excellent place to start, especially if you are new to the world of SEO.
Why is On-page SEO Optimization Important for Websites?
Search engines use specific words and phrases known as keywords and other on-page elements to check if a certain page matches a user’s search intent. If the page is useful and related to what the searcher was intending to discover, it is most likely that search engines like Google will serve it to the end user.
Search engines like Google pay attention to on-page WordPress SEO factors, ecommerce SEO or local SEO for whenever they rank their websites. The Google algorithm is continually updated. Google is all about creating a great user experience. Google always focuses on putting the needs of their users first. That is why Google prefers human written or created content over AI content when ranking websites based on SEO.
Search engines like Google have introduced different algorithm updates throughout the years. Some of the major updates introduced by Google include Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Mobile, Rankbrain, Medic and Bert.
An algorithm is a complicated set of rules that rank websites as search results. Being aware of the different algorithm updates introduced by major search engines such as Google will help you stay one step ahead of your competition. If you want to rank on search engines like Google, it is best to have a good understanding on how search engines work and how they decide what content they choose to rank higher over others.
Another way to get to the top of search engine result rankings is to understand your competition. Having a good idea about what your competitors are doing will help you tweak your on page SEO strategy to help you compete and outrank your competitors. Conducting regular competitor analysis using tools like SEMRush, Moz or Ahrefs will help you content stand out. Doing competitor analysis should not be about copying your competitors, it should be about learning from them and growing your own brand by doing everything you can to help rank your website higher on the search engine results.
Therefore, if you take the necessary time and effort to create valuable content that matches the user intent of the end user. Next, let’s look at how you can optimize your content to reflect on-page SEO best practices. Search intent is something you need to keep in mind when focusing on on page SEO optimization.
What is Search Intent?
Search intent is the frame of mind a person has when searching for something online. It is important that the content on a webpage matches user expectations. This can be done by paying careful attention to the titles, readability, subheadings, and internal linking. The goal of your content needs to be to satisfy the end human user.
There are some best practices you need to follow when conducting on page SEO optimization. Below, we will explore things that should NOT be done. Knowing what not to do will help you stay on track on your on page SEO optimization process.
Don’t Do’s in On-Page SEO
On page SEO is not about stuffing your content unnecessarily and meaninglessly with exact match keywords. It is about strategically placing keywords so that it makes sense to the end user to facilitate great user experience.
It is also not about placing keywords a specific keyword a certain number of times. Trying to place keywords a certain number of times will make the content less user friendly and create unnecessary clutter.
On page SEO doesn’t necessarily need to meet a certain word count to rank higher on Google.
Types of Keywords
Key Techniques of On-page Optimisation
In this section, we will take a closer look at on page SEO tips and techniques you might want to consider if you are optimizing your content. This section will explore different techniques ranging from creating unique and quality written content to including optimized images in your content for SEO purposes.
You can use SEO tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs and Moz to analyze your content and suggest actionable items you can use to help optimize your website content for on page SEO.
Use Click-magnet Titles
By click-magnet, it doesn’t mean clickbait. It means crafting titles that compel users to click by promising incredible value to your end users. It is not just important to promise but deliver on this promise, if you want website visitors to visit, stay, engage and share your website with their social circles.
Titles or title tags are very important, if not not the most important when it comes to on page SEO ranking factors you need to pay attention to when optimizing content for on-page SEO.
This is because the title (the main one in particular) gives search engines an idea about what your content is about. The keyword doesn’t need to be at the start of your title necessarily, but including it in your title will increase the probability of being picked up by search engines. This can also be helpful in providing your human users with an idea about what your content is about and drive higher CTRs or click through rates if you take the time and effort to create click worthy titles.
A great title will be helpful for both search engines and human users to understand what your content is about. A well crafted title will allow end users to have some understanding as to what your website or article is about and if it matches what and why they searched online, they will be compelled to click on your website to know more.
An awesome tip is to use modifiers like best, guide and fast to rank for long tail keywords based on your target keyword.
Craft unique and quality written content
One of the most crucial on site or on page SEO aspects you shouldn’t ignore is to craft compelling, useful and high quality written content that matches reader requirements and search intent.
You can begin this process by conducting keyword research to discover relevant keywords regarding topics you hope to create content on. There are a number of keyword research tools available online, some of them paid and free. Some of the most popular keyword research tools include Moz, Ahrefs and SEMRush. Learning to use these tools well will help you discover relevant keywords that match the search intent of your end user.
Some of the key metrics when using these tools are search volume and keyword difficulty (KD). It is important to pay attention to these. Search volume is how much users search for the specific keyword while keyword difficulty or KD is how difficult it is to rank for more competitive keywords.
It is best to target keywords with low competition such as long-tail keywords. These are keywords that usually have less search volume but lower keyword difficulty. Optimizing for long tail keywords will make it easier for your content to rank as there is not much competition for these keywords.
Some of the key factors you need to keep in mind when creating optimized, high quality content include things like incorporating keywords naturally to your content so that you don’t stuff your content with keywords. Remember to ensure that your content matches the search intent of the target keyword you selected.
Use Target Keywords Strategically
It is important to use the keywords you select properly. It can be done by placing these keywords strategically in your written content. Search engines like Google will scan to see if the content on your website to understand its content, just like you human users will.
Some of the areas you should keep in mind and include your target keywords are the H1 tag, first paragraph and subheading which include H2 tags and H3tags, where H stands for header.
Breaking down your content into different types of header tags will allow Google to gain contect on the topic of your page. This will help your end users to match their content with the searcher intent. One key step to take is to start analyzing your content with on page SEO checkers offered by SEMRush.
Craft Keyword-Rich Title Tags
Title tags are chunks of HTML code that show what the title of a page is about and is displayed on search engines. These are very important as they will be a key-deciding factor on if your end users will click on your webpage. These are the blue tags you see listed on the search engine results page or SERPs.
Some of the most important tips to consider when crafting your title tags include keep it short and sweet, including your target keyword and being unique, which will make it more likely that your end user will click on your website.
Focus on Writing Fantastic Meta Descriptions
Meta description is an HTML element that gives a small snippet of the page, it’s sort of like a super short sneak peek of the webpage. Search engines might use this to create a snippet which is the short descriptive content of a search result.
While meta descriptions aren’t believed to directly influence Google rankings. But just like title tags, these can be a deciding factor between users clicking on your webpage or choosing to click on another. This means you can use this to drive more search traffic by making it appealing to your end human user.
It is important to ensure that your meta description matches your end user’s search intent, so search engines like Google will use it as the selected meta description.
Some of the tips and techniques to do this includes considering mobile devices, including your target keywords and using active voice instead of passive voice.
Use Heading and Subheadings
H1 tags and other header tags like H2 and H3 lets users skim through your website content easily. That’s not all, it also helps search engines like Google to get a hang on the hierarchy of a webpage. It’s a win-win for both search engines and your end human user. Using header tags will give your content coherent structure which will make your content more user-friendly.
Optimize Your Web URLs
Search engines like Google encourage using simple URLs that don’t appear enigmatic. They advocate for using words that are related to your content so users can tell you what the content on your page might be. It’s best not to have random numbers, pulsi dates or full sentences. Often, website themes use numbers and dates by default which is why you need to make it a point to optimize your URLs.
The more you let Google have context about a certain page, it can better understand it and serve the pages according to what users search for on search engines.
Consider Keeping CTR in Mind
CTR is thought to be a ranking factor on Google and most likely other search engines. Having a high CTR or click through rate will help drive extra traffic to your website, without you having to spend anything on driving traffic to your website.
One key method to go about this is to use questions as your title tag. Question based title tags are known to have higher click through rates compared to other types of titles. If it makes sense to do so, using your target keywords in a sensible and suitable question will help you rank your site higher by matching your end human users search intent.
Add Internal and External Links
Internal links are hyperlinks that will take your users to another different page on the same website. These usually appear in another color such as blue within the main text. Internal links can be helpful when optimizing your content for on page SEO.
They help by allowing search engines to understand the structure of your website and how different pages of your website are connected. They let search engines like Google to discover and explore new webpages.
Internal links also act as signals to indicate to search engines like Google that the linked pages contain valuable and useful information. These will help users discover your website and relevant pages that might be helpful to them and make them stay in your website longer, which will help you website rank higher on search engines.
Meanwhile external links are links that direct your website visitors to other sites away from your website. These are very important since they add value to the user and help boost user experience, build trust with your website visitors and establish you as an expert or authority in your niche.
Some best practices to follow include linking to highly authoritative and reliable sites that relate to your topic or area of expertise. Additionally, remember to describe achor text that will demonstrate to your website visitors what to expect when they click on your external link. It is also important to place external links strategically so that it doesn’t look like you have spammed your webpage with links to other sites.
What Tools Will Support for the On-page Optimisation
There are special tools for on page SEO optimization like those offered by Ahrefs and SEMRush. Ahrefs is a special SEO software used for things like keyword research, competitor analysis and rank tracking. It is a highly useful tool that will give you helpful suggestions and insights that will help you boost your organically on search engines like Google. There are some specific tools offered for free while you need to pay to access additional functionalities.
Another helpful tool is SEMRush which is also a well known SEO tool used for keyword research and competitor analysis. It is a super software that can help you maintain, ideate and implement different SEO strategies including on page SEO optimization strategies. This is a paid tool and offers different pricing packages which you can check out online starting from over 100 US dollars to over 400 US dollars.
It is important to explore and select a tool that matches your requirements and budget so that you can easily optimize your website for on page SEO and more using the suggestions and recommendations put forward by these tools. It is important to choose a tool that works for you. Do some additional research and check out the online reviews for these tools and choose the one that serves your business and brand needs best.
