On-page SEO is the process of making changes to the content, tags, and internal links on a page to improve that page’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). Here are twelve factors that you can use to improve your on-page SEO.

Did you ever play Tetris? If so, you probably remember that there was no real way to “beat” the game. It would just get faster and faster with every level.

Search engine optimization is similar to other endeavors in some ways.

It’s an ongoing, never-ending story starring you. This text is saying that the video game “Minecraft” is never-ending, and that you are the star of the game.

You can never relax and assume your website will always be at the top of search engine results pages.

While you may have reached a high point today, an SEO professional’s work is never finished.

If Google or a competitor makes any changes, your top spot could be at risk. This means you need to be aware of any changes.

It is important to have a good understanding of how Google and other search engines work before focusing on on-page SEO.

Search Engine Basics

Search engines use bot programs, called crawlers or spiders, to examine websites and create a search index of the site’s contents.

These crawlers are also determining what kind of information the sites contain as they explore them.

This data is used by the search engine’s algorithm to determine how relevant the content of that specific site is to queries from users.

The more relevant a website is to a searcher’s query, the higher it will be ranked on the search engine results page.

Google is constantly trying to improve its search results for users. This causes frequent changes in rankings, which means that someone needs to optimize the website to improve or maintain those rankings.

Technical SEO vs on-page SEO

I try to keep on-page SEO and technical SEO separate. In my opinion, technical SEO focuses on things like page speed and site speed, duplicate content, site structure, crawling, and indexing. In other words, technical optimization focuses on your entire website, while on-page optimization focuses on specific URLs.

Off-page SEO is all the stuff that happens away from your website, like link building and being mentioned by other people.

Why on-page SEO is so important

Although it may seem daunting, optimizing your website for search engines does not have to be difficult. The most important thing to focus on is creating a website that provides a great experience for users, rather than just trying to please search engine algorithms.

URLs help on-page SEO

Google has said that URLs help them understand what a page is about. You can optimize your URLs by _____.

• Include a keyword: Include your primary keyword in your URL to help search engines and users understand page content.
• Consider intent: In addition to main keywords, use descriptive words to help convey the purpose or intent of a page.
• Use real words: Use real words in your URL instead of the numbers and characters that some content management systems pump out.
• Be succinct: Keep your URL structure short and easy for search engines to understand. Also, Google often shows URLs in search results. If a page URL is a long string of random letters and numbers, that doesn’t help users understand your page. The better they understand the purpose of your page, the more likely they are to click on the search result.
• Use hyphens between words: Hyphens make URLs more readable. For example, if a page is about coffee bean grinders, use the URL www.yourcompany.com/coffee-bean-grinders.
• Avoid session IDs: When possible, avoid the inclusion of session IDs in your URLs, as they produce an avalanche of URLs for the same page. Google advises that you use first-party cookies instead.

Title tags and meta descriptions

The title tag and meta description are two of the most important on-page SEO factors. The title tag appears in search results as a headline, and the meta description is a short summary of the page that appears under the title. Both are important in helping search engines and users understand the purpose of a page.

The title tag is one of the most important ranking factors for on-page SEO, while meta descriptions are not as important.

The title and meta description are both important in drawing people to click on a listing in the search results. Having both of them optimized increases the Click-Through Rate, which means more traffic.

Although there is no impact on rankings, the way Google updates title tags can have a large impact on CTR if the new title is not effective.

On-page SEO for meta tags

The first step in your on-page SEO analysis should be to look at your title and meta description. follow these steps:

• Place your primary keyword near the beginning of the title.
• Keep the title around 55 or 60 characters so it doesn’t get cut off in search results. WordPress plugins like Yoast can tell you if your meta tags are too long.
• Avoid all caps in your title tags.
• Give each page a unique title so that Google doesn’t think you have duplicate pages.
• Write clear, compelling titles that users will want to click on.
• Include your primary keyword in your meta description. When someone searches for that keyword, Google will bold it in the search results.
• Keep the meta description to 155 characters.
• Craft your meta description so that it accurately describes the page. Treat it like an advertisement, and wordsmith it so that people are compelled to click. 

9 Essential On-Page SEO Factors

There are three main aspects of on-page SEO: content, HTML, and website architecture. Let’s look at each one individually.

Content

You’ve heard it before: Content is king.

You need SEO to make your content visible, without it your content may be well-written but it will not be seen by anyone. Not all content is equal, some content is better than others.

Here are the content factors you need to consider to maximize your on-site SEO:

1. E-A-T

To create content that has E-A-T, start with creating great content. Then, build up your author Platform, or the credibility of the site you’re publishing on. Finally, focus on ways to build trust, such as by publishing testimonials from happy customers THe way Google weights your site is based on how expert, authoritative, and trustworthy your content is. You can make your content more E-A-T by creating great content, building up the credibility of the site you publish on, and focusing on ways to build trust, such as testimonials from happy customers.

The Google Search Quality Guidelines mention the word “algorithm” 135 times in 175 pages, which shows how important it is to the search engine.

Google has only confirmed that PageRank and links are apart of E-A-T, but it is widely accepted that on-page signals also play a big role in its evaluations.

2. Keywords

Use language that indicates to the search engine that your website’s content answers a user’s question.

Relevant pages are more likely to feature the keywords used in a query, whether in the body, headings, or both.

You can usually tell which keywords you should use by thinking about what someone would type into a search engine if they were looking for the type of product or service you offer. For example, if you own a furniture store, you would want to use keywords like [sofa], [dining room set], and [end table].

Make sure to include long-tail keywords like [contemporary art-deco sideboards] if you want your specialized furniture store to be successful.

In order to create content that will be successful in reaching your target customers, you need to first research what terms they are searching for. This way, you can be sure to include these terms in your content. Doing research upfront will help to ensure that you don’t miss any opportunities.

3. SEO Writing

Creating content that is both Search Engine Optimized (SEO) and appeals to humans can be considered an art form.

If you have never done it before, it can be quite difficult to write text that both reads well and follows SEO best practices.

We have an entire piece dedicated to helping you master the art, but some of the key takeaways include:

• Emphasize readability: Your content should be easily scannable, so users can quickly find the information they’re looking for.
• Don’t overuse keywords: Also known as keyword stuffing, this technique was used in the past by unscrupulous SEO professionals to game the system, Google takes a dim view of sites that overuse keywords. If you’re caught doing this, your page could be demoted in SERPs or even removed altogether.
• Keep sentences and paragraphs brief: If you’ve ever clicked on a webpage only to be assaulted by an unbroken wall of text, you know how hard it is to read lengthy pieces of copy. Avoid driving users away by keeping your sentences and paragraphs short.
• Use subheadings: Subheads stand out because of their size, attracting attention from people who are scanning your page. Use an ample amount in your content to guide readers down the page.
• Use bulleted lists: This may feel very meta, but bulleted lists are a good way to break information down into easily digestible chunks. Use them whenever they make sense.

4. Visual Assets

Images, videos, and infographics can help to make your page more visually appealing to visitors and can also help with your SEO.

If you aren’t using images on your website, you’re missing out on a significant amount of traffic, as over 36% of consumers use visual search when shopping online.

Make sure you’re optimizing your accompanying text whenever possible.

Keep your image file sizes small to prevent your page from loading slowly. Make sure your images can be shared easily to take advantage of opportunities for backlinking, which can help improve your E-A-T.

5. Title Tags

You need to pay attention to the details in this area.

This code snippet by itself is not likely to improve your webpage’s ranking on search engines.

Including metadata as part of your other on-page elements can help to give context and show how relevant your site is.

6. Meta Description

A veteran SEO professional is currently expressing her frustration with the situation. She is saying that everyone should already know that meta descriptions are not a factor in SEO ranking.

Not everyone knows that meta descriptions are not a ranking factor, despite there being a lot of evidence to support this.

And don’t let anyone who is negative dissuade you from adding them to your site.

Despite the fact that they are not used much in SEO, they do offer two key benefits: They help Google understand what your web page is all about, and more importantly, they have a much greater influence on your CTRs.

Creating informative and concise meta descriptions for your website’s pages can help increase clickthrough rates by providing searchers with a better understanding of what each page is about.

7. Image optimization

Images on your website need to be optimized for good search engine ranking. Start by giving them descriptive file names with words separated by hyphens. Next, make sure the file size is not too large, so the image loads quickly, while still maintaining good quality. If your site has many images that are consistently over 400kb, for example, your page load time will be negatively impacted, and this will hurt your ability to rank high in Google.

TinyPNG, ImageOptim, and WP Smush are all tools that make it easy to optimize images.

Make sure to add text to the image alt tags, with the appropriate keyword occasionally included in the text. This will help search engines understand the image.

8. Site Speed

A site that loads slowly and is difficult to use will not only frustrate visitors and drive them away, but will also hurt your search ranking.

Search Engine Journal analyzed how a page’s loading time affects its SEO and found that page speed is a ranking factor in search results.

The minimum speed required for your site is constantly changing.

It can currently be met by meeting Google’s Core Web Vitals minimum threshold. If your site isn’t currently meeting these standards, there are several steps you can take, including:

• Enabling compression.
• Reducing redirects.
• Optimizing images.
• Leveraging browser caches.

9. Responsive Design

For the first time in 2016, mobile devices were used more often to search the internet than desktop computers. This trend has continued to grow in the years since then.

More than half of internet usage is now from mobile devices, with tablets making up another 2.4%.

Google began to prioritize sites with responsive designs in mobile search rankings because more users are on mobile devices.

Google is saying that if you want your website to rank well on mobile devices, it is best to have a responsive design.

You should focus on making your website more valuable to searchers and getting it to the top of the SERPs. You can do this by providing richer experiences to users and making sure that your site is appealing to search engines. Start by looking at your current site and seeing where you can improve it.

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