The most simple explanation of what on page SEO is goes a little something like this – it’s optimizing all the stuff that you see on a web page for better search engine rankings.
Of course, on page SEO is a bit more in-depth than that, but that’s a good starting point for the article you’re about to read. We’re experts that have been optimizing on page SEO for YEARS. In that time we’ve also gotten pretty good at explaining it to clients that don’t do SEO for a living.
So, let’s take a look at this web page and breakdown the on page SEO basics.
Optimizing What You See on the Web Page
We’ll begin with what you actually see on a web page since you’re probably more familiar with these on page SEO elements.
Keywords, Keywords, Keywords!
You’ve probably heard about keywords, but you may not know how to use them strategically on the web page. You want to target relevant keywords, and then you want to use them in the right way so that they have the greatest impact. Here are a few essential best practices:
- Have a primary keyword and several secondary keywords – no need to target 10+ keywords.
- Never overdue it – use keywords naturally throughout the body of the content.
- Definitely try to use your primary keyword in the main headline (H1) – more on that in the formatting section.
- Use keywords in the subheading.
- Use the keywords in your meta tags – again, more to come on this as well.
- Put a keyword in the image ALT tag – yes, there’s more on this too.
As you can see, the secret to keywords is placement, and there are a lot of places where you should put them.
Content
Now, on to the content where the keywords will primarily live. At one point in time, before Google started fine-tuning their algorithms, some people just threw a bunch of keyword-stuffed content onto the web page and called it a day. Needless to say, the content wasn’t that useful to users. These days that practice could get your website banned from search engines rather than improving its ranking.
Here’s how to create content for on page SEO:
Relevancy
The content needs to be highly relevant to the topic. Whatever the title promises, the content should deliver.
Quality
Your content needs to be high quality. That means it’s grammatically correct, easy to read and provides valuable information for the reader.
Quantity
While you don’t need to overload a web page with fluff content, there does need to be enough on the page to express what the page is all about. Usually this can be done with 300+ words. So again, you don’t need a ton of content, but you do need enough.
Formatting
The content needs to be easy to scan, because that’s how people read online. Making it easy to scan is all about formatting. You should use:
- A headline (H1)
- Subheadings (H2 and H3)
- Bullet lists
- Short paragraphs
Links – Links need to be included in the content to improve SEO and usability for the readers. There are two types of links:
- Internal links to your own pages (that are related to the topic at hand), which helps to keep users engaged and improves navigation.
- External links that go to other websites – ONLY include external links that go to highly reputable websites.
Meta Tags
The meta tags are for search engines and readers. These aren’t seen on the page. They show up in the search results, making them extremely important for ranking and click through rates.
Meta Title – This is possibly the most important line for on page SEO. It should be up to 70 characters (with spaces) and include your primary keyword. Try to make it a variation of the H1 on the web page.
Meta Description – This is a short one or two lines that describe what’s on the page. Keep it under 160 characters and include a few keywords.
Images
Images make a page more visually interesting and dynamic, and they can improve your on page SEO. In fact, if you use them the right way you can show up in image searches to open up a whole new traffic channel.
The trick is to use an alt tag and a description for the image. The description shows on the page, and the alt tag is on the backend like the meta tags. Use your primary keyword in both.
Something else you can do is give the image a file name that’s relevant. Use a keyword there for a little extra optimization.
URLs
One more thing that you’ll see on the page is the URL. Like the meta tags you’ll want to make the URL concise and incorporate your primary keyword. Some people simply use the H1 with dashes in between each word. Avoid using special characters because they could cause issues.
Now, Let’s Get a Little More Technical . . .
We’re not talking about technical SEO, which is its own thing. So far we’ve been talking about all of the things you can see on the web page itself or search engines before you click through to the page. But there are some other on page SEO elements that have to be accounted for and optimized on the backend.
Page Load Time
Users can be fickle. They sum up a web page in mere seconds. That means your web pages need to load instantly, or they’ll go right back where they came from. You can optimize load times by:
- Compressing files – Make sure the images you optimize are compressed to help with loading them more quickly.
- Leveraging browser caching.
- Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Responsive Design
Nowadays people look at web pages using a variety of devices with varying screen sizes. Responsive design was developed to make web pages automatically adjust to the screen so that it looks and functions the same no matter what device a user is using.
Schema Markup
The schema markup is a snippet of the HTML source code that makes it more attractive to search engines and users. Adding structured data helps search engines understand the content better in terms of what it is about, and now it enhances graphical search results and rich snippets that show up at the top of some search results.
User Experience (UX)
How enjoyable and easy it is for the user to navigate a web page is referred to as the user experience (UX). To enhance UX:
- Everything on the page should function properly. No broken links!
- The content needs to be formatted well.
- There needs to be good contrast on the page so that the content stands out from the background.
- Use a clean web design that isn’t an eye overload.
- Make sure it’s easy to navigate to more information.
This element of on page optimization is extremely important. Even if your web page loads quickly and the content is high quality a bad user experience can cause people to leave with a bad impression.
Want a Pro to Handle Your On-Page SEO Optimization?
From content planning to the schema markup, Bruce & Eddy has a team of on page SEO specialists that can make your web pages more appealing to search engines and users.
Let’s talk about optimizing your web pages!
