On-page SEO refers to all the changes you make within a website to improve its visibility.
When it comes to improving your website’s visibility and ranking in search engines, on-page SEO is an important strategy to focus on. This is also known as on-site seo. This process helps your webpages to rank higher on Google and drive more organic traffic.
That is why, in this post, we’ll look into what on-page SEO is, why it’s important and the key areas to optimize in order to improve your chance of ranking on SERPs. Let’s get started.
What is On-page Seo?
On-page SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of optimizing the individual web pages on your website to improve their rankings and attract traffic.
This is easier than off-page SEO which deals with the external measures you deal with in order to improve your website traffic. On-page SEO is easier as you’re in complete control of every change you’re making.
On-page SEO optimizations include:
—Updating the title tag on a page.
—Editing the meta description of a page.
—Crafting relevant and engaging content.
—Optimizing your URL.
—Optimizing the H1 tag (page title).
—Using Headers(H1,H2,H3) tags properly.
Why Is On-page SEO important?
Why put so much effort into optimizing your webpages?
This question can end up being the same as why bother to rank on Google at all.
That being said, on-page SEO is more than just trying to rank on google. It is a way of showing google that you understand the searcher’s query and you have created the best content for it.
The two main purposes of on-page SEO is:
1. Helps search engines understand your content: When your page is optimized, it will create a clear picture of what that page is about while signaling to Google that your content can serve the searcher’s intent.
2. Improves user experience: A page that is well optimized will be well-structured, easy to read, provide value and ultimately keep readers engaged.
Best On-page SEO Techniques To Practice
1. Create high quality content—Match the searcher’s intent
Write for your audience. Create content that is relevant and provides value. To create content that matches the searcher intent, it’s crucial to plug in your keyword on Google’s search page and analyze the top results for your target keyword.
However, while crafting your content, it’s important to format it properly in a way that will be easy for your audience to read your blogs.
Therefore, when creating content, it’s important to optimize for readability.
Your audience will not take their time to navigate through your wall of text.
In addition, write in short sentences and short paragraphs. A rule of thumb would be to write as you speak.
2. Optimize your title tag
The SEO title tag is the main heading text you will see in the Google search result.
It is one of the most important on-page SEO elements to optimize. It signals to search engines and more importantly users what your page is about.
When crafting your title tag, it’s best to keep it under 60 characters to prevent it from being cut off in search results.
Include your primary keyword at the beginning and make it relevant to your audience.
It is important to note that your title tag will differ a bit from your H1 tag(page title).
3. Craft a detailed meta description
The meta description of your page is a brief summary that appears directly under your title in search engine results page (SERP).
Although this HTML element does not directly affecting rankings, it gives users a brief overview of what your content is about.
Here are a few best practices to increase the chances of google using your meta description.
—Aim to hit less than 155 characters. About 120 characters Is great.
—Include your target keyword naturally.
—Introduce the benefit of reading your content.
4. Use subheadings properly
Headers such as H1, H2,H3 tags help to structure your content, improve readability and make your content neat. Include your keywords in the headers to further give Google more context about the content on your page.
Best practices for headers include:
—Use H1 tag for the main title.
—H2 tags should be for primary subheadings.
—Use H3 or H4 tags for sections within your primary subheadings.
5. Optimize your images
Optimize your images by compressing the file sizes. This helps for a faster loading speed. Images also helps to increase user engagement.
Use descriptive file names for your images. Add alt texts to your images in order to describe what the image is about. Skip if the image is just for decorative purposes.
6. Add internal links to and from your pages
Internal links are hyperlinks that point to other pages on your website. Adding internal links are important because they help search engines understand how your site is structured.
When an internal link is added to a page, it helps users navigate through your site.
For instance; if you have a page talking about what is a car, that page can have an anchor text linking to another page on your website that talks about the types of cars.
In essence, this means that whatever page you’re linking to has to be relevant to the page your users are currently on.
7. Add external links
External linking also known as outbound links are links that point to other websites. However, it’s crucial to link to reputable websites that are relevant to your topic.
Use anchor texts (hyperlinks) to describe the context of the linked page.
8. Optimize your URL
When optimizing your url, you need to avoid repetition of words. More than that, it’s important to go for short urls that includes your target keyword.
This prevents your url from looking spammy.
Example of a good url:
Yourblog.com/food-recipes.
A bad url could look like this:
Your blog.com/ 123food-blog-recipes-html.
Conclusion
On-page SEO is more than optimizing your page to rank on Google. It is every step you take to make sure your audience has the best time on your site.
They are like two sides of a coin; your audience can’t see your content if it’s not properly optimized to rank.
Also, your audience will not read your content if it’s not properly optimized for readability.
Therefore, it all boils down to this—Optimize your page for the search engine and also for the individual that will read your content.
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