What is On-page SEO?

On-page SEO, also known as on-site SEO, is the practice of optimizing a website’s content and structure to improve its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). It involves making sure that a website’s content is relevant to its target keywords, that its technical structure is sound, and that its user experience is good. On-page SEO is an essential part of any successful SEO strategy. By optimizing your website’s content and structure, you can make it more visible to search engines and attract more visitors. This can lead to increased traffic, higher conversion rates, and ultimately, more sales.

On-page SEO matters because it helps search engines understand your website and its content, which can lead to higher search engine rankings and more organic traffic. Here are some of the reasons why on-page SEO is important:

1. Improves search engine understanding: On-page SEO provides search engines with the information they need to understand the relevance and quality of your website’s content. This includes factors like keyword usage, content structure, and internal linking.

2. Enhances user experience: On-page SEO practices often overlap with good user experience (UX) principles. By making your website easy to navigate, informative, and visually appealing, you’re not only improving SEO but also creating a positive user experience that can lead to increased engagement and conversions.

3. Increases organic traffic: Higher search engine rankings mean more people are likely to see your website when they search for relevant keywords. This translates into increased organic traffic, which can lead to more leads, sales, and brand awareness.

4. Establishes credibility: On-page SEO signals to search engines that your website is well-maintained and trustworthy. This can boost your website’s authority and credibility, making it more likely to appear in top search results.

5. Provides a foundation for off-page SEO: Off-page SEO, such as backlinks and social media engagement, is also important for search rankings. However, on-page SEO lays the groundwork by ensuring that your website is optimized for search engines and users before you start building backlinks and promoting it externally.

In summary, on-page SEO matters because it helps you attract more organic traffic, improve your website’s credibility, and achieve your overall online marketing goals. It’s an essential part of any comprehensive SEO strategy and should be given due attention when optimizing your website for search engines.

Here’re the on-page optimization techniques you should consider:

• Research and Use Keywords Wisely
• Write Helpful Content
• Write Keyword-Rich (not keyword stuffed) Title Tags
• Write Attention Grabbing Meta Descriptions
• Use Headings and Subheadings to Structure Your Page
• Optimize URLs
• Add Internal Links

1. Research and Use Keywords Wisely

Before you start researching keywords, it’s crucial to understand your target audience – who are you trying to reach with your content? What are their search habits and interests? Defining your target audience will help you narrow down your keyword choices to those that are most relevant to their needs and search queries. You should consider the metrics below while conducting your keyword research:

• Keyword difficulty / Competition
• Search Volume
• Keyword Types (Mid-tail, long-tail)
• User Intent (Informational, Transactional, Navigational)

2. Write Helpful Content

The helpful content system aims to better reward content where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn’t meet a visitor’s expectations won’t perform as well.

According to Google’s explanation, “Helpful Content System” aims to better reward content and we should consider a relatively new SEO term: “E-E-A-T”. It’s part of Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines and even if it’s not a direct Google ranking factor, it still matters for higher user trust and more conversions.

3. Write keyword-rich (not keyword stuffed) title tags

Meta title tag is a piece of HTML code indicates what the title of a page is. Meta title is one of the ranking factors and you should create a unique, brief and target keyword included title field to get higher rankings and attract more users.

4. Write Attention Grabbing Meta Descriptions

A meta description is a brief summary of a web page that appears in search engine results pages (SERPs) below the page title. It is an opportunity to entice users to click on your link and visit your website. A well-written meta description can significantly impact your website’s click-through rate (CTR) and overall SEO performance.

Create compelling, concise meta description fields including strong action verbs for better CTR.

5. Use Headings and Subheadings to Structure Your Page

Headings help Google to better understand your page’s structure and determine whether your content matches a user’s search intent. Use h1 heading as your headline, and include H2s to cover subtopics. If you need to add one-level more details, use h3s, h4s, etc.

6. Optimize URLs

Google recommends using simple, brief URL structure that includes relevant target keywords.

7. Add Internal Links

Internal linking is one of the most significant foundation of on-page SEO. Here are some of the most useful types of internal links:

Here are some of the best internal linking strategies to implement on your website:

1. Contextual Linking: Use relevant anchor text that accurately reflects the content of the linked page. This helps search engines and users understand the context of the link and the relationship between the linked pages.

2. Deep Linking: Link to relevant pages deeper within your website’s structure, not just the homepage or main categories. This helps distribute link equity more evenly and encourages users to explore more of your website’s content.

3. Strategic Anchor Text: Use a variety of anchor text formats, including keywords, phrases, and descriptive text. Avoid overusing exact-match keywords, as this can appear unnatural and potentially harm your rankings.

4. Hierarchical Linking: Create a clear hierarchy of links within your website, starting from the homepage and branching out to subcategories and deeper levels of content. This helps search engines understand the organization of your website and guides users through your content.

5. Related Content Linking: Include links to related content within your blog posts, articles, and product pages. This helps users find relevant information and encourages them to stay engaged with your website.

6. Breadcrumb Navigation: Implement breadcrumb navigation to show users their current location within your website’s structure. This provides a clear path back to previous pages and improves user experience.