On Page SEO

What Is On-Page SEO?

On-page optimization is the process of optimizing web page content for search engines and end users. In on-page SEO, title tags, content, internal links, and URLs are all generally optimized.

Why Is On-Page SEO Important?

How relevant your page is to the search query depends on its content. Keyword research is involved in this process.

It is much more than adding keywords to your content that matters when it comes to on-page SEO.

Relevant search results are prioritized by Google’s algorithms, so other relevant content on the page is also taken into account. If your page is about dogs but you don’t mention the breeds, Google understands that there are probably more relevant results.

The relevance factor is so important to on-page SEO that unless you nail it, you won’t rank.

How To Optimize Your Content?

A challenging aspect of content creation is making Google and the Users happy. Your next step is to optimize the technical details, such as meta tags and URLs. You are still not done, but having this on your page makes Google and searchers realize your page is the best.

Here’s a quick checklist.

 

1. Include Your Keyword In The Title

 

H1 tags usually contain the page title. This is why you see it in every article you read in the online world.

In 2020, Google’s John Mueller believes headings will have a substantial impact.

When it comes to text on a page, a heading is a really strong signal.

Almost all SEO professionals include a keyword in the title. We’ve used them in our posts titles before.

Keywords in Title Tag:

The most important thing to remember is that it may not always be necessary to use the same keyword in your title, but instead a close variant. An example of an article title would be “How to Outsource SEO,” but the main target keyword is “seo outsourcing.”

Keeping your titles sound natural is also important, so utilize conjunctions and stop words as necessary.

2. Use Short, Descriptive URLs:

An optimized URL that is short, descriptive, and relevant to the search phrase helps Google users understand what the page is about.

Here are two URLs as examples:

 

https://www.example.com/articles/322345

https://www.example1.com/how-to-lose-weight

Both pages talk about the same topic, but the URLs do not make that clear. In the SERPs, only the second URL provides context for the page, which is arguably more clear and clickable.

It is generally the simplest way to optimize your site to use your target keywords in the URL slug (the part after the domain and subfolders). We do this almost every time we publish a blog post.

You can see that this is another example of adding the target keyword when appropriate. In some cases, you may want to experiment with a variation. Our target keyword for this post is “blog post length” as it seemed a bit long and awkward.

Google truncates lengthy URLs in the search engine results page, so keeping your URL content short is important.

3. Optimize Your Title Tag:

 

Search engine results are based on title tags, so creating a great one is important.

A page or post title is usually enough to create one. Almost all of our posts follow this format. As an example, the title tag and title of the post above are similar.

We used this title tag as well.

When your title is too long, for example, it makes sense to change things up a little. Long title tags are truncated by Google as it does with long URLs.

4. Write A Compelling Meta Description

In search engine results pages, meta descriptions are often displayed as descriptive snippets.

How often? According to our study of 192,000 pages, roughly ⅓ of the time.

SIDENOTE. Google dynamically generates descriptive snippets the rest of the time.

The meta description is not a ranking factor, but its content can still lead to clicks.

To write an engaging description fast, follow these tips:

  • Describe your title tag in more detail.
  • Identify search intent. Focus on the searcher’s needs.
  • Use active voice. You should speak directly to the searcher.
  • Keep it short. Do not exceed 120 characters.
  • Your keyword should be included. A close match to the query is bolded by Google.

Meta descriptions aren’t as important as they used to be, so don’t spend too much time writing them.

5. Optimize Your Images

You can get more traffic from Google image search by ranking your images. There have been over 4,000 visits to our blog from image searches in the past 28 days.

You can optimize your images in three easy steps using the checklist below.

a) Name Images Appropriately:

For example, dog.jpg has a better filename than IMG_859045.jpg, since the filename indicates a topic related to the image.

In most cases, cameras and smartphones refer to images and photos in generic terms. The same goes for computers.

When you take screenshots for a blog article, they’ll usually be named like Screenshot 2021-01-12.png.

That’s why they should be renamed. You can do it this way:

  • Be descriptive. black-puppy.jpg > puppy.jpg
  • Be succinct. black-puppy.jpg > my-super-cute-black-puppy-named-jeff.jpg
  • Don’t stuff keywords. black-puppy.jpg > black-puppy-dog-pup-pooch.jpg

b) Use Descriptive Alt Text:

In HTML, alt text (alternative text) describes an image using an image tag. The message doesn’t appear on the screen itself but appears like this:

Accessibility is the primary goal of alt text. If an image cannot be loaded, browsers display alt text instead.

c) Compress Images:

When images are compressed, file sizes are smaller, resulting in faster loading. Page speed is a ranking factor on desktop and mobile .

6. Add Internal and External Links

Your website visitors can find more information by linking to internal and external resources. Nevertheless, some argue that external links hurt SEO.

Ignore this myth. You can link to other websites without harming your search engine results.

Here the highlighted word is an Internal Link.