On Page SEO and Some Activities.
What Is On-Page SEO?
On-page SEO (sometimes called on-site SEO) is the process of optimizing
parts of your webpages so they rank higher on search engines and get more
search engine traffic.
This includes updating on-page content, title tags, internal links, and
more.
Search engines like Google look at keywords and other on-page SEO cues
to check whether a page matches a user’s search intent. And if the search
engine decides the page will be useful to the user, it will display it higher
in search results.
What are the
Difference between On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO?
On-page SEO covers anything you can do on a webpage (or internally) to
improve your rankings.
While off-page SEO covers anything you can optimize outside of your site
(or externally) in an attempt to boost your rankings. Backlinks are arguably
the biggest off-page SEO factor. Other examples include social media and PR.
Both are important parts of any good SEO strategy.
But you have more control over on-page SEO factors. So focusing on those
is a good place to start when building out your SEO strategy.
Why Is On-Page SEO Important?
Search engines use keywords and other on-page SEO elements to check
whether a page matches a user’s search intent.
And if the page is relevant and useful, Google serves it to the user.
In other words, Google pays attention to on-page SEO signals when
ranking pages.
The Google algorithm is always changing, but Google continues to
prioritize user experience. Google recommends focusing on “people-first
content.”
Meaning creating valuable content that matches user intent is more
important than ever.
Now, let’s take a look at how you can update your content to reflect
on-page SEO best practices.
How to Optimize Your
Content for On-Page SEO (+ Examples)
On-page SEO is much more than just adding keywords to your webpages.
Here’s a brief explanation of how the ranking process works:
Google starts by “crawling” or assessing pages on the web.
Next, Google may “index” the page. It uses many factors—including
on-site SEO factors—to determine what the page is about and how it should be
ranked.
If Google decides to index a page, it can then be accessed via Google
Search.
But Google doesn’t guarantee that every page will be indexed. Or show up
in search results at all.
So it’s important to tweak the on-page SEO elements covered below to
best communicate to Google what your page is about.
That way, it can rank you for relevant queries in the search results.
Let’s get started – “Write
Unique, Optimized Content”.
• Incorporate keywords
naturally into your content (and avoid keyword stuffing)
• Make sure your content
matches the search intent of your target keyword
• Fully answer the
query—your content should be useful to users
• Write unique content
that offers something competitors don’t
• Include visual content
(more on that later)
Pro tip:
When planning content, come up with topic clusters, or groups of posts
and pages that revolve around a central topic. This will help you brainstorm
important topics to cover. And make sure you cover all relevant subtopics.
Get Keyword
Suggestions
with the Keyword Magic Tool, the biggest keyword database on the market Place
Target Keywords Strategically
So you have your target keywords. Now it’s time to strategically place
them in your content.
Google scans your content to see what a page is about—and readers will
likely do the same.
So you should include
your target keywords in these key areas:
• H1
• First paragraph
• Subheaders (H2s, H3s,
etc.)
This will help Google gain context about the topic of your page. And
users will be able to quickly tell whether the page matches their search
intent.
Optimize Title Tags
Title tags are pieces of HTML code that indicate what the title of a
page is. And display that title in search engines, social media posts, and
browser tabs.
Additionally, title tags are a ranking factor. And can influence whether
a user decides to click on a page.
Here are a few tips to
follow when writing your title tags:
• Keep it brief. We
recommend keeping title tags between 50 and 60 characters so Google doesn’t cut
them off.
• Include your target
keyword. This helps both Google and users determine what your page is about.
• Be unique. Avoid
duplicate title tags so that each individual page’s purpose is clear to Google
(and users know what they’re clicking on).
To find duplicate title tags, head to the “Issues” tab in the Site Audit
tool.
You’ll see a list of errors to fix on your site.
Site Audit also checks for duplicate title tags. Click on the
highlighted blue text to see which pages have duplicates.
The report will show you what
title tag appears on multiple pages.
Write Engaging Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions don’t directly influence Google rankings.
But they can be the deciding factor between a user clicking on your page
or choosing another one. Which means they can encourage more search traffic.
And if your meta description doesn’t match the user’s search intent (or
the content on the page), Google may choose its own description for the SERP.
So it’s best to follow these best practices to increase your chances of
Google using your chosen meta description:
• Consider mobile devices.
Google truncates meta descriptions after about 120 characters on mobile. So
it’s best to keep them on the shorter side.
• Include your target
keyword. This helps users determine if their page matches their search intent.
Google also bolds keywords (and synonyms of keywords) that match the user’s
search query. Which stands out visually and could boost clicks.
• Use active voice. Active
voice saves space and communicates your message more clearly.
• Add a CTA (call to
action). Entice users to click with CTA phrases (like “try for free,” or “find
out more”).
Use Headings and
Subheadings to Structure Your Page
H1 tags and subsequent headings allow users to easily skim your page.
And allow Google to understand the hierarchy of your page.
The right is an example of on-page SEO done right. It’s easy to skim and
find specific information.
Headings also help Google better understand your page’s structure and
determine whether your page matches a user’s search intent. Which can help you
rank higher for relevant keywords.
You can use keywords and keyword variations in headings to give Google
more context about the structure of your page and what information you cover.
Use the H1 as your page title or headline, and include H2s to cover
subtopics. If you need to cover content in further detail, use H3s, H4s, etc.
Optimize URLs
Google recommends using simple URLS that don’t look “cryptic” or
intimidating. In other words:
Use words that are relevant to your content so users can tell what your
page is about.
And not random numbers, publish dates, or full sentences. Website themes
will often use these by default, so it’s important to update your URL before
publishing.
Using your target keyword in your URL is a good way to ensure your URL
matches the topic of your content.
And this is how you
could update it to be more useful and easy to understand:
The more context Google has about a particular page, the better it can
understand it. And if Google understands what a page is about, it's able to
match it with relevant search queries.
Add Internal Links
Internal links are hyperlinks that point to different pages on the same
site. Here’s what an internal link looks like on a webpage:
Internal links are an important part of on-page SEO optimization. Here’s
why:
• They help search engines
understand your site’s structure and how pages are related to each other
• They allow Google
crawlers to discover and navigate to new pages
• They signal to Google
that the linked-to page is valuable
• They help users navigate
through your website (and keep them on your site longer)
Adding internal links from one page to another signals to Google that
these pages are related. And helps Google understand whether the pages could
match a user’s search intent—which can help your rankings.
To learn more about internal linking strategies and best practices, read
our guide to internal linking.
Add External Links
·
External links are links on your site that point to
other sites.
·
External links are important because they enhance user
experience and build trust with your audience.
·
There’s been debate over whether external links
directly impact rankings.
·
But Google has said that adding links to authoritative
external sources is a great way to provide value to your users.
·
And providing solid user experience is always a good
thing.
So, make sure you’re including links to authoritative, trustworthy
websites in your content. A good rule of thumb is to link to your sources, but
you will likely find other external linking opportunities.
Include and Optimize
Images
Including images in your content increases your chances of ranking in
Google Images—which accounts for 22.6% of all searches. This is a great way to
get more traffic to your site.
A good place to start optimizing your images is by writing descriptive
alt text for them.
Alt text (short for alternative text) is text included in HTML code that
describes an image on a webpage.
It has two main purposes:
1. It provides context for
search engine crawlers
2. It allows people using
screen readers to hear descriptions of images
Here are some tips for
writing good alt text:
• Keep it brief. Screen
readers stop reading alt text after about 125 characters.
• Include a target
keyword. Include your target keyword for context (but don’t spam keywords for
the sake of it).
• Don’t add alt text to
decorative images. Graphics like horizontal page breaks, a magnifying glass in
a search bar, etc., don’t require further explanation.
• Don’t include “image of”
or “picture of.” Alt text implies that it’s describing an image, so there’s no
need to waste characters on these phrases.
To find missing image alt text on your site, head to the “Issues” report
in the Site Audit tool.
You can search for “alt attributes” in the search bar if you have
multiple errors to comb through.
Aside from adding optimized alt text, here are a couple of ways to
optimize images you add to your content:
1. Write descriptive file
names. Google learns about a page’s subject matter through file names,
captions, and more. So something like white-dress-pants.jpg is more helpful
than a generic name like IMG353.jpg.
2. Compress images. Use free
options like ImageOptim to compress images for faster load times. You can also
use lazy loading, which tells web browsers to wait to load images until the
user scrolls to them.
Optimize for User
Engagement
- Google may also rank your page higher if users spend more time on it. If users leave too soon or without completing certain actions, Google might think there’s something wrong with your page.
- You may have heard of terms like dwell time and bounce rate—but do search engines actually care about these metrics?
- They sure do. Google uses what they call “interaction data” to determine whether a search result is relevant to a search query.
- This data helps Google better analyze the relevance of a page via machine learning.
- One way to ensure users get what they’re looking for when they land on a page is to put important written content “above the fold” (where users can see it before scrolling).
Advanced On-Page SEO
Tactics
Once you’ve got the basics down, you can try out some more advanced SEO
page optimization techniques.
Let’s start with an important on-page SEO factor—page speed.
Optimize for Page
Speed
·
We may never know every Google ranking factor. But we
do know that page speed is a confirmed ranking factor.
·
So it’s more important than ever to optimize for page
speed.
·
You can use Google’s free Page Speed Insights tool to
get an overall performance score for both mobile and desktop, in addition to
actionable suggestions for improvement.
·
This tool assesses Google’s Core Web Vitals, which are
factors that impact page experience.
The Core Web Vitals
are:
• Largest Contentful Paint
(LCP): amount of time it takes for the main piece of content to load
• First Input Delay (FID):
amount of time it takes for your website to respond to the first interaction
from a user (like a click on a link)
• Cumulative Layout Shift
(CLS): amount your webpage shifts (or “moves down”) as more content (e.g.,
banners, images) loads
Target Featured
Snippets
Because featured snippets appear in “position zero” above other organic
results, they can help boost your click-through rate (CTR).
There are different forms of featured snippets, including:
• Definitions
• Tables
• Lists
• Videos
To check if a keyword has a current featured snippet, go to the Keyword
Overview tool. We’ll use the example “can dogs eat watermelon.”
Enter your keyword and click “Search.”
You’ll see information about search volume, keyword difficulty, and
more.
Scroll down to the “SERP Analysis” section of the page.
To the right of this graph, you’ll see a link that says “View SERP.”
Click it to view what the SERP looks like for that keyword when it’s not
influenced by location, user behavior, etc.
Some ways to target a
featured snippet include:
• Answering the query in a
concise, user-friendly way
• Understanding the user’s
search intent
• Formatting the answer
accordingly—could be a quick one- or two-sentence answer, a table, a video,
etc.
Add Schema Markup
Schema markup allows search engines to better understand information on
your website.
It adds code to a page that better communicates the page topic. So you
can convey to search engines that your page is about an event, contains a
recipe, etc. And the SERP result can reflect that.
In addition to taking up more valuable space on the SERP, schema markup
also can improve your page’s CTR.
The above example uses recipe schema markup. But you can add many different
types to your pages.
Common types of schema include:
• Reviews
• Products
• Events
• People
• Local businesses
• And more
You can find information on every type at Schema.org.
To better your chances of showing up above the normal search results
like this, you can use “Event” schema markup.
Which communicates the event date, address, and location to Google.
Google may then feature these events above other results because they’re
more useful.
Here’s Google’s
resource on adding Event structured data. And here’s what the Event schema
might look like in your page’s code:
·
You can use Semrush’s Site Audit tool to check if
you’ve implemented structured data correctly.
·
To get started, set up a Site Audit project.
·
After you run your audit, you’ll see a report labeled
“Markup” under “Thematic Reports.”
·
Click the “View details” button.
·
Site Audit will score any pages that have schema
markup, break down pages by schema type, and alert you of any existing issues.
If Site Audit does flag any issues with your markup, we recommend running those individual pages through Schema.org’s markup validator. It will let you know if you’ve implemented the markup properly.
Thank You for joining Us.
For more update, visit regularly.
Jai Hind
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