On-Page SEO: Powerful Tips If You Want Better Rankings

On-page SEO focuses on improving the quality of your content and in this article, we are going to discuss everything you need to know about on-page SEO.

If you had to ask anyone if they want to rank higher on Google? The answer is almost always, yes.

Why wouldn’t you want to get better rankings? After all, who doesn’t want to see their name at the top of the SERPs (search engine result pages)?

Search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo are responsible for delivering millions of visitors to websites every day. They also play a major role in determining where your site appears in search results.

To appear high in search results, you need to optimize your web pages for search engines which will also increase your website traffic.

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Table of Contents

What Is On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing your website and its pages for search engine ranking.

When done correctly, your website will be optimized for both “natural” search results that come from a user entering keywords and more specific search terms, as well as paid ads.

This includes the design of a website and how it is structured, the content on your site, and the keywords that you decide to focus on.

As a result, the search engines can better understand and display your website on their search results page.

This is why right from the start when you decide to create a website, you need to think clearly about the name, logo, color, and theme you want your website to be. This is all part of on-page SEO that you might not have even realized.

A significant number of people tell beginners that it doesn’t matter how their website looks in the beginning, but of course, they are wrong and set them up for failure.

Let’s say there is a new store opening near your area. The opening is still taking place and there are not many products for sale, but the store itself is open to the public.

The store’s name is barely legible, there are no lights and the paint is peeling. Would you recommend this store to others? I’m going to go ahead and guess, no, not really.

The same thing goes for your website. If a website isn’t attractive, or your visitors don’t know what it’s about, they will be more likely to leave and not come back.

Additionally to the appearance, there are many elements you need to consistently focus on to keep your on-page SEO optimal.

On-Page SEO Checklist

Over time layouts of posts have changed but many elements have stayed the same. Follow the checklist below if you want your pages to be optimized for on-page SEO:

1. Keywords

Keywords are the words and phrases that people type into search engines to find what they want.

When someone searches for something, they use keywords to help them narrow down their results.

These keywords are often referred to as “search terms” and are extremely important for any website. Without good keyword research, you won’t know what keywords to target.

For on-page SEO use long-tail keywords that are usually three to five words.

When people search for something, they don’t just type in one or two words. Instead, they use longer phrases or questions.

So, to rank higher, you need to optimize your content for long-tail keywords. These are more specific keywords and tend to convert better than broad ones. Once you have found your ideal keywords, don’t keyword stuff.

Make sure your keywords make up less than 20% of the total words on any given page.

This will avoid keyword stuffing which results in your content becoming less readable and spammy which can hurt the on-page SEO rankings of your website.

2. Title And Meta Tags

A Google title tag is what people see first when they search for something. It should be between 60 and 70 characters long and include relevant keywords related to your content.

Meta tags or descriptions act like a synopsis for your website or post and are below. They should be between 160-180 characters, long enough to provide an excellent quick summary of what your page is about.

It’s equally important for on-page SEO that throughout your post you have relevant subheadings. Don’t hide your content behind dropdown menus, etc. Search engines can better make sense of your content if it has appropriate headers.

3. Content

Marketing is all about content, and it’s too important to not have enough of it. If nobody ever sees your content, it becomes a pointless job.

A lot of people primarily use Google to find information. To have your website rank high, your on-page SEO content needs to be valuable, informative, and relevant. Put some time in on your on-page SEO content.

There are many AI writers that can create content for you and produce text in a variety of formats.

These programs have the ability to understand the structure of language and create original, creative content in no time.

They can produce posts, social media posts, articles, emails and much more at a fraction of the cost.

4. Alt-Text Images

Alt text also known as alternative text is an important part of improving your on-page SEO.

When someone scrolls over a picture, they should know what the image is without it being necessary for them to click on it.

Make sure the images you do use are copyright free and relate to your topic.

5. Internal Links

Internal links are links between pages on your site.

This on-page SEO is important because they tell Google that other pages on your site are related to the page they are currently viewing.

When you have an internal linking structure, it helps Google determine what topics are relevant to each other.

e.g. If you have three pages on your site that are all about educational scholarships, you might want to place an internal link between them.

When someone clicks on the link, they would go to one of those three pages and be taken to another page with information on education scholarships.

This is also a great way to keep your visitors engaged on your website.

6. External Links

Adding external links to your posts is a great way to increase your on-page SEO. This is because it increases the number of backlinks for your content and improves its quality.

There are many ways you can add external links to your post, such as:

– To an article that has been written by someone else and you want to share with the reader
– A website or app that will provide additional information on the topic you are writing about.
– An infographic or video related to the topic of your post.
– Links that will help readers find more information on the topic they are interested in by including relevant keywords in those links and making them visible in bold text.

7. Schema Markup

Schema markup is a set of tags that provide information about how a website should be displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs). They help search engines understand what the page is about and how it should be indexed.

For example, if you have a blog post about how to make pizza, you could use schema markup to tell Google that this is a recipe. You would then link back to the original article.

These tags are added directly to your web pages and tell Google that the page is about making pizza.

It also tells search engine spiders (aka “crawlers”) that the page contains keywords related to pizza. It also tells the browsers what type of file it is, where to find the original version of the page, and links to jQuery, a JavaScript library.

8. Mobile Friendly

Currently, 62.06% of website traffic comes from people using mobile devices compared to desktops.

With most people using their smartphones to access the internet, businesses have had to adapt by focusing on creating a mobile-friendly website.

This means having your on-page SEO content optimized for small screens.

Mobile-friendly content and mobile-first design is the current trend. This means that if you aren’t adapting your website to suit these demands, you will lose out on potential customers and better rankings on Google.

9. Website Speed

Page speed is a metric used to measure how fast a web page loads. A faster loading time means less waiting time for users and more conversions.

Google uses page load times to rank websites in its search results. If your site takes longer than three seconds to load, then you’re losing potential traffic.

10. Page URLs

It’s incredibly important to have page URLs for on-page SEO that include keywords that readers will interpret.

The best URLs should be readable, memorable, and intuitive so they are seen by your target audience. You want the title or targeted keyword to come after your main website URL.

11. E-A-T Signals

The acronym E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trust.

E-A-T signals are the on-page signals that search engines use to determine your web page’s quality.

These three factors are what search engines use to rank your content in SERPs. The higher the E-A-T level, the more likely it is that you will rank higher in SERPS.

Expertise: this is the amount of relevant knowledge you have about a topic. This includes how frequently you post on your blog or website, how long it’s been around, and any awards you’ve won.

Authority: this is the number of people who are talking about your content online. Sites with high authority make a lot of money from advertising and have a lot of visitors from paid sources.

Trust: this is the number of people who believe your content is true and accurate.

Over time your E-A-T levels for each of these factors will increase leading to higher rankings.

Conclusion

On-page SEO is a very important aspect of what you need to do as a business.

It doesn’t guarantee that your site will be perfect, but following this on-page SEO checklist is the best way to start ranking higher in search engines.

As search engines become more advanced, they get better at understanding what people are looking for and how to satisfy their needs.

To stay ahead of your competition, you need to make sure your content is better. This can be done by reviewing and editing it so that it’s relevant, accurate, and up to date

The more you continue to stay consistent with the on-page SEO checklist, the more you will notice increases in your rankings.

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