On-Page SEO refers to a set of techniques we use on our own website to improve its search engine page rankings. Google uses crawlers/spiders/bots to read the information on the web. They are trained to read mainly in certain places of our website content. If we can optimize for those crawlers, we will have better search engine ranks, which ultimately leads to more traffic, conversions, and revenue.
Let us see how we can do on-page seo step by step:
- Find your focus keyword:
The first step in on-page seo is to find a keyword that you want your website, page, or blog to rank for. You can use Google Suggest, Uber Suggest, Semrush, Ahrefs, and other tools to find out the best keywords based on volume, competition, relevancy, and other factors.
- Optimize your SEO title:
SEO title is the text that appears below your website URL. It plays a major role in your search rankings. Hence, it is always advisable to have your focus keyword in it. For example, if your company is a digital marketing agency in Hyderabad and you’re targeting the keyword “ Best Digital Marketing Agency in Hyderabad,” your SEO title can be Your Company Name | Best Digital Marketing Agency in Hyderabad. It’s good to have your title within 55-60 characters, which helps to appear better on mobiles as well as laptops.
- Next, Focus on the Meta Description:
Although the meta description is not a critical factor in Google’s search engine rankings, a well-written description can increase the click-through rate of your website, which in turn helps with better rankings. Think of it as the opening lines that your website visitors see before they visit your site. It should be within 120-155 characters. Use active voice and have a call to action. Also don’t forget to include your focus keyword in the meta description.
- Keyword-rich URL:
URLs are also crawled by Google to determine the relevancy of the page for its users. It is advisable to have a user-friendly URL that tells what the page or blog is about. Including your target keyword in the URL will improve your chances of Ranking.
- Alt Text for Images:
Whatever image we use on our page or blog can’t be understood by Google bots. To give them a better context of what the image is about, you can give an alt text for images. At least in one image of the page/blog, you should include the focus keyword.
- Headings and Subheadings:
Structuring your website/page/blog using headings (H1, H2, H3…) will make your website look organized, and it helps in SEO. Have the main title in H1 and the next important heading, and follow till H6. You should not have two H1s on your page. It confuses the crawlers. Try to include your target keyword in a few of the headings where you think it is relevant.
- Internal and External Links:
Another factor that determines your rankings is the quality of internal and external links. When you have written previously that relates to your present writing topic, you direct to that topic by giving an internal link. Wherever you feel there, you can add external links that have authority on the topic you are writing, you should add them. For example, take this article as an example, here I have a subtopic on meta description. If I have already written a complete article on that topic, I can give an internal link. In the keyword research section, I have given the names of Uber Suggest, Ahrefs, and Semrush. I can give external links to these words by linking their website URLs.
- Intro of your page:
Using the focus keyword in the top 10% of your content also helps in SEO. Include it in places where it feels appropriate. While placing a keyword in any place, it should not be felt by the reader that it is placed out of context. Hence, place your focus keyword at the right place at the beginning of your article content.
- Content Length:
Your content length also matters. It should be not least 600 words. Better to write 1000 -1200 words on a topic. Research better, take extra time, but when you have a lot of aspects of a topic covered about a particular topic, you have good chances of improving your traffic.
- Great Content:
While doing all these, don’t forget that all these are useful only when you have great content that satisfies your users’ queries. The problem with which they have approached your website should be solved. While optimizing for search engines, you should put 100% effort into creating content that adds value to your website visitors. This is the most important factor Google takes into consideration to rank your website in the long run.
We have covered all the important on-page SEO techniques here; there might be a few more. Before exploring them, practice these first. Once you master these, you can read more blogs and learn a few advanced concepts. Hope this article added value to you. See you in my next article.