What is On-Page SEO?
The term On-page SEO refers to the optimization of web pages to rank better in search results for target key terms. It serves as the foundation for any successful SEO campaign, a strategy that can make or break your digital presence.
This post will highlight key On-Page SEO strategies with actionable instructions.
People spend months developing and launching a website. And that’s all great.
Spending a few days ensuring proper on-page SEO can become a daunting task at times which can be attributed to the fact that the community is leaned more towards off-site SEO (link building) whereas on-page SEO is equally valuable and a critical determinant in long-term search rankings.
Seven (7) on-page factors perfectly configured and optimized will allow search engines to credit your web pages, leading to a surge in organic traffic and leads.
1. Target Keywords + Diversification
Do you really know what your target keywords are? Often our attention is solely set on words that define the product/service/business or the ones scraped from top-ranking competitor pages. Let me ask you a question:
Have you ever seen an established brand website/landing page stuffed with keywords?
If your website is selling SEO services, you don’t necessarily need to target 10 keyword combinations containing the term “SEO” ONLY.
Your brand name is one of your most important target keywords, even if it is not that buzz-worthy.
The reason being, the AI robots at Google do take this into consideration and if you’re promoting your brand name well, the website pages will start to pick up in SERPs for their respective keywords too.
You don’t wanna miss this and it’s a big one, Google is not just pushing keyword-stuffed pages in search results but rather those featuring relevant keywords, strategically placed within high-quality content, satisfying the searcher’s quest for whatever they’re looking for.
Be it your page title, content, or product info – use keywords wisely, include brand-related terms, and diversify in general.
2. Meta Tags + Best Practices
I know you have probably heard about this a gazillion times and have already configured meta tags but what’s important is knowing if your tags are following the best practices?
Here are some important guidelines:
3. Heading Tags
Make sure you wrap your page title (heading) in H1 and subheading in H2 tags.
This helps Google bots understand the structure of your page better.
Most content management systems will have this by default but you can make sure by either checking the HTML source in a content editor or by inspecting the page source.
4. Image ALT Tags
Have you ever heard of the term Image SEO? Well, adding tags to your images presents an opportunity for search engines to understand your images as they can’t visually analyze it (yet).
We’ve noticed large spikes in traffic for clients as a result of image optimization. Search engine bots will index the images better if you have the ALT tag and description set.
These little things will distinguish you from beginners and help achieve a better spot in search results.
5. SEO-friendly URLs
If your URLs are not well-structured and complex to read, chances are your website will miss that search engine love.
There are three golden rules to remember when creating URLs:
1. Keep ‘em short and simple.
2. Include your target keyword.
3. Include relevant words in the URL. Do not stuff keywords in the URL, just for the sake of it.
A good URL example: https://freebacklinktool.com/video-seo-guide/
Bad example would be:.com/video-seo-marketing-ranking-guide
Just never do that. It’s not going to help the cause.
Keep it relevant to the page content and you’re all set.
6. Unique Content
High quality, well-optimized content is one of the fastest ways to make your website an authority in whatever niche it is in.
Taking inspiration from competitors and credible sources for copywriting isn’t a bad idea but being unique indicates to users the value of information, and improves the overall perception of your brand/business.
They say ‘Content is king’, I’d say Uniqueness is the crown.
7. Page Speed
Your website speed plays a critical role in minimizing bounce rate, improving user experience, and chances of higher search ranking.
No one likes to wait, let’s agree on that, it’s utmost important you diagnose and fix any speed issues sooner than later.
We recommend using Google’s PageSpeed Insights to analyze and assess the performance of your webpage load time.
To start with, page speed can be improved by compressing images, CSS optimization, implementing caching (code/plugins), minifying java/HTML, fixing errors, and removing unnecessary (WordPress) plugins.
You don’t want to let the ship sink after heavily investing time and money in website design and development, try to score as high as possible on Google’s PageSpeed test and you’re golden!
Focus on the list of On-Page SEO strategies discussed above and take that first step towards your digital marketing success.
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At Free Backlink Tool, we combine proven strategies and automation to help brands boost their digital presence, leading to cost-effective customer acquisition, increased brand awareness, and sustainable business growth.
