12 Apr What is On-Page SEO, and How to Do it the Right Way

To make sure your website can easily be found by internet users, and to stay on top of the competition, SEO is necessary. SEO, or search engine optimization, is a combined set of web practices to increase the quality and amount of web traffic to your website with organic search engine results. There are two sides to SEO – on-page SEO and off-page SEO. Both are necessary to increase your website visibility and to drive traffic. We’ve previously discussed off-page SEO practices, so now let’s take a look at on-page SEO.

 

What is On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO involves optimizing the content of your web pages to rank high in search engine results and to gain relevant web traffic. Off-page SEO focuses on link building and other external web factors, while on-page SEO targets web page content and a website’s source code. Search engine algorithms like Google’s are constantly updating to keep up with the internet standards, which is why it’s essential to keep your on-page SEO practices up to date.

 

How to Make Sure Your On-Page SEO Strategy Works

Not every website is able to rank on the first page of a search result. Search engine algorithms are complex, but there are some easy ways to stay current with them. A strong SEO strategy is required to improve your search ranking, and on-page SEO is the building block to your complete SEO strategy.

 

Here is what you need for a successful on-page SEO strategy:

• SEO friendly URLs – The first three to five words in a URL are given more importance to search engine algorithms. Short URLs also tend to have an advantage in search results. Therefore, your page URLs should be short and to the point in order to be SEO friendly. It’s important to include target keywords in your URL as well. Long URLs that lack keywords should be avoided.

 

• Begin titles with keywords – Beginning your page titles with keywords is a very important on-page SEO strategy. This helps search engines quickly index the content type of your page, and it allows users to quickly identify which web pages have the content they’re searching for.

 

• Wrap post titles in <H1> tags – Ensuring your titles are properly tagged as <H1> can be done in the website’s code. This allows search engines to better understand and index the focus of your content. However, there should only be one H1 tag per web page, and it should contain your target keyword.

 

• Include modifiers in titles – A modifier is a word that makes your keyword more precise. They help your target audience and search engines know exactly what your web page content is about. Some examples of modifiers include “best,” “guide,” “review,” and the year (e.g., 2019).

 

• Wrap page subheadings in <H2> tags – Your page subheadings should also include a target keyword and should be wrapped in a <H2> tag in the website code. These tags support the main <H1> tag. This helps structure your content and makes it easier for users and search engines to find and understand your web page.

 

• Frequently use multimedia features – Your content needs to be engaging with users, or else bounce rates will increase and time spent on your site will decrease. Images, infographics, videos, and diagrams engage visitors and keep them on your page. Multimedia can also improve the quality of your content. Search engines can’t measure quality, but they can measure how long people are staying on your website before bouncing. The longer people stay on your site, the higher it will be ranked.

 

• Include keywords in the first 100 words – Your keyword must be in the first few lines of your content, particularly the first 100 words. This is just another easy way for search engines and for users to instantly know the content of your web page.

 

• Implement responsive design – Since 2015, Google and other search engines will not highly rank websites that do not have a responsive design. Responsive design means your website will automatically adapt its layout on mobile devices. Being mobile-friendly will improve your user experience and decrease bounce rates. Learn more about responsive design from our blog post about why responsive web design is essential for your business.

 

• Link internally – Internal links are hyperlinks within your web pages that direct users to other relevant web pages from your website. This helps search engines build a map of your website and keeps users engaged with your content. Only two to three internal links per page should be used so as not to go overboard.

 

• Link externally – Linking to other relevant websites is just as important as linking to your own site’s relevant pages. Outbound links are hyperlinks that direct visitors to other related websites. Linking to other websites helps search engines understand the type of content your site provides so they can better present your web pages to target audiences.

 

• Write longer posts – Content length is also very important to an on-page SEO strategy. In fact, the length of your content is among the top nine most important search engine ranking factors. You content should be both longer and engaging. This will help you utilize more keywords and keep visitors on your page longer.

 

• Optimize load speed – Visitors will quickly leave if your website takes too long to load. Because of this, search engines will not give websites with a long load time a high ranking. A faster load speed will also improve user experience. See our blog post on nine ways to improve the load speed of your website to learn more!

 

• Include keywords in image file names – As previously mentioned with multimedia, images are an important way to be engaging with your users. Keywords for naming images are just as important for titles. Make sure to include the keyword in the image files names and the alt text. This helps search engines to more easily scan and tag your content.

 

• Use LSI keywords – LSI stands for latent semantic indexing. LSI keywords are words that are related to your keyword. Search engines like Google use LSI keywords to determine the relevance of your content. While you are likely to naturally use LSI keywords when you write longer content, it’s easy to specifically search for them. Simply search your keyword on Google and look to the bottom of the search page. Here, you will find “searches related to,” which shows the related keywords users are searching for.

 

• Add social sharing buttons – While social sharing does not directly affect your search engine ranking, it certainly can lead to more people viewing your content. As more visitors come to your website, they are more likely to link to it on their websites. This increases your web traffic, which search engine algorithms track, as well as the natural value of your content. So, make sure to prominently include social media sharing buttons on your website.

If you’re looking to improve your on-page SEO strategy for your website, Virtual Stacks Systems UK has the experts to help. Our SEO services utilize the most recent industry practices, and we can also help you target local SEO!

Contact us today to start your SEO plan.