On-page SEO is arguably the most important factor of SEO because it can make or break your whole SEO strategy.
But what exactly needs to be optimized, and how does this impact your site’s visibility?
This article is your complete 101 guide to On-page SEO, what it means, why it makes a difference to search engine crawlers, and how to implement it in 2024.
Let’s jump right in!
What is On-Page SEO?
On-page SEO, or on-site SEO, involves optimizing individual web pages to boost search engine rankings and attract more organic traffic.
This includes optimizing visible content and the HTML source code of a page.
Unlike off-page SEO, which focuses on backlinks and other external signals, on-page SEO refers to optimizing the internal elements of a page’s HTML code, content, and structure.
So, what elements need this optimization?
They include HTML elements, internal links, optimizing images and metadata, which should be optimized to earn organic traffic, improve search engine rankings, and ensure better visibility.
Every detail matters in on-page SEO, from your page title to meta descriptions to avoiding keyword stuffing and how your web pages link.
Why is On-Page SEO Important for SEO?
Let’s start with the fact that search engines account for around 40% of online revenue and website traffic. When you secure the top position in Google’s search results for a specific keyword, you can capture over 32% of the traffic.
That’s a massive influx of potential customers you wouldn’t want to miss out on.
Moreover, implementing current on-page SEO practices can result in long-term advantages and consistent traffic over the years.
On-page SEO improves user experience and is integral to maintaining and increasing organic traffic. It also keeps your website relevant, up-to-date, and in tune with what your audience is searching for.
On-Page vs. Off-Page SEO
To fully understand On-Page SEO, you should be able to differentiate it from Off-Page SEO easily.
On-page SEO:
- Enhances individual web pages to boost search engine rankings and improve user experience.
- Involves optimizing content, HTML tags, and site architecture.
- Involves elements directly on your website, such as content, meta tags, and internal links.
Off-page SEO focuses on external factors like:
- Backlinks,
- Website responsiveness,
- Social media presence.
While both are crucial in a website’s ranking and visibility, On-Page SEO provides more control over optimizing web pages.
10 On Page SEO Best Practices for Better Ranking
Now that you understand how on-page SEO works, it’s time for specific advice. Here are 10 best practices and strategies to implement in 2024 for a better SEO ranking:
1. Write Helpful Content
Content quality and helpfulness have completely transformed how content optimization worked in the last few years. You must follow Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines to rank better by providing valuable, accurate, and well-researched content.
For example, if you run a creative design agency blog, writing an article on brand design trends should include insights from reputable sources, expert opinions, and practical tips for readers so you can be seen as an expert, authority, and trustworthy source in the industry.
To simplify the process, use SEOBoost’s content optimization feature to ensure your content aligns with SEO best practices and user intent. After analysis, the tool will help you format your content for optimal user experience and suggest changes based on an overall content quality score.
2. Use Proper Headings
Organize your content with clear and hierarchical headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.). Proper headings improve readability and help search engines understand the structure of your content. Using main and secondary keywords in your headings also supports keyword optimization.
For example, for any content about “CRM software,” use H1 for the main title, H2 for each definition or idea, and H3 for subcategories like ‘tools’ or ‘advice.’
For each heading, recognize what your audience is searching for. You can use Google search results, related searches, and the ‘People Also Ask’ section to look for secondary keywords or questions and include them as headings.
3. Optimize Your Content with Right Keywords
Conduct keyword research using SEOBoost’s Topic Reports to identify relevant keywords.
SEOBoost can help you identify the right keywords to add and help optimize the content. It includes a complete list of secondary and LSI keywords, their importance, and the number of times you can incorporate them around your content for the best results.
Incorporate these keywords into your content, including the title, headings, body text, and meta tags. But remember not to overdo it.
Ensure your main keyword is in the introduction, conclusion, h1, and meta description. Other headings can be formed around closely related search phrases or secondary keywords that users search often.
4. Add Multimedia
Your content can never be just a bunch of jumbled words. User Experience in content relies on the strategic use of multimedia elements.
Incorporating multimedia elements such as images, videos, infographics, gifs, and slideshows can enhance user engagement. Multimedia makes your content visually appealing and provides additional context and information.
If you want easy access to all of your multimedia content, I suggest using SEOBoost’s content management feature that stores all your images in one place. You get unlimited access to creative assets and can organize and use them however you like.
You should also use images in your blog content to make it more readable and enjoyable. Here’s an example of the images we use in our blog:
Caption: This is how we add multimedia for SEOBoost’s content to ensure the text has helpful visuals.
5. Optimize Images
Use descriptive filenames, alt tags, image sitemaps, and captions to optimize images for SEO. Properly optimized images improve accessibility and user experience and can rank in Google Images search results.
To have your images indexed faster, use image sitemaps. You can add code snippets to your HTML to ensure that Google indexes your images properly for any keywords mentioned.
For example, instead of using generic filenames like “IMG_1234.jpg,” rename your image file to “5-steps-content-framework.jpg” and add an alt tag like “Step-by-step content marketing framework.”
Another important image optimization practice is resizing images for your website. This will allow you to compress the file size of your images and improve the loading speed of images on your webpage. You can use free tools like Optimizilla to do that.
6. Add Proper Internal Links
Internal linking helps search engines discover and index your web pages while establishing a hierarchy and spreading link equity throughout your site.
Link building is generally considered an Off-Page SEO strategy. However, internal linking, since it’s part of your content creation process and is on the webpage, is always part of your on-page strategy.
When Google is crawling your content, redirecting it to related pages on your website will help you establish authority and trustworthiness with the search engine while also bringing more traffic to those pages.
You don’t have to manually review all existing and new content to identify opportunities for internal linking. Tools like AIOSEO, with its link assistant feature, can audit your linking strategy in seconds and present a report including links that are performing well, abandoned links, broken links, and new linking suggestions.
7. Create and Optimize Page Titles
Compelling and descriptive page titles accurately reflect the content of each page. You must always include target keywords near the beginning of the title and keep it under 60 characters to ensure visibility in SERPs.
Other good practices include adding punctuation, numbers, and emotionally charged words to your titles to catch the audience’s attention. While these don’t directly impact how search engines perceive your titles, catching audience attention can boost rankings by gaining more clicks.
You can use third-party tools to analyze your titles and headlines. Many content optimization tools have built-in features for title and meta description optimization, but you can always try out free tools for a quick idea of how things work.
I use the AIOSEO Free Headline Analyzer to create optimized and catchy blog headlines. It gives an overall score to the headline based on the word balance, headline type and other ranking features.
8. Create Helpful Meta Description
Talking about meta titles, meta descriptions play a much more important role for the search engine and the audience to identify what your content is about and scan it in a glance before deciding to click or rank it.
Write concise and informative meta-descriptions that summarize each page’s content. Use relevant keywords and always include the main or secondary keywords in the description. You need to encourage clicks by offering value to searchers from a user experience point of view.
Tools like AIOSEO’s on-page content analysis features create a report instantly based on your existing content to suggest improvements, SEO scores, and new ideas. Using it helps you do SEO checks and improve metadata.
9. Optimize URLs
To improve user experience and search engine crawlability, URLs should be short, descriptive, and keyword-rich. Avoid using numbers, symbols, or special characters.
Instead of a lengthy URL like “https://www.example.com/p=123,” use a clean and optimized URL structure like “https://www.seoboost.com/keyword-research/.”
10. Add Schema Markup
Implement schema markup to provide search engines with additional context about your content, such as product details, reviews, ratings, and event information.
If you run a product site, use schema markup to mark up product pages with details like price, availability, and customer reviews to enhance visibility in search results.
Similarly, if you run a service-based or platform-based business website, your focus content will be more informational. In that case, answer FAQs common questions, create listicles, and code them as part of your schema markups to get a featured snippet on Google.
On-Page SEO Factors
On-page SEO includes elements like:
- Optimized title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Content (including keyword usage)
- Internal links
- URLs
- Images
These elements must be optimized to earn organic traffic, improve search engine rankings, and ensure better visibility.
Implementing on-page SEO strategies like optimizing metadata, creating high-quality content, and internal linking enhances search engines’ comprehension of a website’s content, aligning it with users’ search queries.
Let’s discuss each of these factors in more detail.
Content Quality and Relevance
Quality and relevance are two key factors contributing to your content’s effectiveness. High-quality, relevant content matches readers’ search intent and is crucial for on-page SEO. This significantly impacts both user satisfaction and search engine rankings.
To ensure your content meets and exceeds users’ needs and expectations, you should:
- Optimize your site pages for specific target audiences
- Address the correct search intent
- Implement E-E-A-T principles (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) recommended by Google to enhance the quality of on-page content and improve SEO.
Keyword Optimization
Another crucial on-page SEO factor is keyword optimization. Keyword research is crucial as it identifies what people are searching for, their questions, and the phrases they use to find answers. This informs the optimization of on-page SEO.
Remember, you should use focus keywords strategically to center the content around a specific topic without excessive usage or exact match repetition, ensuring natural incorporation in on-page elements.
Meta Tags
Meta tags are another vital aspect of on-page SEO. They include title tags and meta descriptions that can influence how your page appears in search engine results and significantly impact whether a user clicks on it.
For example, you can see these results with the metadata when you search on Google. To maximize your click-through rate, ensure the metadata is optimized and close to your written content.
While not directly influencing Google’s rankings, the meta description plays a pivotal role in attracting clicks in SERPs by providing a compelling summary of page content.
Enhancing Website Architecture
A clear and logical website structure is crucial for search engines to crawl and index pages effectively and for users to navigate the site efficiently. This can be achieved by adopting a hierarchical site structure, often visualized like a tree with the homepage at the root and branching into categories and subpages.
Various site structure models, such as:
- Hierarchical
- Flat
- Database driven
- Sequential
Each offers benefits that can enhance a site’s SEO and user navigation when applied appropriately. An effective internal linking strategy, proper use of breadcrumb navigation, and clear content categorization contribute to a site’s SEO by improving its crawlability and helping search engines understand the structure.
Site Speed
Site speed is a critical factor in on-page SEO. Optimizing page speed is crucial because it significantly affects user experience and is a confirmed ranking factor for Google.
Large images can increase the load time, particularly if positioned above the fold, where they are immediately visible to the user upon loading the page. That is why it’s essential to ensure images have been optimized through compression.
Regular monitoring, at least once a month, using a tool like Google’s free PageSpeed Insights, helps identify and fix technical errors that affect page speed.
Mobile-Friendliness
Mobile-friendliness is another crucial factor in on-page SEO. Google prefers responsive mobile websites when determining its rankings to accommodate most web traffic now driven by mobile devices.
Options for making a website mobile-friendly include having a separate mobile site or implementing a responsive design, often recommended for SEO and analytics.
To assess a site’s mobile usability, you can utilize Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test and check for issues in the Mobile Usability section of Google Search Console.
Optimizing HTML Elements
HTML elements encompass visible text, metadata, multimedia content, and source code elements like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Optimizing these elements can significantly improve the on-page SEO experience.
Meta descriptions act as short page descriptions in SERPs, and optimizing them properly with relevant information can improve the likelihood of users clicking through to the website. Using heading tags correctly enhances user experience and communicates content structure and relevance to search engines; these tags can be audited and optimized with tools like the Semrush Site Audit Tool.
Heading Tags
Headers refer to the HTML elements H1, H2, H3, etc., and are used to structure and organize the content’s hierarchy on a web page. Headings and subheadings help users easily skim through a page to find specific information, enhancing the overall readability of the content.
Structured headings incorporating relevant keywords and variations give search engines more context about the page’s content, which can contribute to better rankings. Important keywords should be placed in the H1 and H2 headers for optimal on-page SEO, making content more scannable and search engine friendly.
Image Optimization
Image optimization is another crucial aspect of on-page SEO. It helps search engines understand the content of images and provides clues about the page’s topic, contributing to improved rankings.
Descriptive alt text for images increases the chances of ranking in Google Images but also aids in driving more traffic to the site as search engines can read and understand the image content. For optimal technical image optimization, ensure images have descriptive filenames and alt tags, include target keywords, and are compressed to maintain faster page loading times.
On-page SEO Tools
There are numerous on-page SEO tools available that can make your SEO journey much more manageable. These tools can provide a comprehensive range of SEO analysis and content optimization features, including:
- SEO auditing
- Insights and recommendations
- Content exporting
- Rank tracking
Tools like AIOSEO and SEOBoost offer unique features for on-page SEO. They can significantly improve your keyword, competitor, trends, and audience research processes.
For a complete list of the best on-page SEO tools, read our article. Our experts break down each tool and its pros/cons.
A tool can help you transform video content into blog posts, monitor keyword rankings, or conduct content research with unique data visualizations.
However, we’re in the era of AI. Everything about research, briefing, creation, ideation, and optimization is 10x faster.
A dedicated content optimization tool like SEOBoost brings all features, from research and ideation to creation and optimization, into one place.
With a Google Doc-like editable format, team collaboration features, AI-powered suggestions, optimization scores, AI-generated briefs, topic reports, outlines, and audits, as well as a complete breakdown of keywords, SEOBoost can help you set up your own workflow and ecosystem within a single platform.
On-page SEO Checklist
You may now be pondering how to manage all these on-page SEO aspects.
Well, you’re in luck!
Here’s a concise checklist to guide you in implementing your on-page SEO strategy.
The checklist includes:
- Optimizing title tags
- URL slugs
- Header tags
- Various other elements to enhance your page’s rank on Google
Also, remember to include target keywords within the first paragraph of content and then disperse them throughout. Don’t forget to optimize your URLs with simple formats and relevant words. Make sure your meta descriptions provide a compelling summary of page content. And, of course, always aim to create high-quality content that provides value to your readers.
Advanced On-Page SEO Techniques
While the basics of on-page SEO are crucial, there are also advanced techniques that can contribute to a more sophisticated optimization strategy. These advanced techniques, including technical SEO, can enhance a page’s ability to rank highly in search engine results and set you apart from your competitors.
These advanced techniques include voice search optimization, optimizing for featured snippets, and regularly refreshing your content.
Let’s discuss each of these in detail:
Voice Search Optimization
Voice search optimization is an advanced on-page SEO technique that focuses on improving online content so that it can be more easily selected by voice assistants during verbal queries. This is becoming increasingly important as more users turn to voice search for convenience.
To optimize for voice search, use conversational language in your content to align with users’ natural speaking style. Implementing conversational, question-based, and long-tail keywords helps optimize voice search, as these align with how users typically phrase their voice queries.
Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are excerpts from web pages that Google displays at the top of its search results, often called ‘position zero,’ to answer user queries directly. These snippets can be directly clickable to the relevant section on the source page and are instrumental in increasing click-through rates and enhancing brand authority.
There are several types of featured snippets, including:
- Paragraph snippets
- List snippets
- Table snippets
- Video snippets
These snippets cater to different kinds of user queries. Optimizing for Google’s featured snippets can make your content more accessible for voice search queries, aligning with the rising use of voice-activated devices.
Content Refreshing
As Google’s algorithm continuously evolves, it is essential to frequently update your on-page content to comply with the latest SEO practices.
Regularly monitoring and updating content is crucial to ensure it stays relevant and engaging and adheres to changes in search engine algorithms and user behaviors.
You should perform regular content audits using SEOBoost to assess and maintain content’s relevancy and ranking in search engine results. To keep your content current and ranking well, it should be regularly enhanced with the latest data, fresh images, and the integration of relevant long-tail keywords.
Luckily for you, SEOBoost gives you a detailed overview of what can be improved to improve the overall content quality and relevancy.
Measuring On-Page SEO Success
Once you’ve implemented your on-page SEO strategies, it’s important to gauge your success. Regularly assessing the outcomes of your on-page SEO is key to constantly enhancing your website’s optimization. You can do this by tracking your keyword rankings and analyzing your traffic.
Tools like Google Analytics can provide valuable insights into your organic traffic measurements and the effectiveness of your on-page SEO through keyword ranking changes.
Here are the 2 key metrics you should monitor:
Keyword Ranking Tracking
Keyword ranking tracking involves monitoring webpages’ positions in search engine results for specific keywords. This helps you gauge the effectiveness of your on-page optimization and make necessary adjustments to your strategy.
Automating keyword ranking tracking is beneficial as it:
- Saves time
- Ensures that you’re always up to date with your keyword performance
- Allows you to respond to any changes in your rankings quickly
- Helps you make necessary adjustments to your on-page SEO strategy.
Traffic Analysis
Traffic analysis is another crucial aspect of measuring on-page SEO success. Tools like Google Analytics allow SEO professionals to analyze user engagement on a page-by-page level, providing a clear picture of how users interact with your content.
This analysis can help you understand user behavior across different platforms, which is key to optimizing conversion rates. In addition, monitoring your bounce rate, a metric that reflects the percentage of users who leave your site without engaging further, can help you identify pages that may not effectively capture user interest.
Final Word
From understanding the basics of on-page SEO and implementing best practices to utilizing advanced techniques and tools, we’ve covered every strategy designed to help you navigate the world of on-page SEO.
Remember, SEO is a long-term strategy; finding a workflow unique to your business and seeing results takes time. Stay patient, keep learning, and continually optimize your strategies.
Start with SEOBoost and test out every on-page SEO factor that can improve and innovate how your marketing team does SEO!
FAQs
1. What is an on-page SEO?
On-page SEO refers to the optimization techniques applied directly to a website’s individual pages and HTML source code to improve search engine rankings and attract more organic traffic.
2. Is on-page SEO easy?
On-page SEO can be learned, but in-depth mastery takes time. Practices like keyword optimization are easy, but achieving significant results requires understanding algorithms and industry competition. It’s part of a broader SEO strategy that includes off-page and technical SEO.
3. What are the important techniques of on-page SEO?
On-page SEO involves several key techniques, including keyword optimization, creating high-quality content, optimizing meta tags, maintaining a clear and descriptive URL structure, and proper linking.
