WHAT IS ON-PAGE SEO?

Definition of On-Page SEO

On-page SEO, or On-Site SEO, is the process of enhancing what’s on your website’s pages. The goal? Rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPS) and connect better with your audience.

Importance of On-Page SEO for Website Ranking

Knowing how long your SEO process is expected to take is important for planning your brand’s other marketing and advertising strategies. Be Found Online wants to keep you on the frustration-free path to successful SEO, so we’ve put together this in-depth guide to help you understand what goes into SEO and when you can expect to start seeing positive returns on your pages and site.

Remember:

• Bullets are great
• For spelling out benefits and
• Turning visitors into leads.

On-page SEO is the backbone of your website. Without it, everything else falls apart and you’re not getting anywhere. 

Optimizing elements of your website like titles, meta tags, or internal links helps search engines like Google understand your page’s content and context. 

Search engines use these elements in coordination with keywords to see if a page matches a user’s search intent before serving it to them.

Quality content and correct keyword strategy are key to capturing and holding the attention of your audience, as well as boosting your search ranking.

Role of On-Page SEO in Digital Marketing Strategy

Without SEO, (especially on-page SEO) digital marketing wouldn’t be the same. To successfully promote a product or service in today's digital era, having a properly optimized website is a must. 

There are other aspects worth thinking about in a digital marketing strategy like content marketing, email marketing, and pay-per-click advertising, but these should be paired with correct SEO practices to maximize your impact. 

On-page optimization covers key elements of a strong digital marketing strategy, like improving user experience and boosting conversion rates. By focusing on these elements, you can make sure your online presence connects with your audience and maxes out your marketing potential.

High-Quality and Relevant Content

Writing engaging, high-quality blog posts, FAQs, and other forms of site content are the biggest (and most fun) parts of On-Page SEO. Heads up: you’re reading content right now!

Importance of Content in SEO

Creating and engaging content is super important for audience satisfaction and getting those high rankings on Google. When you provide valuable content, Google rewards you with more visibility. If your page has what people need on it, they’re more likely to stay there for longer.

With content flooding every corner of the internet, making yours stand out is crucial. How? By following the EEAT method (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). Go for those long-form articles that give in-depth analysis and comprehensive coverage of a specific topic.

Keyword Research and Optimization

When you dive into keyword research, don't forget to explore relevant topics and target those catchy keywords. 

Go for those less competitive long-tail keywords to up your discoverability game. Sprinkle them into your content while making sure they align with what your awesome audience is searching for. 

Strategically place these gems in titles, meta tags, headings, and subheadings to give your content that extra oomph! Boost visibility and show off the effectiveness of your content.

Content Formatting for Readability and SEO

Using headings, subheadings, and bullet points can make content easier to read and scan. Write short, sweet sentences that tackle topics in a way both users and Google can understand.

HTML Optimization

What is HTML optimization? It’s the process of tuning a web page to make it more visible and easier for search engine crawlers to crawl. 

This includes using proper title tags, meta descriptions, image alt text, H1 tags – anything related to HTML you can think of! These are key components that can help you score higher in SERPs (search engine results pages) and capture more organic traffic.

Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

The title in HTML code indicates the page title and shows up on search engines and other platforms. 

They play a role in ranking, so it's important to keep them concise and unique. Make sure to include your target keyword. Avoid making duplicate title tags.

Meta descriptions are HTML elements that appear below the page title on a SERP. They consist of a short sentence or two that describes the page. 

While they don't directly impact Google rankings, they can indirectly influence users to click on your page. 

Just remember to keep your meta description shorter than Google’s mobile character limit (120), include your target keyword, and add a compelling call to action!

Header Tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.)

Header tags are a strong signal for on-page SEO. HTML tags that tell a browser the font and size of the text. H1s are like a title, so make sure to include your target keyword. H2s and H3s should be used throughout the body to separate topics and help your content flow better for SEO.

Optimizing URLs for SEO

 A well-optimized URL is high on the list of on-page SEO ranking factors. It’s often the first thing either a user or engine sees on your website. 

Make sure you’re describing your content and including the correct keywords. Keep it simple, though, and short! Don’t forget to use hyphens to separate words instead of underscores.

Image and Multimedia Optimization

Images and video are the lifeblood of modern content and a key part of on-page SEO. Even a blog post as thorough as ours would be incomplete without a little multimedia spice. 

While it’s essential to include images and videos on your site, it has to be done the right way or you can do serious damage to your search engine ranking.

Importance of Image Optimization

Using images in your content can majorly boost its performance compared to plain text. 

It's important to choose relevant images and, when possible, go for original ones. But, keep in mind that using too large images can slow down your site, which isn't good for your audience or search engines like Google. 

Plus, adding images not only makes your site more accessible but also improves its chances of ranking in Google search results, giving you a shot at those coveted ‘rich snippets.’ Make your content visually appealing and engaging or you’ll be missing out!

Image Compression and Alt Text

Your site should use image compression to keep file sizes small while keeping the image itself clear. 

Alt text is a big part of accessibility but is also an on-page SEO factor. Alt text should quickly and accurately describe an image. If your images are optimized to search intent, your alt text should include keywords with ease. 

Using Video and Infographics for SEO

Pages with videos and infographics are the way to go for user engagement. For years now, video has been the dominant medium online. Google promotes sites with videos, which makes sense as they also own the number one video hosting site on the web, YouTube. 

Optimized video for SEO should - as always - match search intent and should be useful to your audience. It’s a great way to increase dwell time on your page. 

Infographics can be more than just pretty images. If they're used to tell a story or share data that's relevant to the audience, then it's worth including them in your SEO strategy. They not only boost engagement but also serve as link bait for inbound links. Make sure to include alt text and a link back to the page you're promoting!

Technical On-Page SEO Factors

Onpage SEO analysis looks at more than optimizing content, though. Several technical factors at play also determine your site’s SERP placement. Technical SEO, while a subcategory of on page SEO, is a broad enough category that we’ve written a separate guide for it. Here we’ll cover some of the most important technical on-page SEO factors

Page Load Speed

No one likes a slow website. Your pages’ loading times can be a determining factor as to whether people stay on your website or bail!

Impact of Page Speed on SEO

Not only will a slow website turn off your audience, but it’ll hurt your SERP rankings as well. Search engines like Google or Bing spotlight fast-loading sites to ensure a smooth experience for their users. By optimizing your image sizes, code, and other technical factors, you can directly improve your site’s ranking and performance.

Mobile-Friendliness

Mobile optimization has been essential for years now, and it’s only becoming more relevant. 

Over 85% of the world’s population now owns a smartphone, so it’s safe to assume folks will sometimes browse your site that way. Making sure they have a good experience with a mobile-friendly website should be a major priority.

Significance of Mobile Optimization

Mobile optimization makes sure your site looks great, works well, and keeps people engaged no matter what device they're using. 

Google's new mobile-first indexing means that mobile versions of websites get first place in search rankings. That means mobile-friendly sites and better user experience can impact your score directly.

Responsive Design and Mobile Usability

• Responsive design makes sure your website adapts to fit any screen size, keeping it functional and looking good on different devices. So no matter if someone is using a desktop, tablet, or smartphone, your content will be easily engaged with.
• Mobile usability makes your site's user interface friendly for mobile users. This includes easy-to-press buttons, clearly readable text, and intuitive navigation.

Website Architecture and Navigation

Website architecture is the structure and organization of your site and its pages. When well designed, your pages and their content will be connected logically and easy to understand.

Importance of Site Structure

Site structure is valuable for human users too. A site that has a layout that makes sense means people can find what they’re searching for, and makes them more likely to stick around for longer. This kind of user engagement is great for SEO.

Internal Linking for SEO Benefit

Strategic internal linking is essential for both audience and search engine navigation. With the right internal links, you can point people to your best content while building the link value of newer or less successful pages.

User Experience and On-Page SEO

Readability and Content Structure

Google wants you to create people-first content, and much of the time that means making sure your content is easy to read and scan.

Importance of Readable Content

In SEO, readability refers to the optimization of content for understandability, usefulness, and comprehensiveness. A readable piece of content uses concise language to cover the full scope of a relevant topic in a way people want to engage with.

If a piece is readable, folks are less likely to bounce, more likely to find what they’re looking for, and more likely to like, share, or follow a call to action.

Using Subheadings and Bullet Points

Subheadings can be useful to break up blocks of text, keeping your content fresh and easy for readers to scan. You can also use bullet points or numbered lists to organize data or important points. 

While primarily aimed at human users, search engine bots look for these signals of solid site structure that match user intent.

Engagement Metrics

Engagement metrics give crucial insights into how users are interacting with your site. Measurements like bounce rate, dwell time, and click-through rate can help you understand your audience and what they’re looking for.

Dwell Time and Bounce Rate

Dwell Time is how long on average your users spend on your website. It starts when they click the link from the SERP and ends when they return there. This metric reflects how long your content catches a user’s attention, so the longer the dwell time the better.

Bounce Rate refers to the percentage of users who visit your site and then leave without viewing other pages. Users usually bounce if they can’t easily find the content they’re looking for, often due to poor content quality or confusing navigation. The lower your bounce rate, the higher your search engine score in that category.

Creating Engaging and Relevant Content

Crafting content to match user search intent is one thing, but writing in a way that captures people’s attention and holds it is another entirely. Making content that people find useful and interesting is perhaps the most important of on-page SEO techniques.

Focus on connecting with your audience on a conversational level, giving them the information they want while keeping them coming back for more. Cover common concerns or related topics your readers might be curious about. 

Stay casual, yet informative. To create content that your audience wants, you have to understand what they already need. 

Need a hand creating content that counts for your site? Be Found Online is here to help.

Best Practices for On-Page SEO

Here are a few of Be Found Online's best practices for on-page SEO:

Avoiding Keyword Stuffing and Black Hat Techniques

Avoid keyword stuffing, the practice of overloading content with keywords in an unnatural way. Unethical black-hat SEO techniques may provide a temporary visibility boost, but they'll cause long-term damage. 

Your content will not only drive away real users but also be heavily penalized by search engines like Google for practices such as keyword stuffing, link farming, or cloaking. In extreme cases, your site may be demoted or banned from search results. 

Instead, focus on creating valuable content that naturally incorporates target keywords. While you won't see artificial engagement spikes, your site will grow sustainably without penalties.

Regularly Updating and Refreshing Content

Search engines favor up-to-date and relevant content that matches users’ current search intents. Good onpage SEO strives to always provide the most accurate and timely information by consistently updating and refreshing your content.

Search engines view active websites as more trustworthy and reliable for accurate information. This encourages human viewers to return to your site, improving your engagement and ranking. 

A consistent update schedule is also great for keyword strategy, as you can improve and incorporate more keywords over time naturally without resorting to keyword stuffing.

Utilizing Schema Markup for Rich Snippets

Schema markup is structured data that can help search engines understand your website’s content more easily. It’s like handing Google a summary of your website and the content on it which helps them figure out how best to show your page and what it’s about. 

By adding schema markup, you can improve your visibility in search results with “rich snippets,” eye-catching SERP add-ons like images, star ratings, or event schedules. There are over thirty types of rich snippets now, so don’t miss out on an opportunity to show off your content!

On-Page SEO vs. Off-Page SEO

Understanding the Difference

What is the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?

On-page SEO involves all the things we’ve been talking about in this article so far: high-quality original content, user experience, technical SEO fixes, and more. It’s the parts of your website that add value and draw in both users and search engines. On-page SEO is everything you and your analytics team have direct control over.

Off-page SEO is everything relating to the reputation of your website. Think about social media influencing, outside promotion, backlinking, and other optimization you can do away from your site itself. Off-page SEO is largely out of your direct control, influenced instead by your audience and other third parties.

Complementary Role of On-Page and Off-Page SEO

On-page and Off-page SEO work together to make your website more visible. If your on-page content is authentic and useful, it will draw in users and generate off-page buzz naturally. 

Good backlinking from other websites starts with well-structured, On-site optimized pages. Likewise, by building your reputation up with backlinking, you’ll increase your credibility with both search engine bots and users, and get more eyes on your page.

Conclusion

Recap of Key On-Page SEO Concepts

On-page SEO is all about creating high-quality, engaging content for your website that’s also optimized on a technical level. Factors like page speed, content structure, and user experience all play a role in making your website a great read for your audience and search engines alike. On-page SEO encompasses all the elements of SEO that you have direct control over and serves as the foundation for any off-page SEO like backlinking.

Emphasizing the Ongoing Importance of On-Page SEO

If you want your website to stay relevant and high up on those SERPs, you need to invest in ongoing on-page optimization. 

Regular on-page SEO audits keep your website refreshed and up-to-date, keeping pace with both your users' needs and updates to Google’s search algorithms.

Encouraging Implementation of On-Page SEO Best Practices

Following on-page SEO best practices isn’t a quick fix. Results can take time to show improvement. It’s a long-term process, and the best time to start is now! 

Optimized on-page SEO improves your website’s visibility, search rankings, usability, and overall success. Don’t miss out on organic traffic your site could be engaging with!

Want to take the first step toward launching your website up those search results rankings? With Be Found Online’s On-page SEO services, we can help your site rise up and stand out above the noise. Invest in your audience and your content and get in touch with a BFO analyst today!