The term On-Page SEO refers to the process of optimizing parts of your website that are within your control, such as content, images, title tags, and keywords. The objective is to help both search engines and users to understand what your website is about, to identify your page as relevant to a search and to find your page useful and worthy of ranking well on the results page. This is the opposite of off-page SEO, which refers to optimizing the elements outside of your site.
Why is it so Important?
Understanding how On-Page SEO works goes hand in hand with understanding how the Google algorithm works. In simple words, Google’s algorithms are used to retrieve data from its search index and deliver the best possible results for a query. Google prioritizes user experience, so by improving your On-Page SEO you’re basically helping Google do its job better. At the same time, this will benefit you, because if you’re doing it right, your page will appear higher up on the results page and so the amount of people that visit your site will increase! One thing to keep in mind is that Google regularly updates it algorithm, so its important that you keep up with the best practices when it comes to search engine optimization.
How can you optimize your content for On-Page SEO?
There are multiple things you can do to optimize your On-Page SEO content, here are some ideas:
1. Use Keywords - When writing an article or a blog, using your main target keywords lets you make your purpose clear for your readers, and for search engines as well, especially if you use these words in the first paragraph.
Algorithms look for keywords and terms that lets them see what your content is about and what type of information you’re sharing. However, be careful with keyword spamming. You need to make sure that, when you create content, it makes sense and that everything flows naturally.
2. Outbound and Internal Links - Another good way of using On-Page SEO is including links to related content whether it’s internal or outside of your website. For internal links, you want to focus mainly on the content that has performed well on your site, as these will help give other pages in your site a boost. External links are equally as important. Without them, your site will lose credibility and will not seem trustworthy. You can use links to provide additional information about a topic you’re discussing, or to provide a source for the information you’re sharing. Using links will allow Google to search through your website more easily.
3. Add Images - Let’s be honest, you’re less likely to engage with a long article full of text, than you are with one that has a few images here and there. That’s why this aspect is so important: it helps with engagement. This is not just about loading images into your website, though. You also need to optimize these images by making sure they load quickly, creating descriptive alt tags that tell Google what the image is, and using titles and file names that reflect the relationship between your images and your content.
4. Use General Optimization for User Engagement - The written content on your page should be neat and well structured so that it can keep the reader engaged. Some ways of doing this are the following:
Use clear headlines for each topic you are discussing
Create bullet points or lists so information is easier to see
Incorporate images or videos
Have a clean layout that doesn’t distract users from your content
On-Page SEO can be an extensive topic to cover in one blog, but this will hopefully give you a better idea of what it is and why it’s important that you implement it in your site.
We are sure you have a lot of questions, and we’re here to help! Feel free to reach out to us for a call about how On-Page SEO can personally help your business, we can help you come up with a SEO strategy that will provide great results in just a matter of a few months.
If you want to learn more about this topic, check out our blogs Why Every Small Business Needs SEO and 6 Reasons You Have to Have SEO .
Kimberly Norris | Norrisdc.com | Kimberly@norrisdc.com
