SEO Basics: On-Page SEO

On-Page SEO is the process of optimising a web page for both search engines and

users, to make content relevant to a search query entered into a search engine.

The reason it's called 'on-page' SEO is because it refers to all of the elements we can change/edit, on the web page itself. On-page is a common starting point for SEO as it's controllable by the web page editor. 'Off-Page' SEO refers to processes and actions that can be performed off page, which in practice is a little more difficult. We will discuss off-page in a later article. 

If you're reading this article thinking, I don't even know what SEO is? Please check out my earlier article on What is SEO?

Search engine algorithms are incredibly clever and complex, the exact workings of which will never be known to anyone other than those that built them. There's no magic formula that works in every single scenario, and if there was, it wouldn't last for long, as the algorithms change frequently, hence the reason organisations hire SEO consultants and digital marketing agencies. 

In my experience, just like every other marketing channel, we should always put the customer first; designing pages and publishing content that users/customers find useful and valuable. To give the customer this experience, we must make sure that this content can be found. Depending on the product/service/information the user/customer is searching for, they may decide to turn to a search engine, such as Google or Bing.

On-Page SEO steps can we take to optimise an article

The first step is to understand the target audience for the product or service, by far the easiest way to do that is to create personas; the starting point for any targeting. I'll cover more on this subject in a separate SEO strategy article. 

What are keywords?

So now we understand how our customers interact with information, we can start to shortlist a list of keywords for specific pages. A keyword is essentially a word or series of words that a customer will type into a search engine to find out information related to our business, for example: 'digital marketing agency exeter'. Best practice is to optimise each page on your website for a unique primary keyword. If you were to optimise all pages for the same keyword, the search engine will pull multiple pages from your site into the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), also known as cannibalisation. This gets a little confusing for the user.

How you choose your keywords is very important, there are various tools available on the market such as SEMRush or Moz, that will assist you in finding the right primary keywords for your pages.

Alongside writing unique and helpful content, here are a few pointers on how to optimise your pages.

1. Title Tags: Use your primary keyword in the page title to describe what the page is about - useful for humans and search engines! (50-60 characters)

2. Keyword Placement: Place target keywords in key areas, for example H1 tags, the first paragraph, and H2, H3 subheadings. Use headings and sub headings to structure your page using the correct 'H' tags.

3. Optimise Page URLs: Use simple, relevant URLs for your pages that include target keywords. Using unecessarily complicated irrelevant URLs will confuse humans and search engines. 

4. Meta Descriptions: Write the most enticing and 'click worthy' meta descriptions to encourage users to click through to your page. (160 characters max). Good meta descriptions improve click through rate performance. Consider using CTA's.

5. Internal Links: Link to other useful pages on your site that are mentioned on the page that you are optimising. For example, if a particular product or service works alongside another, mention and link to this page. Not only do you help users, you help the search engines understand too.

6. External Links: Adding external links to reputable sites for user trust and improved user experience not only adds value for your users, but also shows search engines that you possess knowledge in the marketplace.

7. Image Alt Tags: Describe images in the descriptive alt text, so users and search engines know what they are. Optimising filenames, and compressing images for web use will help to optimise page loading speed. 

8. Schema Markup: Schema markup is a structured data protocol that helps search engines understand the content on the page. It involves adding specific code snippets to provide additional context about different types of information, such as events, products, reviews, and more. I'll release an article on Schema Markup in due course.

Summary

The above tips will help with On-Page SEO, giving search engines the best possible chance of understanding what your content is about and deliver value to their users. 

Adding value and helping the customer is the aim of the game, if your website does this, the search engines will want to serve your content, because that means their users will also be happy with the search engines service. 

Feeling informed?

Well, I hope this article has given you a brief introduction into On-Page SEO.

Understanding the basics is a good first step, look out for following articles on SEO Strategy, Off-Page SEO and Schema, where I will take a closer look at each element and how you can apply these techniques.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.