On-Page SEO Basics
Build the fundamentals of on-page SEO, by learning what it is and which elements of the site it taps to catch more interest of search engines and users.
Seeing our website appear higher in Google’s search results requires optimizing it for several important elements. Optimizing elements that are on the web page falls under the category of on-page SEO while optimizing those outside the scope of the website is called off-page SEO.
While off-page SEO also impacts search engine rankings, it’s not of much use unless we practice good on-page SEO first. The website owner may not always have control over off-page ranking factors. In contrast, on-page factors are always in our control. It only makes sense to focus on these before working on the external factors.
What is on-page SEO?
On-page SEO is a combination of techniques used for optimizing individual web pages to improve the website’s ranking in web search results.
On-page involves optimizing the visible content, HTML tags (title, meta description, headings, image alt text, etc.), media, internal links and other parts that search engines encounter when they crawl and index our site, or those that users experience when they visit it.
On-page SEO is a diverse discipline on its own. It extends far beyond the website’s content. This multifaceted area also deals with page load speed, mobile optimization, crawlability, and more. We will discuss these technical aspects of on-page SEO at length in the next chapter, "Technical SEO." For the lessons in this chapter, let’s focus on optimizing our website’s content for SEO.
Note: Although the word “content” often refers to only the part of the web pages visible to users, we will use it to cover all parts of the website, visible to both users and search engines. So the “content” of a web page includes its text, media, metadata, HTML code, JavaScript, and more.
Why is on-page SEO important?
On-page SEO factors
There are some crucial elements on our webpage that demand optimization before our business can qualify for a successful online presence. The next few lessons discuss the optimization of each of these elements in detail.
URL structure
URL optimization is often underrated, which is most unfortunate when Google itself recommends simple and friendly URL structures [3]. Short and easily understandable URLs convey content information to the visitors and make the job easier for those who want to link to our webpage.
Meta tags
Meta tags, including meta title and meta description, are important to grab the attention of both searchers and search engines. They help search engines understand what our content is about. Since they are typically displayed in the search snippet for that page, metadata can be the deciding factor for whether or not the searcher clicks on the page.
Content SEO
The written text on the pages of our website, including blog posts, landing pages, category pages, and product pages should be created with SEO in mind. According to Google, quality content improves our site’s reputation with both Google and users. Use the keyword research conducted in the last chapter to produce content that matches search intent and satisfies the requirements of visitors.
Visual content
Visual content, including images and videos, complement our textual content and make our website more visually appealing to visitors. When optimized suitably, images have the potential to rank in Google Images, giving the searchers an alternative route to land on our page.
Internal links
SEO optimized internal links gives our website its structure, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index all the pages on the site. It also helps visitors navigate through our site and find supporting information on topics.
Test your knowledge
Choose the correct option for each of the questions below.
What does on-page SEO aim to help search engines do?
Improve website loading speed.
Make sense of what a webpage is about.
Increase social media engagement.
Generate more backlinks.
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