On-page SEO is an integral part of success for any website in the
contemporary world.
You simply cannot rank high on Google’s search engine result page (SERP)
without the help of on-page SEO.
It is defined as the process of optimizing your website to rank higher
on Google’s SERP and get more organic traffic. Any change you make on your website,
whether it is content-related or website design related, is considered on-page
SEO.
On-page SEO techniques include updating website content, meta titles,
internal links, website design, page loading speed optimization, and many more.
From a beginner’s perspective, on-page SEO might seem simple. But in
reality, it is not simple at all.
On-page requires expertise, time, and a lot of hard work.
This guide will teach you about all the important aspects and techniques
of on-page SEO and the benefits you will gain from them. This guide will change
you from a noob to an expert.
Like I said, on-page SEO covers any changes you make to your website. It
can be website design or keyword optimization. On-page covers all these
factors.
Off-page SEO covers all the techniques you follow to boost your website
without making any changes to it. Backlinking, or link building, is the most
common example of off-page SEO.
Social media marketing, influencer marketing, link building, local SEO, and content marketing come under off-page SEO.
While both are important to improving your site's rankings, you have
more control over on-page SEO than off-page SEO. So, it is best to take
advantage of that.
Creating high-quality content is a great way to boost your
website. Both service page content and blogs should be of high quality.
But what is high-quality content?
The content you create should satisfy the following criteria to be
considered high-quality content:
🍊 Informational
🍊 Satisfies search intent
🍊 Unique (No Plagiarism)
🍊 Helpful to readers
🍊 Well researched
These are some standard criteria your content should satisfy to be
effective. Other than these criteria, there is one more factor that your
content must satisfy.
This factor is what separates good content from great content.
The content you create must be relatable.
Your content should be relatable to the reader and empathize with them.
This is what I believe separates AI tools from humans. AI-written content lacks
empathy.
Ok, now that you have learned about these criteria, you can start your
content, right?
A big NO.
You need to conduct keyword research and optimize these keywords in the
content. Using keywords in your content is a great way to boost your website’s
SERP ranking.
You can use tools like Ahref, Semrush, or even Google keyword planner to
get a list of relevant keywords.
For example, if you are writing about technical SEO, you can find
relevant keywords from one of these tools.
Use these keywords naturally in your content, but don’t stuff them.
Keyword stuffing is considered a black hat SEO method and goes against Google’s
policy. So, one day your site might go down completely.
How can you use keywords?
Keywords must be placed strategically. You can place your keywords in
H1, the first paragraph, and other headers. This will help readers and Google
bots gain context about your content, which will help improve ranking.
Remember, a keyword should never disrupt the flow of the content.
Meta Title
Meta titles, also known as title tags, are the title of a webpage that displays in search engines and browser tabs. Meta titles will play a huge role in SERP ranking.
Meta title helps Google bot and readers understand what your page is
about. This is why you can’t just type whatever you want as a meta title.
A meta title can make the users click on your site if done correctly.
Here are some tips you should follow when writing meta titles:
Keep it Short: A meta title should not
exceed 60 characters. If it does exceed 60 characters, Google might cut your
title.
Use the Main Keyword: You can use the target
keyword in the title if possible. Although, it is not an invitation to stuff
keywords. Using the target keyword in the meta title helps Google easily scan
your page.
Include Hook Words: Hook words such as
‘amazing,’ ‘ultimate,’ and ‘checklist’ to make the readers click. Words like
these will help in driving more traffic to your website.
Meta Description
A meta description is the brief of your content that shows up on Google
and other search engine operators.
While meta description is not a ranking factor like meta title, it can
help increase the click-through rate.
Again, including your target keyword in the meta description is
essential.
You can go up to 160 characters for meta descriptions, but it would be best
if you keep it under 120 characters because your meta description will be cut
off in mobile devices if it exceeds 120 characters.
Writing good content is not enough.
You need to format it in a way that readers and Google bots will easily
understand.
Subheadings are a great way to allow your readers to skim through your
content.
When your content has subheadings, readers can just scroll through the
subheadings and come to a decision about whether it matches their search intent
or not.
When formatting your content, you need to use H1, H2, H3 tags, etc. H1 is considered to be the
main title of the content. You can only have one H1 tag in one content.
H2 tags are the main subheading of your content and can be used up to
two times.
Subheadings are a great place to use your target keyword. Again, don’t
stuff it.
Using bold and italics is a great way to convey important points to your readers. Also, make sure not to write more than 3 sentences in a paragraph.
A good URL should look like this. It is easy to read for both humans and
bots. A good URL must be within 265 characters. Check out the slug on our healthcare marketing
page.
