On-Page SEO is the process of optimizing the content of individual pages to improve their ranking. This activity involves adding and optimizing titles, URLs, and other elements.
Defining Page Keyword(s)
Identifying page keywords is one of the first steps in On-Page SEO optimization. Choosing the right keywords has a significant impact on the visibility of your content in search results and attracting your target audience.
When conducting keyword research, it is important to consider not only their popularity, but also their relevance to your content and your target audience. Remember that keywords should not only be popular, but also attractive to your target audience and relevant to their search queries.
Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool provides a comprehensive keyword database to help you find the best keywords for your content. This tool allows you to explore different keyword variations, their search volumes, competition, and more, making it an indispensable aid in the optimization process.
Example
Let’s say you own a website that sells healthy lifestyle products. When determining keywords for your website’s homepage, you can use the Keyword Magic Tool to find relevant keyword phrases such as “healthy lifestyle,” “organic products,” “fitness and health,” etc. You can then analyze these keywords and choose the ones that are most relevant to your brand and target audience.
Optimize your page title
Optimizing your page title is a key element in the On-Page SEO process. Your page title plays an important role in grabbing the attention of search engine users and making them want to visit your page.
There are a few key points to consider when optimizing your page title.
- Relevance: The title should clearly reflect the content of the page and meet the expectations of users entering a search query.
- Attractiveness: The headline should be attractive and compelling so that users want to click on your link.
- Keywords: Including keywords in the title helps improve the page's ranking in search results. However, it is important not to overload the title with keywords, but to make it natural and readable for users.
Example:
Let’s say you have a website that sells organic food products. If you want to optimize the title of your homepage, you can use the following title: “Buy Organic Products for a Healthy Lifestyle – BioLife Store.” This title includes the keywords “organic products” and “healthy lifestyle,” and it reflects the content of the page while still attracting the attention of users interested in a healthy lifestyle and organic products.
Specify the title in the H1 tag
Specifying the main title of a page in the H1 tag is a fundamental part of On-Page SEO. The H1 tag is used to indicate the main title of a page and is a key element for search engines to understand the content of a page.
It is important to remember the following points when using the H1 tag:
- Uniqueness: Each page should contain only one H1 tag. This helps search engines understand which heading is the main one on the page.
- Semantic importance: The title in the H1 tag should clearly reflect the topic of the page and contain keywords that will help improve its ranking in search results.
- Readability: The title in the H1 tag should be easy to read and understand for users. It should accurately convey the essence of the page content and be informative.
Example:
Let's say you have a website that is about healthy living, and you have a page with healthy eating tips. In this case, the main title of the page in the H1 tag might look like this:<h1>Healthy Eating Tips: How to Plan Your Diet Right</h1>“This title clearly conveys the topic of the page and contains keywords that will help search engines properly index and rank the page.
Write a meta description to increase clicks
Writing a page meta description is an important aspect of On-Page SEO that helps to attract users' attention in search results. The meta description is a short description of the page's content and should be attractive to potential visitors so that they decide to click through to your site.
Important points when writing a meta description
- Brevity and clarity: The meta description should be short but informative. Use up to 150-160 characters to describe the page content as effectively as possible.
- Uniqueness: Each meta description should be unique for each page of your site. Use different phrases and keywords to highlight the unique aspects of each page.
- Keyword highlighting: Include keywords that accurately describe the content of the page. Highlight key aspects of the content that may be of interest to users.
Example:
Let’s say you have a page with healthy salad recipes on your website. The meta description for this page might look like this: “Discover healthy salad recipes on our site. Delicious and nutritious meals for a healthy lifestyle. Try it now!” This meta description highlights the content of the page (healthy salad recipes) and also includes a call to action that can encourage users to click through to the page to explore further.
Check URL for SEO Friendliness
Checking your URL for SEO is an important step in On-Page SEO optimization. The URL of a page is not only the address where users can find your content, but also an important element for search engines.
Important points when checking a URL
- Using keywords: Consider including your page's main keyword in the URL. This will help search engines better understand the topic of the page.
- Separating words with hyphens: Use hyphens to separate words in a URL. This makes the address more readable to humans and helps search engines better interpret the content of the page.
- Avoiding mentioning the year: Avoid mentioning the year in the URL, especially if the page content may become outdated. This will help avoid outdated links and increase the longevity of the URL.
- Setting up a redirect when the URL changes: If you change the URL of a page, set up a redirect from the previous version to the new one. This will help maintain the page's ranking in search engines and prevent loss of traffic.
Adding keywords to the page text is also important for On-Page SEO optimization. It helps search engines better understand the content of the page and its relevance to specific user queries.
Example:
Let’s say you have a website that sells travel products. You create a page with travel tips. The URL for that page might look like this: “www.example.com/travel-tips”. In this example, the URL includes the keyword “travel” to help search engines better understand the topic of the page. Additionally, the words are separated by hyphens for better readability.
Check the quality of the content on the page
Checking the quality of the on-page content is a critical aspect of On-Page SEO optimization. High-quality content can attract users, satisfy their needs, and improve the overall user experience on your site.
Important points when checking the quality of content
- Uniqueness and originality: The content should be unique and original, offering the user information that they cannot find elsewhere. Copied or low-quality content can negatively affect your site's reputation and search engine rankings.
- Usefulness and information content: The content should be useful and informative for the target audience. It should answer users' questions, solve their problems and provide valuable knowledge.
- Readability and accessibility: The content should be easy to read and understand for users. Use clear language, structure the text with subheadings, lists and paragraphs to improve readability.
- Relevance and timeliness: Content should be current and relevant to the target audience. Check your content regularly for relevance and update it if necessary.
Example:
Let’s say you have a website dedicated to healthy living and you have a page with healthy eating tips. The content on this page should contain up-to-date and verified information about healthy eating, including recipes, meal planning tips, nutritional information, etc. The content should be presented in an accessible way so that users can easily digest the information and apply it in practice. It is also important to regularly update the content on the page, adding new recipes and tips to stay relevant and interesting to your audience.
Use subheadings
Using subheadings plays an important role in organizing the content on a page and improves its readability for both users and search engines. Subheadings help break the text into logical sections, making it easier to perceive the information and allowing users to find the information they need faster.
Important points when using subheadings
- Content structuring: Subheadings help organize the content on a page and highlight key topics and sections. This makes the page more user-friendly and easier to understand.
- Help for search engines: H2-H6 tags help search engines understand the structure of a page and highlight key topics and sections. This can help improve the page's ranking in search results.
- One H1 heading: It is important that the page has only one H1 heading, which stands for the main title of the page. This helps search engines better understand the topic of the page and its content.
Example:
Let's say you have a healthy lifestyle blog and you're writing an article about healthy eating. In such an article, you might use subheadings to divide the information into logical sections. For example:
In this example, the H2-H3 subheadings help organize the nutrition information on the page, making it more structured and easier to read.
Improved navigation and internal linking
Improving navigation and internal linking is an integral part of optimizing a web resource from the point of view of both users and search engines.
Important points when improving navigation and internal linking
- Improving user experience: Effective navigation and internal linking make the user experience on your site more enjoyable and convenient. Users can easily move between different pages of the site, which helps increase dwell time and reduce bounce rates.
- Improving content relevance: Internal links allow you to establish connections between different pages of your site, which helps search engines better understand the structure and subject matter of your content. This helps improve the relevance and ranking of your pages in search results.
- Page Authority Distribution: Internal linking allows you to distribute authority between different pages of your site. Internal links allow you to channel some authority from one page to another, increasing their visibility and importance to search engines.
Example:
Let's say you have an online store selling home goods. On the home page, you can place links to product categories, such as "Furniture," "Textiles," "Crockery," etc. Inside the category pages, you can also add links to specific products or subcategories. This will not only help users find the products they need faster, but will also improve the structure of your site for search engines.
Adding compelling visual content
Adding compelling visual content is a key element of a successful content strategy to attract your audience's attention and improve their engagement with your website.
Important points when adding visual content
- Variety of formats: Use different forms of visual content such as photographs, illustrations, graphics, animations and videos. This helps to create variety and attract the attention of different types of audiences.
- Improving the perception of information: Visual content makes information more accessible and easier to perceive. Often, people prefer to consume information visually, so using appropriate images and videos can significantly improve the perception of content.
- Attracting attention: Attractive and high-quality images can attract users' attention and interest in the content. This is especially important on blog pages, social media, and electronic publications.
Example:
Let’s say you have a cooking blog and you’re writing an article about making Italian pasta. Instead of describing the cooking steps in text only, you can add high-quality photos of each cooking step to the article. Not only will this make your content more engaging and interesting, but it will also help your readers better understand the cooking process and follow the instructions more accurately. In addition, such articles with an abundance of visual content often get more views and are shared on social media, which helps increase the blog’s audience.
Using Schema Markup
Using Schema Markup is a powerful tool for improving the visibility of your site's content in search engines and enriching the search results displayed to users.
Important points when using Schema Markup
- Understanding the content: Micro-markup helps search engines better understand the content of your page and its semantic load. This allows search engines to more accurately determine the topic of the page and display the corresponding search results.
- Improved display in search: Using a schema markup such as “Recipe,” “Product,” or “Organization” can enrich the way your content appears in search results. This makes your post more attractive to users and helps increase click-through rates.
- Improving relevance: Micro-markup helps search engines better understand the context of your content and relate it to relevant user queries. This helps increase the relevance of your page and improve its position in search results.
Example:
Let’s say you have a cooking blog and you’ve published a cake recipe. Using the Recipe schema markup will allow search engines to understand that your page contains a recipe and display additional information, such as preparation time, rating, servings, and ingredients, right in the search results. This makes your recipe more appealing to users, helping them quickly evaluate it and decide whether to visit your site for more information.