On-Page SEO: An Actionable Guide
You’ve got a keyword in mind for which you want to rank.
You may even already have a fantastic piece of content.
Now how do you ‘optimize’ that web page in order that Google not most effective is aware what the heck it’s about but additionally realises that it deserves a place on the primary page of the search results?
It’s easier than you would possibly think. What follows is a few practical recommendation for doing just that.
But first, permit’s make certain we fully understand what on-web page seo is all approximately.
What is On-page search engine optimization (SEO) ?
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| SERP Overiew for “high-quality apple pc” |
Out of the top 10 effects, only ONE has the phrase “laptop” in the title tag or URL.
The rest of the pages communicate about such things as:
Exceptional MacBooks;
Mac buying manual;
Which Mac ought to you buy?
Google is familiar with that whilst you look for “fine apple computer,” what you’re certainly seeking out is data geared towards purchasing a brand new Mac.
Ready to stop optimizing your internet pages adore it’s 1999?
Follow these 8 on-page search engine optimization guidelines.
1. Get in the game by way of optimizing for ‘seek motive’
You can’t win the sport if you’re no longer even a player.
Allow me give an explanation for:
I’d like to be a expert basketball player.
Unluckily for me, however, I’m 5’three” (160cm).
Now, I’m fascinated by the “in case you need something, go get it!” mind-set…
… however i'm able to’t assist but feel that irrespective of how much I practice and ‘optimize’ my abilities, LeBron is constantly going to have an ever so mild facet over me at 6’8”. I imply, I’ve pretty much were given the hairline down, however that’s approximately it for similarities.
Here’s my point:
Me + basketball = an not going suit. I don’t have what most coaches are seeking out. So I’ll in all likelihood in no way even be picked for the team, let alone have a chance to win the game.
How does that relate to seo?
Think about Google as the train picking players (web pages) for its group (top rankings for a selected search query). In case your content material isn’t participant material—i.E., takes place to be what searchers are searching out—you received’t even be in the sport, not to mention have the threat to win (rank #1).
So how do you parent out what searchers want?
Well, it’s now not rocket technology.
For example, it’s quite obvious that someone who types “purchase protein powder” into Google desires to see product pages like this…
However there’s no reason to depend on guesses here.
Google’s entire commercial enterprise version relies on them serving the maximum suitable bring about the pinnacle spot. You could use that fact on your benefit with the aid of checking your gut instinct in opposition to what currently ranks for your target key-word.
Allow’s do that for “purchase protein powder.”
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| Top‐ranking pages in Google “buy protein powder,” |
Gut instinct = confirmed.
Product and category pages are EXACTLY what Google returns, showing that this is what searchers want to see.
This “trick” is especially useful for less obvious queries where “search intent” isn’t so clear.
Case in point: “how to promote your website.”
It’s clear right off the bat that this is an informational query, but what exactly do searchers want to see? Do they want a step‐by‐step walkthrough? Do they want a list of various promotional tactics? Or do they want something entirely different?
Let’s check the top‐ranking pages.
You can see that Google overwhelmingly favors list of websitr promotion tactics.
If you wanted to rank for this keyword/topic, that’s exactly what you should create. Google is literally telling you what searcher wants to see.
Actionable takeaway: Look at the current top‐ranking pages to better understand search intent, then act on it. That’s the only way you stand a chance at winning the game. Stop trying to shoehorn pages where they don’t belong.
2. Make sure your page loads FAST
Have you ever clicked a result in Google and had the page take AGES to load?
If you’re anything like me, then you probably do the same thing every single time this happens: hit the back button and choose a different result.
Google knows that people do this, because slow‐loading pages are annoying, right?
That’s why page speed is a ranking factor as of 2010.
Having said that, when we conducted our large-scale on-page SEO study back in 2016, we found that there is a very small correlation between page load time and rankings.
There are two things that I’d say about that:
Firstly, that study was conducted a couple of years ago. Things change all the time. Google also recently began rolling out their mobile‐first index, and they have confirmed that mobile page speed will be a ranking factor going forward.
Secondly, even if we forget about search engines, it’s clear that slow‐loading pages are bad for user experience. People will be quick to hit the back button on pages that take too long to load, meaning that they will never see or visit your page… even if you rank #1.
To improve page speed, start by checking your web page in Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. That will analyze your page and give some optimization suggestions.
You can only check page speed for one page at a time using Google Pagespeed Insights.
That makes the whole process laborious and time‐consuming.
To speed things up, consider using a professional site auditing tool like SEO Analyzer.Such tools will scan all of your pages at once and highlight the pages with issues.
Here are two tips for improving page speed on a page‐by‐page basis.
- Reduce image sizes. Use a plugin like Shortpixel in WordPress (free up to 100 images/month) to optimize and compress images automatically, on the fly.
- Minimize useless HTML. Every character of HTML has to load. If you’re using WordPress, aim to use the text editor rather than the visual editor. This will minimize the amount of useless HTML that ends up on your pages.
You should also work to improve your sitr speed as a whole.
Still, try not to get obsessive over page speed. Chances are that once you reach a certain point, working tirelessly to shave off extra milliseconds here and there will have little to no noticeable effect on rankings.
Google states that 53% of user will abandon a page if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. So we would suggest aiming for 2 seconds or under as a general rule.
Actionable takeaway: Make sure your pages load as fast as possible by reducing image sizes and eliminating unnecessary HTML.
3. Strategically place your target keyword in the title, meta description, and H1 tags
I didn’t say that the strategic placement of keywords is a bad idea. It’s just not the be and end all of on-page SEO. Nor is it as important as it used to be.
But it still makes sense to include your target keyword here… if it makes sense to do so.
Here are two important reasons why we do this:
Firstly, when we studied 3M keywords in 2019, we found that there was still a small correlation between rankings and the strategic placement of exact-match keywords.
Secondly, and more importantly, it helps demonstrate to searchers that the page is the most relevant result for the users search query.
Sometimes, however, exact‐match keywords can look pretty damn spammy and unnatural when forced into your content. That would be the case if you were targeting the query “keyword tool free.” Having that exact phrase in your content would look weird.
So it would make a lot more sense to write something like this:
That brings us to an important point:
You don’t have to shoehorn exact keywords into your content. You can use synonyms, stop words, etc. Google is smart enough to figure things out. Just make sure your content is on point.
How do we know this?
Because virtually no page ranks for just one keyword in Google. Most top‐ranking pages also rank for ~1,000 other keywords:
Do you know how many of those keywords are in our content? ZERO.
Actionable takeaway: Place your target keyword in your title tag, meta description, H1, and wherever else it makes sense to do so. Don’t fret if it’s not an exact match. Google will understand.
4. Use short descriptive URLs
Take a look at this URL:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322345.php
Can you tell me what that page is about just by looking at the URL? I doubt it.
Now take a look at this one:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that it’s a blog post about losing weight. That’s because this is an example of a descriptive URL—it tells you what to expect from the page.
There are a few reasons why this is good practice for on-page SEO.
Firstly, as we discussed in the previous point, searchers are most likely to click the search result that best matches their search query. Descriptive URLs help cement your page as that result.
Secondly, descriptive URLs tend to include the keyword(s) you’re targeting.
Correlation ≠ causation.
A possible reason for this correlation is that people often use the URL of a page as anchor text when they link to it.
But what if your current URL structure doesn’t allow you to create descriptive URLs like this? Should you set about restructuring your entire site?
Here’s what Google’s John Mueller said about that:
I believe that is a very small ranking factor. So it is not something I’d really try to force. And it is not something I’d say it is even worth your effort to restructure your site just so you can get keywords in your URL.
In other words, do it if you can. Don’t fret about it too much if you can’t.
You should also keep your URLs as short and sweet as possible, as we found a clear correlation between the number of characters in a URL and rankings.
… which reduces clarity.
Actionable takeaway: Aim for short and sweet URLs that are as descriptive as possible. Bonus points if you can include your target keyword in there (without it looking weird).
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