Boost Your Website’s Ranking with These 12 On-Page SEO Elements

What Is On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO is all about optimizing your webpage’s content and structure to make it more appealing to search engines. This includes optimizing elements such as page titles, meta descriptions, headings, images, and content. By focusing on these elements, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more organic traffic.

What’s the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?

On-page SEO refers to the optimization of various elements of your website that you have control over, such as page titles, meta descriptions, headers, images, and content. 

Off-page SEO, on the other hand, includes activities that take place outside of your website, such as building backlinks, social media marketing, and guest blogging.

12 On-Page Elements:

1. E-A-T
2. Title Tag
3. Meta Description
4. URL
5. Heading Tags (H1, H2, H3 etc)
6. Alt tags (+ image optimization)
7. Keywords
8. SEO Content
9. Internal linking
10. Page speed
11. Mobile-friendliness
12. User Engagement

1. E-A-T: 

E-A-T or Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness is a crucial concept used by Google to evaluate the quality of content on websites and pages. To improve on-page SEO, it’s important to establish that the information provided on your website is trustworthy and of high quality.

In order to rank higher in search engine results, Google looks for websites that demonstrate expertise, authority, and trustworthiness in their content. Essentially, Google wants to show users the most reliable and high-quality information available.

By showcasing your knowledge and proficiency in your niche, and consistently producing quality content, you can establish yourself as an authority in your field, and improve your website’s rankings.

2. Title Tag:

The “title tag” is a critical component of on-page SEO that appears as an HTML element on every page of your website. It provides valuable information to both search engines and users about the content of the page.

The title tag is the first piece of information that users see in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and it directly influences their decision to click through to your website. By crafting a clear and concise title tag that accurately reflects the content of the page, you can increase the chances of attracting clicks and driving traffic to your site.

Overall, optimizing your title tags is an important aspect of on-page SEO that can have a significant impact on the performance of your website in search results.

3. Meta Description:

The “meta description” is the text that appears immediately below the title tag in the search results page. This is another critical on-page element that provides important information about the content of the page.

While meta descriptions are not considered one of the most significant ranking factors by search engines, a well-crafted meta description can play an important role in improving click-through rates (CTR). By providing users with a clear and enticing summary of what they can expect to find on the page, you can increase the chances of them clicking through to your site.

Overall, optimizing your meta descriptions is an important aspect of on-page SEO that can help drive more traffic and conversions to your site.

4. URL:

The URL structure of a webpage is a critical on-page element that provides important information to both search engines and users about the content of the page. Just like the title tag and meta description, the URL structure should be optimized to accurately reflect the content of the page.

To optimize the URL structure for SEO, it’s important to keep it short and use the main keyword. This will help search engines and users understand what the page is all about. It’s also a good idea to use hyphens to separate words in the URL, as this makes it easier for search engines to read and understand.

In addition to optimizing for SEO, a clean and user-friendly URL structure can also improve the user experience on your website. When users see a URL that accurately reflects the content of the page and is easy to read, they are more likely to trust the content and engage with your site.

Overall, optimizing your URL structure is an important aspect of on-page SEO that can have a significant impact on the performance of your website in search results. By keeping it short, using the main keyword, and making it user-friendly, you can improve your site’s visibility, attract more clicks, and drive more traffic to your site.

5. Heading Tags (H1, H2, H3 etc):

Heading tags are an essential on-page element that provides important information about the content of a webpage to both search engines and users. The use of heading tags, such as H1, H2, H3, and so on, allows you to organize your content into sections and make it easier for users to read and navigate.

The H1 tag is the most important heading tag on the page and should be used to describe the main topic or theme of the content. Each page should only have one H1 tag, and it should accurately reflect the content of the page.

In addition to the H1 tag, you can use H2 and H3 tags to further break down the content into subcategories. This allows users to quickly scan the page and understand the hierarchy of information.

Overall, optimizing your heading tags is an important aspect of on-page SEO that can help improve the user experience and make your content more accessible and understandable to both users and search engines. By using heading tags to organize your content and make it easy to navigate, you can increase engagement, improve time on page, and ultimately drive more traffic and conversions to your site.

6. Alt tags (+ image optimization):

Alt tags, or alternative text tags, are HTML code elements that provide information to search engines about the visual content on a webpage. Alt tags are essential because search engines are not yet capable of “seeing” images or videos in the way humans do. Therefore, by adding descriptive and relevant alt tags to your multimedia content, you help search engines understand what it is about and how it relates to your overall webpage content. Think of the alt tag as a short and concise title or summary of the visual content. It’s a best practice to include alt tags for all visual elements, so they are accessible to users with visual impairments as well.

7. Keywords:

For effective search engine optimization (SEO), it is crucial to focus on keywords, but trying to rank multiple pages for the same target keyword can be counterproductive. When multiple pages compete for the same keyword, search engines have a hard time determining which page is the most relevant and helpful for the user’s query.

To avoid this issue, it’s recommended to use topic clusters instead of creating multiple pages for the same keyword. Group related pages based on topics and use long-tail keywords to create topical relevance. This way, search engines can easily understand the topic and content of each page and how they relate to each other.

Instead of focusing on keyword density, latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords, or keyword stuffing, concentrate on creating high-quality content that covers the topic in depth. Use natural language and include relevant long-tail keywords and phrases. By following this approach, you can improve your search engine rankings and provide your audience with valuable and informative content.

8. SEO Content:

While there are several important on-page elements that impact search engine rankings, the most crucial factor is the content. High-quality content that is optimized for SEO can help improve your website’s visibility and attract organic traffic. When creating content, it’s not just about following the E-A-T principle (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) but also about making it engaging, shareable, and original.

To optimize your content for SEO, it’s essential to ensure that it covers topics that are relevant and interesting to your target audience. The content should be structured in a way that encourages engagement and interaction with the reader. This can be achieved by using relevant images, infographics, and videos that complement the text.

It’s also important to create original content that isn’t duplicated on other pages on your site or elsewhere on the web. Duplicate content can harm your website’s rankings, so it’s crucial to ensure that each page on your site has unique content that adds value to your readers.

9. Internal linking:

Internal linking is a crucial on-page ranking factor that can significantly impact your website’s SEO performance. By including internal links to other relevant pages on your website, you can help search engine crawlers find and understand the interconnectivity of your content. This, in turn, can improve the relevance and authority of your website in the eyes of search engines.

Internal links also help visitors navigate your website and discover related content that they might be interested in. By providing descriptive anchor text, you can make it easier for users to understand what each link is about and what information they can expect to find by clicking on it. This can enhance the user experience and keep visitors engaged on your website for longer, which can lead to higher rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).

10. Page speed:

Page speed is a critical ranking factor used by Google to determine the user experience on your website. Studies have shown that longer loading times can lead to a higher bounce rate, with visitors abandoning the page before it even loads. This can have a negative impact on your website’s search engine rankings.

To ensure that your website is optimized for page speed, you can use various tools, both free and paid, to test the loading speed of your pages. Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool is a popular choice for quick tests. This tool provides a detailed report on the performance of your web pages, including recommendations on how to improve the loading speed.

Some common ways to improve page speed include optimizing images, minifying code, reducing server response time, and enabling browser caching. These optimizations can significantly improve your website’s load time and provide a better user experience for your visitors.

11. Mobile-friendliness:

Mobile-friendliness is a crucial ranking factor for pages, as more than 50% of all online traffic is now done on mobile devices. Google now indexes websites based on their mobile pages, meaning that having a mobile-friendly website is essential for improving your website’s search engine rankings.

A mobile-friendly page should be easy to read and navigate on mobile devices. Common issues with non-mobile-friendly pages include text or images that are too small to see, broken links, or non-functional interactive elements. This can lead to a poor user experience, causing visitors to quickly leave your site.

To ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, you can use tools such as Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. This tool analyzes your website and provides recommendations for improving its mobile-friendliness.

Some common ways to improve mobile-friendliness include using a responsive design that adjusts to different screen sizes, optimizing images for mobile devices, and using larger font sizes and button sizes. By making these adjustments, you can improve the user experience for mobile visitors and ultimately improve your website’s search engine rankings.

12. User Engagement:

Yes, that’s correct. Bounce rate is an important metric that shows how many users leave a page without interacting with it. A high bounce rate can be an indication that the page isn’t engaging or relevant to the user’s search intent. To improve engagement and reduce bounce rate, you can make sure your content is interesting, easy to read, and provides value to the user. You can also include interactive elements like videos, images, and tools to encourage users to stay on the page and engage with your content.

It’s quite easy, but if you are having a hard time, email me at aditya@denary.agency