When we talk about SEO, you might have heard of the terms On-Page SEO (also known as on-site SEO) and Off-Page SEO. You might even have a little bit of understanding about these two terms, and it is also possible that you have some information about them, but that information is confusing to you, or it is simply incorrect. This post is an effort to help all those individuals and companies looking to get the best out of their online presence through web pages using on-page SEO.
When we use the words “on-site SEO” or “on-page SEO,” we are essentially talking about all the activities that take place to optimize a web page that help Google search engines or other search engines understand what that particular web page is about and how it is going to help users visiting search engines with their queries.
Control Is In Your Hand During On-Page SEO
When we talk about on-page SEO, one of the best advantages is that one can retain complete control over the activities and how they are performed. For instance, one could create unique and engaging content, use better servers, optimize codes, etc. It is not always possible in overall SEO to have complete control, and as a professional or business looking to get the most out of search engine optimization, one must take full advantage of this control. Essentially, performing well on-page equals creating the best possible foundation for any SEO campaign.
Now that you have a brief understanding of on-page SEO and off-page SEO, as a reader, you must be wondering why on-page SEO is important from a ranking and traffic point of view. We’ll go over every aspect of on-page SEO in detail in this article, so let’s get started right away.
What Are The Components Of On-Page SEO, And Why Are They Crucial?
We anticipate that the reader of this post will be interested in learning about every aspect of on-page SEO, and we’ll do our best to help them fully grasp these aspects. Listed below are the components of on-page SEO, and each of these is important:
1. Content Related Aspects
Use of Keywords
In-depth and unique content
User-friendly
Aligned With User Intent
2. Non-Content-Related On-Page SEO Component
Web page speed
Meta Data
Use of markup or Schema.org structured data
Enhancing mobile-friendliness of websites.
Links on the web page
The URL structure of the page
Anyone with an understanding of SEO shouldn’t find the names of components related to on-page SEO mentioned above confusing. However, it is more important to understand these components completely and how they gel together to help a web page achieve a higher ranking and attain better traffic. Let us get into the act of understanding each one of these on-page page SEO components and their roles.
Content-Related On-Page Aspects
When we talk about content-related aspects, it includes using written content, photos, videos, and graphic elements such as logos or animation. The purpose of every content creation is to aid search engines such as Google to help users find useful information. This means that the content, whether in written form, video, photos, or a combination of these, should help users with their queries. Now, the following aspects help content creators to come across as relevant, useful, and unique in the eyes of the search engines:
Use Of Keywords
A search engine serves the SERP(search engine result pages) after evaluating the entered query from users, and normally, any search engine’s algorithm takes the help of keywords to find relevant content. As an SEO professional or a business, one must use the on-page SEO keywords and create content accordingly.
It is important to remember not to stuff the content with keywords, as Google can consider it a dishonest attempt to gain traffic and even penalize the web page or the whole site. Therefore, a content creator must use keywords effectively from the outset. And it goes without saying that finding relevant keywords according to the offering of a business’s products and services according to the targeted audience is paramount.
Quality of Content and Uniqueness
Creating in-depth and unique content is essential, given that Google and other search engines already have billions of web pages and the vast amount of information they contain. Now, a site’s ranking is at risk if it produces flimsy content or content that has been stolen or copied. Therefore, it is essential that every piece and type of posted content should be based on in-depth research and analysis. It is also crucial to present the content in an appealing manner. A few examples of these steps include using headings and subheadings, paragraphs, charts, and photos.
User-Friendliness
When we say that content should be necessary, we mean that it has to be a solution provider and be easy to access. When creating content, always remember the target audience’s issues, goals, preferences, and tastes. As stated before, it cannot be done without deep research and analysis. Additionally, it must be simple to access; for instance, if a user uses a tablet to access the website and then switches to a laptop, the experience should not degrade. Users will likely move to other websites if a page contains unnecessary pop-ups and ads.
Serving as the Solution to Intent
I know I have touched upon the intent part already, but we must discuss this part separately. Every user who searches on Google has an intent. They use Google specifically as a solution provider or personal assistant who knows everything—and Google relies on content creators to answer those questions or intent. If the content cannot satisfy the user’s intent, it is unlikely to rank higher.
Trustworthiness
In creating content during SEO, one cannot produce any type of content. The content should ideally be accurate and correct regarding the information it conveys. An incorrect piece of data can prove to be hazardous to users.
Non-Content-related On-Page SEO Component
When it comes to on-page SEO, apart from the visible content on the web pages, many elements work together in the background to improve the overall experience for users. Moreover, these elements work together to make a search engine understand that a web page is ideal for particular searches and on par with expected standards. Have a look at the non-content-related elements.
Web Page Speed
In an ideal situation where on-page SEO works ideally, the webpages load faster and offer a delightful experience to the users. Using a hosting service optimized for performance, optimizing and compressing your image files, reducing redirects, caching your web pages, turning on browser caching, etc., are some of the methods to optimize your web pages.
Use Of Schema.Org Structured Data
Using rich snippets for web pages helps them stand out from the rest in SERPs, and the schema markup available on schema.org serves this purpose. Moreover, it helps the web page become better linked, and by using it, brands can also appear in the knowledge graph.
Making Sites More User-Friendly
Smartphones and tablets have become a rage recently, and their penetration is unquestionable. More than 4.3 billion people have access to the internet via mobile phones, and more than 60% of internet usage occurs on mobile and tablet screens. I’m putting these figures across to let the readers know that having mobile-optimized websites is almost a mandatory requirement; without optimizing sites for smartphones, one cannot just imagine attracting higher traffic or achieving the desired ranking in search engines.
Links On The Web Page
Interlinking the web pages internally and externally with quality pages is an essential component of on-page SEO. The quality of external links gives a signal to search engines about the quality of the web pages and how they are helpful to users coming to search engines with their queries. The likelihood of a higher ranking increases with the number of high-quality links a page has, which is also better for overall SEO.
The URL Structure Of The Page
URLs (uniform resource locators) don’t hold much significance for most people, but they matter a lot for on-page SEO. The reason is that a short and easy-to-comprehend URL has a higher chance of getting clicked. From a ranking point of view, it might not affect that much, but if an URL contains a manifold of dashes and hyphens, it is likely to appear unattractive to the user. On the contrary, if an URL conveys what it has inside the page and looks attractive and short, it is likely to get a higher number of clicks and, hence, generate more traffic.
Title Tags
The title tag informs search engines about the website page and what that page is about. It is written in HTML, and if someone is unaware of HTML tags, even those individuals should know about the title tags. Each site page on the World Wide Web contains title tags. One should know that title tags do not get displayed on the web page’s content, but they appear in the headlines of the snippets on SERPs (search engine result pages).
Additionally, the information from title tags is shown in browser tabs that are open. It displays when users share the website on social media or other platforms. Therefore, creating title tags that not only crawlers can comprehend but also humans is essential.
Html Alt Attribute
When it comes to on-page SEO, alt tags have a significant impact on how websites rank. They provide Google’s bots, or crawlers, with information about the image to determine what the picture is about. Users can also read the Alt-tags to find out what a photo is about in case of a bug or slow loading speed. Therefore, the use of alt tags is significant from a search engine point of view and a user experience point of view as well.
Now, What Are The Best Practices For Maximizing The Effectiveness Of On-Page SEO?
Based on the above information, many practices in on-page SEO optimization can help users to make their site search friendly. These practices can help companies outrank their competitors quickly and hold on to the high rankings for a long time. Moreover, it is needless to say that most of these activities enhance the user experience. Have a look at some of the takeaways from the above information about on-page SEO:
Creating unique, user-friendly, and solution-providing content is the basis of any successful on-page SEO campaign.
To be effective in on-page SEO, keywords should be carefully chosen and used after a lot of research.
While using images, the use of alt tags is advisable.
The site pages should not be slow; more importantly, they need to be optimized for different screen sizes; here, I mean smartphones and tablets.
External links are vital for attracting high traffic, and one must ensure that links come from quality sites.
Online businesses or marketing professionals from the digital marketing world must ensure that spammy and broken links are not associated with their web pages.
No compromises should be made with title tags or page URL structuring because they are the two main components of any SEO strategy.
Summary
The purpose of this article, which focuses on ‘on-site or on-page SEO,” is to educate readers about its elements and why they are important for overall search engine optimization. It emphasizes that on-page SEO helps create a strong foundation for the overall SEO campaigns, and additionally, it is necessary from the user experience point of view. Readers are advised to adopt the mentioned suggestions, get in-depth knowledge, and hone their skills for each component of on-site SEO or they can hire SEO India team to handle the execution with conviction.
