New customers are essential to any business, and on-page SEO – when properly understood and utilised – is a surefire way of attracting them. But what is on-page SEO, and how does it work?
In the guide below, we explore the basic definition and key elements of on-page SEO, tried-and-tested techniques for utilising it, and steps you can take today to formulate a winning on-page SEO strategy.
For expert advice on all things SEO, contact the friendly team at practiceedge today.
The Difference Between On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO
On-page SEO, also known as on-site SEO, is an important part of search engine optimisation. Both on-page and off-page SEO processes and strategies can help improve the ranking of your website and the quality and volume of traffic you receive.
The on-page SEO process involves optimising various elements of a website, with the needs of both search engines and users in mind. These elements include both customer-facing content and HTML source code.
Off-page SEO, on the other hand, is about the optimisation of links, signals, and other elements that show up online, away from web pages. These online elements may include backlinks, social media posts, and PR.
Both forms of SEO help businesses achieve a higher ranking for their website in Google or other search engine results, which in turn can create more organic traffic – or visits by users that are directed by organic searches, not through paid advertising.
In addition to being friendly to search engines, good on-site SEO also helps users quickly grasp the meaning and purpose of a webpage and whether the website – and the business – can help them.
8 Important On-Page SEO Elements
There are different types of on-page SEO elements, including the main content that users see, HTML code elements, and other facets of the site architecture. Across these areas, key elements include:
1. Strategic Keywords
Keywords and keyword research are an important part of on-page SEO. Your target keywords should appear throughout your website, including in your headings, page titles, meta descriptions, and URLs, and should align with your user’s search intent and customer journey.
2. Page Headings and Subheadings
Once you have selected your target keywords, they should be placed strategically in a range of places, including in your headings and subheadings. Your target or primary keyword should be in your main H1 headings, and secondary keywords in your H2, H3, and H4 subheadings.
3. Page Titles
Page titles, or title tags, are part of the HTML coding for your website. They’re displayed in a range of places, including in search engine result pages (SERPs), browser tabs, and social media posts. They help search engines scan your website and can encourage people to click through to your page.
4. Meta Descriptions
The meta description is another HTML element that appears in search engine results. Google uses these descriptions to generate snippets, or the text components that appear below a webpage title in search results. Like page titles, these snippets help draw people towards your website.
5. Images and Other Visuals
Outside of copy, another on-page content element that can be extremely valuable is your visual content. Images, graphics, and charts have a range of SEO benefits, including their ability to make webpages more scannable for search engines as well as more engaging and readable for users.
6. Alt-text
If you include images or other visual content, it’s a smart idea to optimise these with alt-text, or alternative text. These HTML descriptions also make your content more scannable and help people using screen readers.
7. Optimised Page URLs
Outside of obvious visual content like copy and images, the architecture of your website includes other key elements, like page URLs. If URLs include your target keyword and are simple and clear, they are more likely to be understood by search engines, which may help your rankings.
8. Internal and External Links
Hyperlinks, both internal and external, are also a key part of your website architecture. Internal links direct users between pages on your website, which increases their view times and confirms to search engines that your content is valuable. External links direct away from your website, but can help build trust and authority with your audience.
Is On-Page SEO Just About Keywords?
Traditionally, on-page SEO was largely thought of as keywords and keyword research. But over time, and with changes to the way Google and other search engines operate, our understanding of on-page SEO has evolved to include a wide range of elements and processes.
Keyword research is a valuable early step for any on-page SEO strategy. However, to provide value for users and to achieve a higher search engine ranking, it’s important to consider more than just the repetition and positioning of keywords. To perform well, your content should be unique and thorough, and position itself as a trustworthy source for the topics your users care about.
It’s also important to think beyond the headlines and body copy on your homepage, service page, blog, or other web pages. On-page SEO also covers other content elements, like images and URLs, and the HTML coding that affects the way your web pages appear in search engines.
Your on-page SEO plan should account for your website content, architecture, and performance, including your site’s loading speeds and responsiveness to mobile devices. Users will quickly abandon a slow, dysfunctional website, which will then affect its search engine value.
Your On-Page SEO Roadmap
Let’s zoom out for a minute, and consider the various steps a business can take to create and implement a successful on-page SEO strategy.
- Understand your target audience— who are they and what are they searching for? Customer personas can be a useful tool here.
- Audit and document your entire website, including crawling tools that show you which pages have already been indexed by search engines.
- Determine your site architecture, including the structure and URLs of individual pages.
- Define the purpose of each page and track its performance with specific goals and metrics.
- Allocate unique target keywords to each page based on your keyword research.
- Create, update, and review your content regularly and in line with the needs of your audience.
- Optimise your content with calls to action (CTAs) to increase the likelihood of conversions.
- Don’t forget to pay attention to the less obvious on-page elements, including page titles and meta descriptions, all relevant URLs, and site speed and responsiveness.
Win Over Search Engines and Your Audience With practiceedge
At practiceedge, we’re digital marketing experts, particularly within the healthcare and medical industries. With over 10 years of experience in this field, we have learnt how to get websites seen by potential patients through a range of leading SEO practices, including on-site optimisation.
Ready to attract and convert more visitors to your website? Find out more information and chat with our friendly team with a free discovery call.
