SEO refers to “Search Engine Optimization.” In simple terms, it enhances any website’s visibility on the search engine results page (SERP). In this digital marketing article, we’ll learn basic on-page SEO techniques to bring organic web traffic to any website.
How does SEO work?
Search engines, e.g., Google, use algorithms that crawl your website, moving from pages to posts, gathering information about the site, and indexing them.
Imagine the index as a college library, where a librarian can help you identify what you’re looking for by pulling up a book.
A search engine result page uses hundreds of SEO criteria or signals to identify a website like a librarian.
Types of SEO
Types of SEO in digital marketing are divided into three categories. These are mainly,
Internal SEO
External SEO
Technical SEO
However, in this blog post, we will discuss internal SEO or on-page SEO.
let’s begin with,
What is On-Page SEO?
On-page SEO is a technique to optimize unique web content to improve its rankings on a search engine result page. This SEO optimization happens within the website, not outside.
In a definition, on-page SEO is a technique done within the website to improve the search engine ranking of a website.
Why is On-Page SEO Important?
On-page SEO assists search engines in understanding a website to determine whether a visitor’s query is relevant to the website.
It’s critical that your website and its content both need to be optimized to rank on search engine result pages. This way, search engines can understand your site better, resulting in a higher rank on SERP. Therefore, on-page SEO is crucial whether you are a large or small website owner.
For continuous return on investment (ROI), SEO is one of the most extensively engaged digital marketing techniques. On-page SEO or internal SEO is the backbone of search engine optimization.
On-page SEO Techniques or Factors
Now I’ll share essential on-page SEO factors or techniques to drive organic traffic from any search engine result page. This SEO technique is designed for a blog post.
(1) Title Optimization
Title Optimization is a significant factor when we do on-page SEO for a blog post. But, in general, it is firmly bound to keyword placement.
The blog post title must include a targeted keyword or keyphrase. To help indicate a post’s relevancy for a query, search engines prefer seeing keywords in the title (H1) tag. Therefore to stimulate search engine algorithms, placing keywords at the beginning of titles would be highly beneficial. If not, then try to add anywhere within the title, at least.
Keywords in the title help a blog post to rank up faster. However, adding the exact keywords in the H1 or title tag more than once ruins your search engine optimization.
Keep the title width short and write it within 65 characters. Doing so will make the blog title more attractive, and more people will click. The more clicks a blog post gets, the higher it will rank and drive organic traffic.
(2) Permalink Structure
A URL gives the website its initial impression. A complicated and unclear URL would drive away people’s interest in exploring a website. Permalink structure is another crucial on-page SEO factor.
When you build a URL, include keywords on it. Adding a keyword to the URL clarifies what this page will be about. Therefore, adding keywords to the URL can benefit users and search engines.
Avoid special characters or symbols when building up a permalink structure or URL. Later in this post, I’ve discussed it with an example.
(3) Keyphrase or Keyword Density
As search engines use crawlers to understand a website and its content, keyword density is essential while doing on-page SEO.
Add your primary keyword within the first paragraph and then distribute it according to the word count.
For a 500 words count blog post article, we can keep the keyword density 3-5 times. Do not over-optimize it. For a WordPress website, using a plugin can help you out.
(4) Image Alt Text
Alt text refers to alternative text. For example, image alt text comes into play when driving traffic from image searches.
Images are more engagement elements for any blog. Adding keywords in the image title and alt text helps any blog post to rank higher on the search engine result page.
(5) Heading Distribution
A heading or header tag represents an article structure. Search engines check article structure to rank it on the search engine result page.
To improve your article structure, add headings to your blog post. For example, WordPress’s blog title is set to Heading 1 <H1>. Other headings will be H2, H3, and so on.
Try to add the keyword in the heading section when you’re doing on-page SEO.
(6) Meta Description
The meta description is a kind of excerpt or summary of web content in <html> elements. In a word, a meta description helps to describe the content of a web page or post. It is shown after the title and permalink section on a SERP.
Write unique and relevant meta descriptions (including keywords) describing your post or page. A well-written meta description influences a user to click the link and drives organic traffic.
It can be of any length, but 155 to 160 characters meta descriptions are performed well on search engine result pages.
(7) Internal Link
Per SEO rules, time spent on a website means high page rank and low bounce rate. Adding an internal link means users pass from one post to another and spend more time on your blog.
When making an internal link, add the keyword as an anchor text. Anchor text is critical to building the site link juice by passing users from one page to another.
(8) External Link
Adding an external link to a blog post can increase the trust score of a website. Trust score is an essential metric of search engine optimization. A higher trust score of a website means a higher position in the SERP.
Do not do this if the information on the external website and your post are irrelevant. It will ruin your SEO.
(9) Word Count or Text Length
According to the search engine result page, fewer word-count blog posts are considered less informative. As a result, less informative blog posts perform poorly on any search engine.
Write content with approx 1200+ word count and be sure it is informative. Longer posts rank more as it contains more information.
For less competitive keywords word count could be between 500 to 700 words.
Final Thoughts
Keep these on-page SEO techniques in mind while developing every page/post. You can utilize On-Page SEO for on-page or site optimization for faster ranking and better user retention. However, patience is the most critical aspect of any SEO approach. Getting outstanding results takes time, effort, and some trial and error.