How to Get Your On-Page SEO Just Right?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a much talked about concept, and why shouldn’t it be?

Getting your business website noticed online is no easy feat. With ever-changing search engine algorithms and a growing demand for unique and interesting content, your website would need creative thinkers with sharp minds to make it the success you want it to be. These creative thinkers would be the ones handling your website’s SEO process, and it is SEO that would determine the fate of your website.

SEO involves the employment of a number of techniques. Commonly branched into on-page and off-page, effective execution of these techniques would most certainly ensure a high Google ranking for your website.

On-Page SEO is that which involves your website and everything that’s on it, and every task that was performed to establish it. In short, you have direct control over your on-page SEO process, and that’s why you cannot afford to ignore its importance. For your on-page SEO techniques to be spot on, you need to keep the following in mind.

Do: Keywords are Important, But Content is King

The emphasis on keyword research has reduced in recent years, but there is a need for it nonetheless. The focus is well and truly on quality content these days. Engaging and informative content is in high demand, and Google demands it too. Plenty of previously popular websites have suffered a substantial drop in Google rankings due to content that can be best described as below average.

Don’t: Keywords are not the Kings

Several websites have tried to lead the pack in recent years, but have resorted to stuffing keywords into their content for greater prominence. Stuffing keywords unnecessarily leads to diminished content quality, as forceful keyword insertion seems unnatural and visitors to the website would be put off immediately by the repeated keyword use.

Do: Keep the Word Count in Check

While there are no limits to how much quality content you can conjure up on your web pages, it’s best to stay within some. Nobody has the patience to go through ultra-long and overtly descriptive articles, no matter how well written they are. Going beyond 1500 words is definitely not recommended.

For example, if you target consumers looking for real estate agents, you cannot write on and on about the positives of hiring real estate agents through your website. They would rather have solid information about the agents without reading a thousand plus words of meaningless content. Sometimes, it’s just not necessary.

Don’t: Overdo the Bolding

If one of your pages absolutely needs substantial content, you could adopt the popular trend of bolding. However, many websites have made a mess out of following this trend. Too many phrases in bold are visually disturbing, and ruin the uniformity of the web page. Highlight only the phrases critical to describing the benefits of your business or the key points of whatever it is that you are writing about.

Do: Focus on the Meta Descriptions and Title Tags

Both Meta descriptions and title tags of your webpages need to be optimized with keywords. You should always start title tags with keywords. Reports have shown that the websites following this policy have fared better at being recognized by search engines. Meta-descriptions should be short, descriptive, and be relevant to whatever a particular page deals with. Keep your title tags within 70 characters and meta-descriptions within 80.

Don’t: Duplicate Meta Descriptions and Title Tags

Keep Title Tags and Meta Descriptions different for every individual page. Google would have a hard time in identifying specific page content if the Meta Descriptions and Title Tags are the same across all pages.

Conclusion

Apart from the aforementioned do's and don’ts, you also have to optimize loading speeds. Pages with loading times more than 4 seconds are often rejected outright by visitors¹. Social sharing buttons should also be included to allow for engagement with potential customers over social media.

In order to master on-page SEO techniques, it is recommended to enroll in SEO training courses. These training courses are the best way to grow familiar with a wide range of SEO techniques, what to stick to, and which ones to avoid.

Sources:

1. http://backlinko.com/on-page-seo