On-Page SEO: Big Guide to On-Page Optimization (2022)

How often does Google change its search algorithm? In 2020, Google ran over 600,000 experiments and updated its algorithm more than 4,500 times. The company is on a mission to create the smartest search engine in the world, and they’re doing a pretty good job.

And yet, despite its constant improvements, it’s not perfect. Google still needs help understanding new content. That’s where on-page?search engine optimization (SEO)?comes in.

What is on-page SEO?

Technical SEO vs on-page SEO

Some SEOs conflate on-page SEO with technical SEO. But, I like to keep them separate. In my view, technical SEO addresses things like?page speed and site speed, duplicate content, site structure, and indexing. In other words, technical optimization focuses on your entire website, while on-page optimization focuses on specific URLs.

There’s also off-page SEO which includes everything that happens outside your website, such as link building and brand mentions.

Why on-page SEO is so important

You need to take your on-page SEO strategy seriously if you want search engines to reward you with page-one visibility. And a lot has changed over the last two decades. Although?Google still looks at keywords?in your content, keyword stuffing stopped working long ago because it ruins user experience.

As the Google search algorithm gets more sophisticated, user-focused on-page SEO factors will be more important. When done properly, on-site SEO enables search engines to understand your content in order to rank the most relevant URLs for specific queries. And users will appreciate the organization and clarity that on-page optimization delivers.

So with that in mind, let’s look at specific on-page SEO best practices. You can also download our 41-point on-page SEO and copywriting checklist below!

URLs help on-page SEO

Google has?explicitly stated?that URLs help them better understand what a page is about. So, how do you optimize your URLs?

• Include a keyword:?Including your primary keyword in your URL helps both search engines and users understand the content of a page.
• Focus left:?Place the keyword as far to the left in the URL as possible.
• Use real words:?As much as possible, use real words in your URL instead of the indecipherable gobbledegook that some content management systems pump out.
• Keep them short and sweet:?Ideally, your URL structure should be short and easy for both search engines and users to understand. The easier it is for Google to understand the type of content on the page, the better. Also, Google often shows URLs in search results. If a page URL is a long string of random letters and numbers, that doesn’t help users understand your page. The better they understand the purpose of your page, the more likely they are to click on the search result.
• Use hyphens between words:?Hyphens make URLs more readable. For example, if a page is about coffee bean grinders, use the URL www.yourcompany.com/coffee-bean-grinders.
• Avoid session IDs:?When possible, avoid the inclusion of session IDs in your URLs, as they produce an avalanche of URLs for the same page. Google advises that you use?first-party cookies?instead.

Title tags and meta descriptions

Meta tags are one of the most important on-page seo factors —?specifically page titles. Every page has a title tag which appears in search results as a headline. The meta description is a short summary of the page that appears under the title on search results. Both are important to help search engines and users understand the purpose of a page.

The title tag is a direct on-page?SEO ranking factor, while meta descriptions are not.

Both the title and meta description play a significant role in whether a person actually clicks on a listing in the search results. When both the title and meta description are optimized, it increases the Click-Through Rate (CTR) which shows means you get more traffic.

Unfortunately, Google updated the way it handles title tags in August 2021. After the update, Google may rewrite page titles based on other on-page elements, including headings and even anchor text from inbound links. Although this change doesn’t impact rankings, it can have a massive impact on CTR if the new title isn’t good.

In fact, Wordstream saw a 37% decline in CTR. Check out?their article here?to see how they fixed it.

On-page SEO for meta tags

The first step in your on-page SEO analysis should be to look at your title and meta description. follow these steps:

• Place your primary keyword near the beginning of the title.
• Keep the title around 55 or 60 characters so it doesn’t get cut off in search results. WordPress plugins like Yoast can tell you if your meta tags are too long.
• Avoid all caps in your title tags.
• Give each page a unique title so that Google doesn’t think you have duplicate pages.
• Write clear, compelling titles that users will want to click on.
• Include your primary keyword in your meta description. When someone searches for that keyword, Google will bold it in the search results.
• Keep the meta description to 155 characters.
• Craft your meta description so that it accurately describes the page. Treat it like an advertisement, and wordsmith it so that people are compelled to click.?

On-page SEO factors

Let’s recap the most critical on-page seo techniques you need to follow:

• Use short, descriptive page URLs
• Optimize title tags
• Write compelling meta descriptions
• Implement structured data
• Optimize headers
• Implement SEO copywriting best practices
• Use the target keyword within the first 100 words
• Maintain an appropriate keyword density
• Create content that satisfies user intent
• Write readable text
• Add both internal and outbound links
• Optimize for Google images