On Page Optimization: A Detailed Analysis

“There’s a big difference between making a simple product & making a product simple,” Des Traynor.

The advent of the internet has changed the way we communicate and do business. Digital transformation has created an intense competition for businesses in every conceivable domain. To beat the competition, businesses, through their websites, need to gain high visibility by featuring in the top section of the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). They can accomplish this by leveraging the technique of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). And the foundation of SEO begins with On Page Optimization.

What is On Page Optimization?

On page optimization is all about optimizing the content and HTML source code of a web page to ensure a higher ranking in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). It begins with curating a quality content that is unique and relevant to the users’ needs. Every page should have proper Meta Title and Description to define the content for that page. The ultimate objective of this exercise is to make the web pages relevant to the users’ search queries.

 The following are the most important on page factors that a search engine considers for determining the ranking of a website.

A. Basics

1. Keyword: In the specific context of digital marketing, a keyword is a word or a group of words that users use to search for specific information on a search engine. Content, on the other hand, is the information that users look for in the online domain. It can be in the form of text, graphics, videos, animation, infographics etc.

The process of on page optimization should begin with a basic keyword research. This is important as keywords connect the users to a content. Hence, through keyword research, you can select the most appropriate set of keywords that is likely to be searched by the users. Furthermore, the choice of keywords will determine the kind of traffic your website will garner.

2. Content: The content should be embedded with the right keywords to enable search engines display the relevant content on the SERPs. However, care must be taken not to overuse the keywords, for otherwise, the website can be penalized by the search engines. So, make sure the keywords are properly embedded in the Title, Description, Header Tags and body of the content.

3. Use of semantic keywords: The search engines aim at enhancing the user experience by not focusing on a set of keywords alone. They do so by giving an additional weightage to the use of similar (read relevant) keywords in the content. For example, instead of having the keyword ‘best hotels in Delhi’, the content should incorporate semantic long tail keywords such as ‘best hotels in a 4-star category in Karolbagh, Delhi’ or ‘best hotels under Rs. 3000/- per day tariff.’

4. Keyword cannibalization: Avoid issues such as keyword cannibalization wherein multiple pages end up targeting the same keyword(s). This creates an internal competition among pages whereby search engines are forced to choose a particular page to be displayed on the SERPs. Since the displayed page might not be to your liking, it is better to optimize the keywords (select the appropriate and unique keyword(s) to represent the content) beforehand and avoid their cannibalization.

B. Technical

1. Loading speed: Once the basics are done, it is time to focus on the loading speed of your page/site. This is of utmost importance as a slow loading page or site can frustrate the user leading him or her to abandon the page or site altogether. Remember, the ideal loading speed of your page should be between 2 – 4 seconds. Reducing the loading time of your page can be accomplished by following steps such as:

• Minification of HTML, CSS, and JSS by using GruntJS
• Bundling multiple CSS and JS in a single file
• Loading CSS and JS in the footer section
• Loading JS asynchronously
• Lazy loading using Defer
• Reducing the number of HTTP calls to within 30
• Lazy loading of images

In addition to the above, the content of a webpage should be grouped under proper subheads viz., H1, H2 for better readability.

3. Use of SSL: The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a data file that binds your organization’s details to a cryptographic key. When loaded onto a web server, a SSL certificate activates the padlock and the HTTP protocol. This creates a secure connection from the web server to the browser. Your website must load through SSL (https) to enable data security and safe browsing.

3. Use of Meta Tags – Title & Description: A meta tag is the text that summarizes the content of a webpage for the search engines. These are displayed as snippets on the search result pages and help to enhance the Click Through Rate (CTR) of a webpage. A title tag describes the page content in a succinct form, typically in 50-60 characters. It helps both the users and web crawler programs to understand what the page is all about. For the web crawler programs, the title tag of a page plays an important role in indexing, which in turn can facilitate a better search result for the page.

C. Improve the user experience: User experience has become an important attribute to facilitate a higher search ranking for a website. It is measured by considering several factors as mentioned below.

• The font size of the content should be big enough to enhance readability especially while browsing through a smart phone.
• The webpage should contain sufficient images to make the content engaging and explanatory.
• It is better to embed the content with videos to improve user engagement and obtain a lower bounce rate.
• The web content should have proper internal linking to further describe the terms mentioned in the page. This helps in improving the site’s SEO ranking as well.

Conclusion

Today, when increased competition in the digital space has made businesses appear vulnerable, the on page optimization techniques can help them feature high on search result pages. You may consider outsourcing your website optimization work to a professional SEO services provider.