Table of Contents
Every website is built based on on-page SEO, and SEO is in two types, Off-page SEO and on-page SEO; without SEO, your website can not be found on google search results.
This 20 on-page SEO checklist will assist you in optimising your content so that it communicates with search engines effectively and increases your exposure on SERPs. However, on-page SEO alone will not guarantee that your page will ranks.
If you want to improve your site’s overall ability to rank in search, you need a comprehensive SEO checklist that covers all of the finest SEO techniques. That includes a list of technical and off-page SEO in your strategy.
What exactly is On-Page SEO?
On-page SEO(also known as on-site SEO) is the practice of optimising web page content for search engines and users. It encompasses strategies that aid in the ranking of a single page for a primary target keyword.
On-page optimisation is a term that encompasses both the content and HTML source code of a web page that may be improved. This is not the same as off-page SEO, which relates to links and other external signals generated by websites other than your own.
While on-page SEO is concerned with optimising a particular piece of content, it is backed up by other forms of SEO. On-page SEO alone may not be sufficient to rank a page, but using strategies including topical clusters will help you build an effective on-page seo strategy. Additionally, you’ll need to have an off-page and technical SEO plan to make your entire site more appealing to search engines to rank a piece of content.
Top 20 On-page SEO checks
1) Create SEO-Friendly URLs
Avoid lengthy and cluttered URLs since shorter URLs have been shown to perform better in search engine rankings. When comparing two websites, the URL mywebsite.com/your-keyword is more SEO friendly than the URL mywebsite.com/10. Excellent reasons why your key phrase might be fantastic.
2) Ensure That Your Title Tag Includes Your Keyword
Your title tag is an essential on-page ranking element, especially when it comes to positioning your targeted term on the page. The keyword’s proximity to the beginning of the title gives it greater weight with search engines. Maintain your targeted keyword as near to the start of your title tag as possible, as well as maintain the length of your title within 50 to 60 characters to avoid it being shortened in search results.
3) Include Modifiers in Your Title:
Including modifiers such as “2021,” “best,” “easy,” “checklist,” “quick,” and “review” in your title may assist you in ranking for long-tail variations of your target keyword. The terms “current year,” “best,” and “updated” are often used on re-launched blog articles throughout the web. Additionally, these modifications may aid in improving your click-through rate (CTR).
4) Include Your Page’s Title Within Your H1> Tag
This is the primary on-page property and may be identical to the page title. Google has said that you may use as many H1 tags as you want on a single page. We still suggest using the H1 tag just once per page since it assists Google in determining the page’s structure. Ascertain that your H1 includes your desired keyword.
5) Employ H2> Tags for Subheadings
Utilise your H2 tag for sub-headings, and ensure that at least one of the subheadings contains your target term. Include some latent semantic index (LSI) keywords in your subheadings. Subheadings are an excellent way to split up text and make pages simpler to read. Multiple H2 tags may be used on a single page.
6) Incorporate Pictures on Every Page
The usage of pictures enables you to break up your text and also allows you to add your targeted keywords in the alt tag attribute of your image. The picture file name is an often neglected optimisation. Additionally, provide a short description of your picture in the file name.
7) Include Your Keyword in the First 100 Words of Your Content
Occasionally, though (especially with blog articles), authors begin their material with a lengthy introduction and only mention their keyword a few paragraphs later. This is not an acceptable practice to continue.
8) Connect outbound links
By connecting to relevant outbound websites, you demonstrate to Google that your page and website are a source of high-quality content. Associating your website with other high-quality websites may improve your page rank, and Google comprehends what your page is about.
9) Include Two or Three Internal Links
Include Two or Three Internal Links: One of the primary advantages of internal linking is that it enables Google to discover, comprehend, and index all of your site’s pages. Internal links, when appropriately utilised, may help transfer page authority to key sites. SEO Best Practices recommend using keyword-rich anchor text, which is the language that informs visitors and search engines about the subject of the page to which you’re connecting.
10) Include LSI keywords
Semantic search is the term used to describe a search that searches for terms with meaning, whereas a search that looks for entirely spelt out is called a lexical search. Google’s Hummingbird search algorithm enables the search engine to comprehend the entire content of your website. By including semantic or LSI keywords into your content, you can ensure that Google understands the subject and subtopics around your target term, enabling you to rank better for both.
11) Include Long-form content
As a general guideline, ensure that all of your blog posts and articles include more than 1,100 words of information. Even service pages, I believe, should consist of more than 800 words. Not only can longer content help you rank higher for your goal keyword, but it will also open up additional possibilities for long-tail traffic. Additionally, lengthier content often generates more backlinks and ranks better in organic search.
12) Optimise Meta Descriptions
Your meta description should be original, include the keyword or keyword phrase you’re targeting, and be between 150 and 155 characters in length. Additionally, if your meta description is the same term the user entered, it will appear bold in search results. Consider it a small advertisement to persuade users to click on your website link on the search results page. This is another method for assisting with CTR optimisation.
13) Use Social Media
Although social signals do not directly influence search engines, social media is an excellent way to increase the number of people who see your material. It promotes brand recognition and is a perfect way to interact with your target demographic. Additionally, the more people who view and share your material on social media, the more likely you will get a backlink.
14) Submit a New Page to the Google Search Console:
Utilise Search Console’s “URL Inspection tool.” When you enter your freshly released URL, the inspector will check if your page can be identified in search engine results. If it is possible, click “Request Indexing”. After that, GoogleBot will visit your website, crawl its content, plus index it. This tool is handy if you’ve updated or otherwise modified your material.
15) Ensure That Your Web Page Is Indexable
Usually, most individuals have unintentionally restricted search engines’ access to information on their websites by adding a no-index tag to their pages. Although this is more technical, sites that are not indexed will never appear in search results since search engine bots cannot crawl them.
16) Ascertain That Your Website Is Secure (HTTPS)
HTTPS is a protocol that encrypts data sent between a server and a web browser. Google formally stated in 2014 that it would begin using HTTPS as a ranking indicator. Numerous studies have subsequently shown a significant correlation between better ranks and HTTPS-encrypted websites. Today, websites that use HTTPS rank higher as compared to those without HTTPS.
17) Prolong Dwell Time
Increased dwell periods, or time on page, are a significant indicator to search engines that the information on your site fits the search intent of your visitors. This results in a better position for the relevant search phrase. Increase the amount of time visitors spend on your website by creating lengthy, interesting content and including pictures and videos.
18) Testing and Optimising Mobile Page Speed
In 2010, Google officially declared that website speed is an official ranking criterion. Google just stated (in 2018) that they would begin utilising mobile page speed results and will transition to a mobile-first indexing strategy. This implies that Google will crawl and rank your content primarily using the mobile version rather than the desktop version previously utilised. This emphasises the critical importance of your website’s loading speed. Fortunately, Google has given a helpful tool to determine your mobile page’s speed and, if necessary, methods to enhance it.
19) Disable Inactive Links
According to Ahrefs statistics, Google seems to remove websites from search results to include broken connections to other sources. Regularly check your website for broken links and either delete them entirely or redirect them to a fresh piece of information
20) Optimise for click-through rate
Optimising for CTR has become critical. According to research performed by WordStream, if you outperform the anticipated CTR for your placement in the search engine results, you are “much more likely to rank in more important places,” whereas failing to achieve the expected CTR results in your position dropping. Two critical aspects that contribute to higher CTR include optimising your page title using modifiers, as discussed in step three, and utilising keyword-rich meta descriptions to assist search engines in comprehending what your page is about in search results.
What is the significance of on-page SEO?
On-page SEO enables search engines to evaluate your website and the information it contains to determine if a user’s query is relevant to your site. Google is constantly updating their algorithm to understand a searcher’s intent better and provide relevant search results. As Google’s algorithm evolves, your website should do so as well.
It is critical that your site and its content, both visible to people (media, content, pictures) and visible to search engines (metadata, HTML), be optimised according to the current standards employed by Google and Bing. This enables search engines to comprehend your site and determine how to rank it.
Regardless of the size of your company, it is critical to enhancing the on-page SEO of your website. SEO is one of the most widely used digital marketing techniques, and it continues to be very popular due to its consistent return on investment. Indeed, on-page SEO has the highest return on investment of any digital marketing approach due to its cheap cost and long-term advantages, which may help websites develop and attract passive visitors for years.
Half of all website traffic originates from search engines such as Google or Bing, which implies that close to 40% of online income also originates from search traffic. Consider the following: Google’s top-ranked result receives more than 32% of keyword traffic, and the first page of search results receives up to 91.5 per cent of traffic.
This is why it is critical to invest in on-page SEO. Without it, your site may be seriously handicapped in terms of opportunities to rank for business-specific search queries. Without a search engine optimisation strategy, your site may be pushed down the search results by competitors. This is a significant reason many businesses employ an SEO firm since the search marketing industry has grown to about $79 billion.
Most critical components of on-page SEO
Apart from the on-page SEO techniques discussed before, other critical factors contribute to a site’s success. Optimising these elements is essential to sustaining an on-page approach. Metadata, content authoring, and internal linking are the three primary methods for doing this.
Meta-information
In the HTML code of every site, your metadata will be included. This comprises the title tags and meta descriptions for each page. Search engines utilise these tags and descriptions to determine which sites to include in their results. Optimising your metadata with relevant keywords and comprehensive information enables visitors and search engines to understand what your website has to offer.
Content
A well-written piece of content connects the phrases on your website to the metadata keywords. Quality content with appropriate keyword placement satisfies both search engine queries as well as user requirements. Additionally, content marketing is critical for other aspects of marketing.
External linking and site structure
The structure of your website is critical for a search engine to crawl and index your content effectively. With simple navigation bars, footers, and anchor links, search engines will have an easier time linking a visitor to an appropriate page based on their query. If you have a website that is difficult to browse, the search engine may have difficulty identifying the pages on your site.
FAQS
What is the significance of on-page SEO?
On-page search engine optimisation is the fundamental component of search engine optimisation. It assists search engine crawlers in comprehending your website and content, allowing them to determine its quality and relevancy to searchers. This is critical because you will not get search traffic unless you create a website that Google adores.
What is the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?
On-page SEO refers to all of the elements on your website that you can manage, such as the text, the H1 tag, the pictures, and the website’s speed. Off-page SEO encompasses any SEO activities that take place outside of your website, such as link building, social sharing, and other forms of marketing through social media platforms and other channels, all of which are aimed at increasing your search visibility.
To learn more about Off-page SEO, you can check out our detailed guide to Off-page SEO.
What does On-Page SEO entail?
“On-page SEO” refers to almost every element involved in ranking well in search engines but is not limited to title tags, meta descriptions, keyword research, header tags, content, site structure, ease of use, load speed, and so on. Please refer to the whole 27-point on-page SEO checklist in my lesson above for a comprehensive list of criteria.
How do you go about optimising your website’s on-page content?
You should begin by doing a basic SEO audit to identify any current on-page SEO issues that need to be addressed to optimise your content. After that, go through each of the on-page problems one at a time.
Is On-Page SEO Still Relevant in the Year 2021?
Absolutely! On-page SEO has always been critical and will continue to be so. With so many elements of SEO being out of your control (or taking months or years to implement), on-page SEO is something you have total control over and the power to impact immediately.
