What is On Page SEO? A Basic Guide for SEO Beginners

On Page SEO: All the Essentials To Consider

Any optimization that you perform on your website and to a large extent on its pages is on-page optimization. Ultimate aim of on-page SEO is to make the website more usable for users and more visible for search engines. Invariably, this results in higher ranking for the site and eventually a lot more conversions.

To get on-page SEO right, various aspects of the page need to be looked into. Here we list quite a few that hold the key:

Load Time

Lesser the time the site takes to load on a PC or a mobile phone, the better it is for its rankings. 50% percent of users will abandon a site if takes longer to load. Even a second of page load delay can reduce the conversion by a whopping 7%. So make your site load fast. How? Do these four things:

1. Compress the images
2. Cut down on site directs
3. Remove unnecessary code
4. Opt for a trusted hosting provider

Research of Keywords

At the heart of every successful SEO strategy is thorough research of keywords. Here are a few pointers to consider:

• Deploy a tool such as Google Keyword Planner to identify most prominently used search queries for your domain. Other popularly used tools are KeywordsFX and keywordtool.
• Churn out long tail keywords (keywords with three or four words) on the basis of factors like monthly search volume and competition. It's easier to include long tail keywords in your content and they also have lesser competition to deal with.
• However, it's equally pertinent to pick up a few short keywords (keywords with one or two words) as well along the way.
• Look for a main keyword, which encompasses the gist of the page and supporting keywords, which cover certain essential elements of the page. For instance: if the main keyword in best antivirus software, supporting keywords can be Norton security software and McAfee security software.

Content

Content is king. Visitors come to a site in search of relevant, meaningful, and easy to comprehend content. A 360 degree review of a product that is easy to digest will make a visitor come back for more. Same goes with a blog post on a social issue that touches the heart of every reader. This is the power of content.

However, to create a connection with the search engines quite a few factors need to be considered:

1. Put unique, meaningful, and original content. Complement it with a few nice images.
2. Split it up with headings and subheadings that are prominently visible.
3. Use keywords in headings and paragraphs, optimally. Never think of stuffing
4. As far as possible, and if required, ensure that the content is as fresh as possible.

URLs and Tags

URLs (Urinary Resource Locator): Is the address of the webpage. It should clearly convey what the page is about.

Best practices for URLs

• Have short, easy-to-comprehend URLs for both users and search engines.
• Have hyphens instead of underscores in lowercased words.
• Avoid codes and numbers in URLs, as far as possible.
• Include the main keyword of the page in the URL.

Title Tag: It's the most important tag on the page. However, it's only for search engines to comprehend and is displayed on SERPs. So, as far as possible, include the main keyword in the title. However, include it organically. Title shouldn't be stuffed with the keyword.

Header tags: Are HTML elements (H1-H6), are used to identify headings and subheadings within your content. They make the content skimmable for readers, enhance readability, and reduce bounce rate.

Meta Description: It's the description or a summary of the page content and is displayed on SERPs. Again, it's essential to include the main and related keywords in the meta-description. The length should be limited to 160 characters.

Alt–tags: Alt-tags are for search engines to identify images and videos. Search engines can't see images and videos like humans so they depend on these tags for appropriate comprehension. So, it's essential to include alt tags wherever applicable.        

And a Few More Pointers:

1. Check and clear any bottlenecks in txt to ensure that all essential pages of your website should get crawled.
2. Have an efficient internal linking process at place to make it easy for search engines to explore the website.
3. Have a website optimized for both mobile and PC environment.
4. Ideal word count per post is anywhere between 1000-2000 words.
5. Use Schema Markup only on the web pages you want to use to attract traffic.

Conclusion

Right from the time a website is being developed; all these on-page SEO pointers must be catered in to take assuring steps towards a really high search engine ranking and loyal reader base. Equally important is to work on these pointers regularly to ensure long-term traction for a website.