SEO On-page Optimization

On-page Optimization

Today’s article will focus on on-page optimization, and I will be sharing lots of good on-page SEO techniques you should implement while working on optimizing your blog posts.

On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. On-page refers to both the content and HTML source code of a page that can be optimized, as opposed to off-page SEO which refers to links and other external signals.

                   In search engine optimization, on-page optimization refers to factors that have an effect on your Web site or Web page listing in natural search results. These factors are controlled by you or by coding on your page. On-Page optimization search engine can serve high-quality content for their query. Examples of on-page optimization include actual HTML code, meta tags, keyword placement and keyword density.

On-page SEO Techniques

1. Title Tag

This is the most important on-page SEO factor. The reason for this is because the more attractive and optimized your title is, the more people will click. And in general, the more clicks your post gets, the higher it will rank.

                 As you probably know, title tags are used by search engines  to determine a page’s topic, and are also displayed in SERPs. A good title tag will demonstrate what the user can expect from the page before they actually click. In this way, they are a strong determiner of click-through rates.

For example, if you type “how to start a business” into Google, only six out of the ten top pages include an exact match keyword in their title tag.

                  That said, search engines will still compare your title tag to other content on your page, to ensure keyword consistency when indexing and ranking web pages, still making them an essential part of SEO.

In other words, title tags are still an important part of on-site SEO, but they are far from the be-all and end-all.

Title tags are used in three key places:

 (1) search engine results pages (SERPs)

 (2) web browsers

 (3) social networks.

  1. Search Engine Results Pages

              

Your title tag determines (with a few exceptions) your display title in SERPs, and is a search visitor's first experience of your site. Even if your site ranks well, a good title can be the make-or-break factor in determining whether or not someone clicks on your link.

2. Web Browsers

Your title tag is also displayed at the top of your web browser and acts as a placeholder, especially for people who have many browser tabs open. Unique and easily recognizable titles with important keywords near the front help ensure that people don't lose track of your content.

3. Social Networks

Social networks (including Facebook and Twitter) have their own meta tags, allowing you to specify titles that differ from your main title tag. This can allow you to optimize for each network, and provide longer titles when/where they might be beneficial.

Page Titles in SEO

1. Keep titles about  55-60 characters long. Don't use a too short title, long title, don't duplicate it.

2.Use target keyword in titles.

3.In the title describe the content of the page in the best possible way.

4.Use keywords like How, Why, What and Where.

5.Use words like best, review, ultimate.

6.Don't duplicate the title.

7.Use brand name wisely.

8.Keep it simple.

If you keep your titles under 60 characters, our research suggests that you can expect about 90% of your titles to display properly. 

2.  Meta Description

Meta description tags generally should be approximately 150-160 characters long so the whole tag fits on Search Engine Results Pages when it is displayed and people

can read it at a quick glance. Ideally every page on your site should have a unique meta description. The meta description tag should ideally target a unique keyword for each web page but again avoid keyword spamming and have the keyword only appear once. 

             Descriptions are like a short sales pitch or summary for the page. Write keyword-rich descriptions that engage visitors and entice them to click-through to your website. The meta description does not have to be a full sentence. It can include important facts relevant to potential visitors. For example, articles can list the author, date of publication, or byline information – just keep it within the character limit.

Optimal Length

Meta descriptions can be any length, but Google generally truncates snippets ~300 characters. It's best to keep meta descriptions long enough that they're sufficiently descriptive, so we recommend descriptions between 50–300 characters. Keep in mind that the "optimal" length will vary depending on the situation, and your primary goal should be to provide value and drive clicks.

Optimal Format

Meta description tags, while not tied to search engine rankings, are extremely important in gaining user click-through from SERPs. These short paragraphs are a webmaster's opportunity to "advertise" content to searchers, and searchers' chance to decide whether the content is relevant and contains the information they're seeking from their search query.

3. Body Section Optimization

For an SEO Analyst writing contents for a page is very important, content needs to be broken up into paragraphs and should be given headings. Headings should be keyword rich so that search engine can understand your content easily, focusing words should nearly appear 4 times in body section. You should include only one H1 in one page, use a relevant keyword in it, use 7 to 8 words in it. Subheadings, minor headings can be given using H2, H3.Long contents in the body help to achieve high rank.

4. Keyword Optimization

We should and use relevant keywords to attain a good traffic for our site. Its one of the hardest task and most of the site owners, bloggers don't spend enough time for it. In order to attain the traffic select and use relevant keywords. Let us see where all we need to include the keywords.

•  The title should contain the relevant keyword.
• Optimize keywords in the pictures of your pages.
  
• Include keywords in the URL structure.

A keyword is a term that is used to match with the query a person enters into a search engine to find specific information. Most people enter search phrases that consist of two to five words. Such phrases may be called search phrases, keyword phrases, query phrases, or just keywords. Good keyword phrases are specific and descriptive.

5. Keyword Density

Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page. In the context of SEO, keyword density can be used to determine

whether a web page is relevant to a specified keyword or keyword phrase.It is the percentage value of the number of times a keyword occurs in a webpage. It is very important to have the necessary keywords. But don't overuse and make your site rank low. Use keywords wisely in your content. Try to keep keyword density in the range 2-5%.

6.Image Optimization

Image optimization is using the most compressed (smallest file size) yet visually acceptable image in the proper file format for the specific role of the image.

Image optimization for SEO Techniques

1. Image Relevance
2. Alt Tag
3. Image Size and Hosting
4. File name
5. Title tag and image linking

Tips for image optimization

1. Name Your Images Descriptively and in Plain English
2. Optimize Your Alt Tags Intelligently
3. Strategize Your Image Dimensions and Product Angles
4. Reduce the File Sizes of Your Images
5. Know Which Image File Type to Use for the Right Situations
6. Know How To Handle Your Thumbnails
7. Use Image Site Maps
8. Beware of Your Decorative Images
9. Use Caution When Using Content Delivery Networks
10. Test Your Images



7.Authorship Optimization

If a single person writes in more than one blog then he/she may have more authorship. Similarly, if more than one person writes in a page, then also the Authorship of the page increase. Authorship increases the visibility of the page and leads to achieve more links to the page. It is a noteworthy process in marketing strategy.



Conclusion

On-page optimization is a part of search engine optimization (SEO). It describes the measures website operators can apply on their own website to make their pages easy to find and as usable and readable as possible for search engines and users alike. On-page optimization is a sub-sector of SEO and an important means of increasing website traffic.So this is more helpful for you. To know more details about SEO please check my previous blog  History and Evolution of SEO.

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                      Asha MK