On-Page SEO Best Practices: What You Need to Know

By Mitali Purkait Ghosh on September 1, 2023

Crafting effective and rank-enhancing web content requires a solid grasp of SEO. Do you know that on-page SEO helps in bringing a wide range of customers to your website? But crafting essential on-page SEO factors, like optimizing content for search engines to enhance visibility and ensuring your content embodies EAT SEO principles (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness), is pivotal for elevating your rankings and attracting organic traffic. Google’s algorithms help in ranking your website on three basic factors: off-page SEO, on-page SEO, and technical SEO. On-page SEO is significant because it tells Google about your website and the value it generates for your customers. Want to optimize your site for search engine bots and humans and enhance the traffic? You have to make a few tweaks and changes to optimize the web pages so that they can be seen by visitors on the web pages. Are you searching for the on-page checklist to plan your SEO strategies? You have reached your destination. At Digital Concepts, our SEO experts maximize visibility and improve engagement to take your brand to newer heights.

Every aspect of on-page SEO needs to be addressed correctly. Here is an interactive checklist of on-page SEO:

1. Figuring out the target keywords

Target keywords are the search query modes and are essential for on-page optimization. These keywords must be relevant and are more likely to be visible on the search engine results. SEO experts conduct keyword research to find those phrases that people usually type on the search page to locate websites of different brands. The keyword research is based on the following factors:

• Search intent or motivation behind the intent
• Keyword search volume refers to the average monthly searches
• Keyword difficulty is how hard it is to rank in the unpaid results

2. Primary keyword should be at the beginning of the title tag

Inserting the target keyword at the beginning of the title H1 tag allows you to gain footage in the search engines. What exactly is the benefit of title tag optimization? If you are keen to know what it is about, it tells the search engines about the primary topic within a fraction of a second soon after crawling the page. Use Yoast to create a range of title tags for users and use search engines to get a value estimate.

3. Writing the headline in the H1 tag

Every web page needs to have one H1 tag comprising the on-page title. It is one of the most crucial tasks in the on-page checklist for SEO. But the H1 is different from the title tag because H1 is slated to appear on the first page and not on the search engine result pages. Remember to keep the H1 tag similar to the title or the headline as it tells your users what your web page contains. Here, there are no character limitations but remember to create an H1 that is not only meaningful but entices your visitors to stay on the web page.

4. A click-worthy meta description

The Meta description describes the page that appears on the search engine result pages. It does not contribute to the ranking of the site directly but makes it stand out uniquely in the search engine result pages. Use the Meta description to tell the user what they can expect from this page and why it is worthy enough for customers to visit. Don’t forget to include the primary keyword in the description. There are tools to check the Meta description and determine the targeted keywords or whether it stuffs keywords.

5. Improve the quality of the page content

The content of your web page is the lifeline of on-page SEO as it also tells the users and search engines what your business and website contain. When creating relevant content for your web page, you need to choose keywords and topics that are relevant to your business. When conducting keyword research for content, you can search on Google for the most-searched terms, use tools like SEMRush and check which keywords are bringing traffic to your competitor’s website, use GA and GSC for your semantic keyword list.

6. Image Alt-Text

Image Alt-Text is another significant aspect that tells Google what the images contain. With Google delivering image-based results just like they do for text-based results, users can now discover your site through the images. But when adding image alt-text, you need to make it descriptive and specific, keep it shorter or lesser than 125 characters, and use keywords cautiously without stuffing.

7. Structured Markup

With structured data or structured markup, you will simply mark up the source code of your website for Google to find it easier to find and understand different elements of your content. Wondering how it is connected to on-page SEO? You have come across content features, knowledge panels, and featured snippets when searching anything on Google. It is also related to how the information on every page of your website shows up tidily or in an organized manner when someone shows the content on social media.

8. Don’t skip the URL slug

Before you check the URL slug, you need to know that it is that part of the URL that is unique to every web page. Make sure the URL slug is compact, descriptive, and clear. Using the primary keyword as the URL slug, separate one word from the other using a hyphen, and don’t mention years as they are slated to change. Don’t forget to redirect the old version when changing the URL slug.

9. Adding targeted keywords to the content body

Google or any other search engine uses context and keywords to determine the relevance of your web page. If the body of the content fails to incorporate the targeted keywords, Google may conclude that the page does not resonate with the keyword. During on-page optimization, be sure to include the primary keyword in the first paragraph and spread the secondary keyword throughout the content.

10. Internal linking

When you hyperlink to other pages of your website that help the readers, you think about internal linking. Internal linking plays a vital role in on-page SEO as they send the users to various other pages of your site, generating curiosity about the products and services and allowing them to stay longer and eventually telling the search engine how your website is generating value and helping the audience. The longer the visitors are on your website, the longer the time Google spends when crawling the web pages. That way, the search engines soak in more information about your website and rank it higher on the SERPs.

11. Reviewing the quality of the content

Have you ever reviewed the quality of the content? The users’ choices may differ as far as the website content is concerned. While some users have long or short descriptions, others seek information in-depth. No matter what their choices are, the content on your website must have the quality to engage users. Do not miss reviewing the content quality when preparing the on-page checklist.

12. Mobile responsiveness and loading speed

Google will always favor those websites that are mobile-optimized and also relevant for desktop searches. That is why making your website must be mobile-responsive or easy to navigate and read on mobile devices. Apart from this, your website needs to load faster to ensure that the visitors are going to stick around. Have you been searching for various on-page elements? Read this comprehensive guide compiled by our experts at Digital Concepts and be ready to take your website’s visibility and rank higher on the search engines. Feel free to call us at +91 98301 40672 or email sales@digitalconcepts.in to send in your requirements.

Mitali Purkait Ghosh

Mitali Purkait Ghosh, the Co-Founder of Digital Concepts, brings a wealth of knowledge and innovation to the marketing sphere. Mitali and her dedicated team offer unparalleled expertise in digital marketing and content writing, among other key online strategies.