I’m sure you have spent at least one-lifetime reading and listening about keyword density, meta tags, and stuff whenever you want to know something about on-page optimization.
But the problem with most of those “guides” is that they offer little to no practical advice that you can instantly use. And that is the reason why I am writing this article.
This in-depth article is full of practical information about on-page SEO that you can use right now on your website.
So without any further ado, let’s jump right into it.
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SEO Optimized URLs
This is the most important part of your website when it comes to on-page optimization. According to Google, your URL is given the most weight out of everything. And even my personal tests and my client websites suggest that is true.
If you are using your target keywords in your URL, it is much easier to rank for them.
You never want to use something like: marketingcourses.com/p=2756
Instead, use something like: marketingcourses.com/on-page-seo-guide/
Short and sweet + SEO optimized always works the best.
Also, avoid using long URLs like: marketingcourses.com/13/3/18/on-page-seo-guide/
Google doesn’t like that.
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Start With Your Keyword
In your title, you always want to start with a keyword. If that’s not possible, then try to at least use the keyword anywhere in the title. That will let Google know what the content is about.
Simply put, the closer your keyword is to the beginning of the title tag, the better your chances will be of having better on-page optimization than your competitors.
However, you don’t have to always start your title with your keyword. But if you really want to rank for a particular keyword, then it is better if you start your title with it.
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Adding Modifiers Will Help You Rank For More Keywords
It is always a good thing if you are adding modifiers to your title.
What are modifiers?
They are words like “best”, “guide”, “checklist”, “review”, “2018”, etc.
If you noticed, I have added multiple modifiers in the title of this article as well.
They not only help your content be unique in the eyes of Google, it will also help you rank for many more keywords, including long tail versions of the keyword that you are targeting.
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Always Have Your Blog Post Title In H1 Tag
These are the tags that you should always have in your blog posts no matter what. If you don’t have at least an H1 or H2 tags, you can forget about having your article rank anywhere above page 2 for your target keyword.
The good news is that if you are using WordPress, you are all set. That is because WordPress automatically adds the H1 tag to your blog post title.
But it doesn’t hurt to check and confirm because there are some nasty themes that block this setting. Maybe that is the reason why you are not seeing much increments in rankings.
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Have Different Forms of Content
People want to consume content in more ways than just text. So if you can add images, videos, and infographics to your blog posts, then you will easily become the authority in your niche.
Many tests have shown that blog posts that have images/videos/infographics in them have a very low bounce rate compared to blog posts that only have text content.
Remember, your bounce rate is one of the ranking factors that Google takes into account.
You want it to be as low as possible.
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Always Have Your Subheadings in H2 Tags
You always want to break your blog posts into different sections. That makes it easier for the reader to consume. And even if they are just skimming through the article, they will get an overall idea of what you are talking about.
And when you are using subheading, you want to make sure that you are wrapping them in H2 tags.
My tests have shown that when you are using H2 tags for your subheadings, they can make a difference in your overall SERP rankings.
And at the end of the day, we are trying to get every advantage we can on our on-page optimization.
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Have Your Keyword In the First 100 Words of Your Blog Post
While you are doing everything else I mention in this blog post, you also want to make sure that you are adding your keyword in the first 100 to 150 words of your article. The closer it is to the start of the article the better.
This might seem like common sense but you will be surprised to see how many people do not do this.
They usually start their articles with a very long introduction that does not include their target keyword.
You want to avoid that.
And when you have your keyword at the start of the article, it lets Google know what you are going to be talking about.
Remember, all these optimizations that we are doing is just to let Google know the keywords you are talking about. And that you have amazing content on your website that should be ranked on page 1.
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Always Have a Mobile Responsive Design
In 2015 Google started penalizing websites that were not using websites that were mobile responsive. And if your website is not mobile optimized or at least mobile responsive, you can be sure that your website will be penalized as well.
I am still surprised to see how many websites are still not mobile optimized. Make sure that yours is.
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Using Outbound Links In Your Blog Posts
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Want a quick white hat SEO tip?
Start adding more outbound links on your website.
Outbound links to quality websites give Google the signal that your website is more of a hub that provides people with high-quality information. But not only just providing, it also links to other sources that provide high-quality information about the same topic as well.
A good rule of thumb is that if you have an article of 1,000 words, you should add at least 3-4 outbound links to high authority websites.
And while you are doing that, do keep in mind that the websites you are linking out to, also reflects on the overall authority of your website as well.
So make sure that you are linking out to high-quality websites only.
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Using Internal Links
This is one of the most underrated on-page optimization techniques ever.
A ton of people thinks that by just adding a “Recent Posts” section on their blog can suffice this need. But it doesn’t.
Not many people know this but internal linking is a very important factor when it comes to the ranking of a page. And the anchor texts you use for internal linking also counts as the overall anchor text profile for that particular page.
So people either over-optimize their pages by internal linking with the same anchor texts. Or they rarely use it.
So make sure that you are using it in moderation. And when you do this right, you can see almost explosive results in an instant.
Conclusion
These are just 10 tips but if you can apply them in the right way (the way I mentioned), you will be all set to get your website on page 1.
Remember, the websites that rank on page 1 are one of the most informative, engaging and optimized websites in that niche.
So while you are creating content that your audience will love, you also want to keep these 10 tips in mind as well. It can never hurt to rank on page 1 while doing what your people love.
