My take on Checklist for On-page SEO
Search Engine Marketing is too vast a field in marketing to be studied at a time. Although, when it comes to Google search everything is connected. Keywords, content, website and practically everything in Inbound Marketing needs to be done to get visitors from organic search.
But you can’t look at this ocean from a satellite, you have to dive in somewhere. I saw an Infographic by Ontraport on On-page SEO which covers all the topics that come up when I optimized a single site page. Some experts have different views on these which I will try to cover in this blog:
So lets start:
Keywords
Of course, it is the main item which we are optimizing for. Going long-tail in keyword is a good strategy as long as you are staying highly relevant to what the site is about and higher volume keywords are being covered in it. Don’t overdo optimization by changing the primary keyword too much for higher volume or lower difficulty, relevance is relevance.
It is generally an accepted practice to include the keyword in the first 100 words, it helps Google understand the page better.
Title Tags
Character limit of 55 and placing the keyword is fairly understandable. Keeping them close to the front is important but the meaning or action should not be lost.
Including site name I think is optional as the user sees it anyways. A Better thing would be to use the space to make it more human-like for the reader.
Anyways from what I learned from search results, a variation of the keyword perform just as good in the search results and it is not important to stick the exact matched keyword.
Meta Descriptions
Google understands meta description. But more than that, It lets the user know what to expect from the page. Putting the keyword and character limits are a must. SERP highlights the keyword if mentioned in meta which will bring attention to it. Which is why the meta description should be a summary that captures the user’s desire instantly.
URLs
Ugly URLs are a turn-off, for visitors and Google bots alike. Keeping URL structured and small (including the long tail keyword) is the requirement. Keeping the sitemap and structure simple will help it.
Quality Content
Here is the relevance part. Content must be highly valued by the user and no amount of technical SEO can overpower this. If the user sticks, half the battle is won.
I do not know if Google in itself gives points to images/ videos etc. or content size after an extent, but it does value the interaction and the stickiness these elements bring to the UX. It generally increases the value of content.
And while we are at it, alt-text in images is not a known factor in boosting SEO. Please let me know if someone did an A/B test for this in the comments. Although, it doesn't hurt to do so.
Links
Using both internal and external links in your content build a good rapport with Google. Try to provide valuable links with high credibility. This will also drive interactions which search engines love.
User Experience
A website loading for more than 4 seconds will drive away more than 70% of your audience. Simple structure and compressed images will do the trick as far as on-page SEO goes. Consistency in the structure of content and the design is also important.
Mobile Responsiveness
I wanted to cover this in UX but they gave a separate section for it.
From what I know, Google might actually start mobile first indexation of pages soon. So,a mobile responsive design is not just a best practice, but it is a necessity. Better to start designing mobile first pages if you have a significant portion of targets who search on mobile.
Try avoid inserting complicated modules that don’t work well in mobile and simple and minimalist UI.
Social Sharing
I do not know about the 7X increase in social sharing with icons but even a single additional share of the page is valuable in On-page SEO. This counts as an interaction and it builds backlinks.
What Else
As I said they have pretty much covered all there is on-page SEO of a specific page. But there is only so much you can do in an infographic. Here are some things they missed:
H1 Tags
They long-tail keyword must be covered in the H1 tag. And also check the URL to make sure that you don’t have multiple H1 tags to because of text formatting or any other reason.
LSIs
This is sort-of obvious. The main keyword should not repeat itself more than 3–5 times. Using variations seem the content look more natural and Google appreciates it.
The Best way to find LSIs, I think, is Google Suggest. Just search your targeted keyword and go to the bottom of the page to find related keywords that you can use in your content.
I hope this is all needed for on-page SEO, please let me know in the comments if anything was missed.
So there you have it. On-page SEO is a small and simple part but, if done right has phenomenal effects on your rankings over time. Moreover, with more and more pages being optimized for every keyword, it is necessary to not fall back.
