A good way to get us thinking of what On-Page Elements may be, let's have a look at the signage below. Would you be able to tell what the store is or what it is about and what they offer? Likely not.
Now imagine that the white signage you see there is your website On-Page elements. It is essentially the keywords that you would need to put on there on your signage to attract attention from those searching for your services.
On-Page Elements in SEO is basically your signboard for Search Engine crawlers - where they crawl and find you based on your signboard. So, you would want to tell Google what your website is about so that it can match those keywords that represent what you are - with Google users who are searching for the same. So which on-page element carries the most weight for SEO?
Importance of On-Page Elements
Within the best practices of Search Engine Optimization, it is good to:
work the best keywords to match your customers
Communicate this clearly with Search Engines
Hence the importance of On-Page Elements.
Two Primary Areas of Focus in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
On-Page Elements (30% - but the foundations of your SEO)
Off-Page Elements (70%)
Source: lawyerseo.com Catch Whiteboard Friday below on Weighting the Clusters of Ranking Factors in Google's Algorithm.
Scoring weightage of On-Page focused initiatives:
The SEO Pyramid and which on-page element carries the most weight for SEO
In order of priority, use the SEO Pyramid as a guide to strengthening your On-Page SEO.
Source: University of Toronto
Elements of an Optimized Page
Crawler / Bot Accessible
Authorship, Meta Data, Schema & Rich Snippets
Keyword Targeted
Uniquely Valuable
Provides Phenomenal UX
Built to be Shared through Social Networks
Multi Device Ready
SEO On-Page Elements
1. Page Title (Title Tag) and Keyword Usage
Every page should have it's unique title
Aim for about 54 characters
Not brand name first as the search engine knows who you are, you want to use the Title tag as a indexing function to tell Google what that page is about compared to your other pages
2. Page Headling (H1 Tag)
Use primary keywords at least once in H1 tags, as close to the first few words
Body Text (first 50 - 100 words on page)
Content is King as they say. Google has algorithms to be able to tell that your page is not just about keywords, but provides a wealth of resources in your topic area.
URL Structure (and domain)
Also good to have your keyword in your URL
Images & Image Alt attributes
Search Engines also look into the images in your website:
title
filename
surrounding text
alt tag (behaves like an Anchor Text in a text link)
Analyze your website with a SEO Tool, which also looks into SEO opportunities within your images
Internal and External Links
Easily accessible within 3-5 clicks
Link within the site
Link out to useful resources related to the topic
Meta Description
Not used directly in search engine ranking algorithms, but are still important as potential customers would read that before they click into the website
Meta Keywords
No impact on ranking, not recommended for use in general
SEO On-Page Best Practices
Keywords
Determine your keywords, then see how they can fit into each possible section. Target 1 keyword per section don't overdo it.
Website Hierarchy
Your home page is the most powerful page. So when working your keywords, be sure to focus on key terms on your home, then increase the details to the search term as the user delves in.
Meta Descriptions
Keep it to less than 155 characters
Write in action-oriented phrasing
Provide the user with their solution or benefit here
Be as relevant as possible. Don't deceive
Google Search Console
Run Google Search Console for some insights on how Google rates your website
Tracking
Use Google Analytics Dashboard
or look at some custom SEO dashboards out there in the market such as SEMrush and Moz, whichever interface works better for you
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