Most Important On-Page SEO Factors
Having a website that ranks well organically is the goal of search engine optimisation practices. Many factors go into an SEO process, and each one is equally important. Simply put, if you don’t sort out on-page elements, you won’t get the results you want by simply focusing on off-page elements. For this reason, we’ve outlined a list of the most important on-page elements.
Clean URL
Your URL is as important as your name and last name. It has to be clean, polished, as short as possible and without unnecessary symbols. Your URL structure has to be logical as it increases the relevance of a page. The URL has to be as descriptive enough to give logical information about the webpage a user is trying to access. If you can, include a relevant keyword into your URL structure, but also pay attention to the intent of the page.
Title tag
The title tag is important because it’s the first thing people notice on the search engine results page. It has to be properly optimised and descriptive enough to grab the attention. Also, it’s one of the search engine rankings factors, so you should now overlook title tag optimisation in your SEO strategy. Simply put, the title tag is like the title of your website and it’s shown to people searching for the keywords that are relevant to your business.
Structured data
If you want to tick all the optimisation boxes, ensure your website has structured data. If you want Google to understand your website, you need to feed it the right pieces of information, presented in a way that Google understands.
Headings
Headings improve the user experience because reading blocks of text is easier than reading a huge chunk of text. Next, they also make it easier for Google to understand the content and rank it properly. Implementing H1, H2 or H3 tags is important as anything else. They should be optimised as well, to include keywords you want to rank for and their variations. However, ensure you use heading tags the right way – don’t overdo it but also don’t neglect their implementation.
Meta Description
Just like you have to optimise title tags, and implement them, you also need to write appropriate meta descriptions. Meta descriptions are shown below title tags on the search engine results page. They are usually 160 characters long, include a primary keyword for that page and are as descriptive as possible. You can view these descriptions as short summaries of web pages. However, they need to be both descriptive and enticing, so that the one searching for your keywords is attracted to click on your URL.
Internal linking strategy
The internal linking strategy shouldn’t be overlooked, nor neglected during your search engine optimisation practices. Even if your website doesn’t have too many pages, they should still be interlinked in a relevant way. It’s also advisable to team up with SEO Services Sydney agency, to start working on your content strategy, so you’ll have relevant pieces of content which can be a part of your internal linking strategy. You also need to pay attention to anchor text, so it has a semantic value for the content and which also leads the user to perform a different action on the website.
Images
Images are visual elements and these should be implemented the right way. They can make or break the user experience. If they are too big, they will slow down the website which is viewed as a bad ranking signal. On the other hand, proper choice of visual elements makes the website more interesting and also formats the chunks of content into a visually appealing format. Since images also have to be optimised, they play an important on-page SEO element.
Content
If there’s one area of search engine optimisation that shouldn’t be overlooked because it leads to achieving great results, it’s quality content. The content has to be relevant for the page, optimised to include relevant variations of keywords and to respond to search intent. Next, it has to be unique, never published before nor duplicated from another page on the website. Lastly, quality content should be easy to read, properly formatted and deep enough so that other websites would like to link to it. It should also be easily linkable, in terms that it connects to another page on the website, so that you can use it in your internal linking strategy.
Keywords
If you want to rank as high as possible in Google SERP, you need to target the right keywords. The right and relevant keywords will drive traffic to your website by attracting the right audience. Pay attention to using keywords that are relevant to your business and that aren’t difficult to rank for. Next, use the right keyword density, but pay attention to distribution to avoid keyword stuffing.
Site Security
Site security is another essential ranking factor. If your website still uses an HTTP protocol, it’s high time to migrate it to a secure HTTPS protocol. If you still haven’t built a website, it’s even better, because you can have an HTTPS website from the beginning. Either way, website security is an important ranking factor, so ensure google sees your website as a secure online place.
Mobile version
The majority of searches come from mobile devices and it comes as no surprise. All of us spend a lot of time on our mobile devices because we’re so used to getting the information right here and right now. But, a website isn’t automatically responsive on all devices. It has to be made into a mobile-friendly website, by having a mobile version of a website. So, ensure your website is responsive both on a desktop and mobile device to be seen as a reputable source of information by Google.
Now that you’ve read this list, you’ve probably noticed several areas of improvement. It might seem like Google works in mysterious ways, and there’s some truth to that. However, a team of SEO professionals might just show you this list to prove that mysterious ways are not that mysterious. So, if you want your website to rank higher and get more traffic, find a reputable SEO agency that will make sure your website is optimised and user-friendly.
