On-Page SEO

The term on-page SEO includes everything you can improve from the point of view of SEO directly on your page. You are the ones having the greatest impact on changes of your page. Those changes, however, can have a significant influence on a position of your page in search results.

The main goal for high-grade on-page SEO is a creation of the page so that it meets needs of its visitor. It may sound surprisingly, but it is not a goal to create the page for Google. Create the page to be interesting for its visitors, to be clear, well-structured, and able to keep attention. Once a visitor visits your page, you have only a few seconds to attract him. Should you are not able to do so, you have lost.

If your page is able to keep attention, Google will most likely reward you for that accordingly :)

Do you know what affects the on-page SEO?

Invite Google to visit your page

The basis for successful SEO is the page which does not block access of indexing robots. If the page is set with noindex parameter, it means that you do not want it to be indexed (included in results of a search). If you want Google to visit you, you must not lock the door in front of it :)

Write texts naturally

Write texts naturally so that they are understandable especially for page visitors. Avoid writing texts for search engines. The Google algorithm is ever more advanced. The meaningless addition of keywords and phrases to the text has rather a negative impact. It is optimal if the keywords you require for your page represent 1% up to 4% of the total amount of words on you page. Of course, if the ratio is higher, it does not immediately mean a penalization. It all depends on the context. Always, however, keep in mind that Google loves understandable and clear texts focused on visitors.

Relevancy of a page title

One of the most important on-page SEO factors is page title. It is important that the page title is relevant to the content of the page, or that the content of the page is relevant to the page title. Consider, based on The Page Focus analysis, whether the keywords are really the right ones for you and your potential customers. Is it really that topic you wanted to focus the page on? Is the page title relating to the topic you wanted to focus the page on?

Relevancy of URL

URL address is an important on-page SEO parameter. If it is possible, use keywords in URL of the page. Of course, it is not always possible that a domain name contains keywords. Often it is even not appropriate. Include keywords, however, to URL subpages. If the page is about Used Cars, for instance, use the URL nameofdomain.com/used-cars. Particular keywords separate with a hyphen. Avoid numbers, special characters, or underscores.

Relevancy of a page description

Google claims on its pages that the page description does not have direct impact on the position of the page in a search. It, however, affects a visitor who is making decision whether he is going to visit your page. The page description along with the page title is what a visitor can see in the search results. It is important to engage a potential visitor and persuade him to visit your page. Therefore try to write your greatest benefits to the page description so that the visitor decides exactly for your page. Keep in mind, however, relevancy of the page description against the content of the page. A visitor will be disappointed if he does not find on the page what he has read in the page description and he will leave the page immediately.

Missing headings

Headings are an important part of a content structure of the page. We know headings H1 to H6, while the heading H1 should not be missing on the page. Thanks to them Google follows the author’s intention better and makes out the text easier to understand. The headings have the same effect on a visitor of the page. If you want to keep a visitor on the page, you must not frighten him with a long continuous text. A structured text that is naturally divided by headings is more attractive and legible.

Relevancy of the main heading H1

The heading H1 should not be missing on the page. It has a major impact on understanding of the page content. Thanks to it a visitor immediately learns the topic of the page and what he can find on it. If the heading text is not related to the content of the page or it is related only a little, the visitor may be confused. Moreover the page may act as untrustworthy one. Google perceives it in the same way. If the topic of the page is Used Cars, don’t use a heading like “Want to save?”. You should better use the relevant heading “Quality used cars for a good price” instead. Avoid, of course, exaggerated loading of keywords to the headings.

Relevancy of headings

In addition to heading H1, also the other headings H2 to H6 are important for the correct structure. Create the headings so that they are relevant to the text. For example, if the topic of the page content is Used Cars, it is advisable to mention this key phrase in the headings. It would be optimal mentioning the key phrase in the H1 heading. Avoid, of course, exaggerated loading of keywords to headings. Keep in mind that you create content of the page for visitors, not for search engines.

Length of sentences

Write briefly. Too long sentences are less understandable for visitors of your page. According to a study by the American Press Institute, great majority of readers understood sentences with a length of 8 words. When a sentence had length of 14 words, it led to the decrease of understanding by 10%. Keep in mind that Google considers also legibility and intelligibility of a text.

Write engagingly and descriptively

Exhaust the topic completely so that a visitor finds complete information on your page and has no reason to search further. Keep a visitor on your page as long as possible. Engage his attention with a high-grade and structured content. In order to address to you, eventually to buy from you, he needs all available information. Pages with too few words are not very self-explanative and they often do not provide all necessary information. We recommend employing at least 900 words in a text. Remember quality of information provided. When writing, avoid exaggerated loading of keywords, of course. Simply write texts for visitors, not for search engines. Advice at the conclusion – never simplify creation of the content by copying your competition. Google is able to detect it very quickly and penalize you.

Optimize the performance of your page

If the page speed or page load time is not sufficient, the visitor will leave the page immediately. Keep in mind that your site has a lot of competition. Once the visitor does not have a quality user experience, they will visit the page of your competition. Try optimizing your images. If possible, merge the java script into one file. If possible, merge the CSS into one file. Serve static assets with an efficient cache policy.

The page links have poorly descriptive text

Avoid application of links with texts such as READ MORE or MORE INFO. Use rather links made of ordinary text instead. For example: “Our company offers sale of used vehicles.”

It will help Google to better understanding the structure of the page and your intention.

Design your website to mobile friendly

More and more visitors browse websites on their mobile devices. Don’t ignore this fact. Pages which are not adapted for mobile devices (non-responsive) are not well-arranged for visitors. Their texts and control elements are often small. Google takes this fact into account. Pages that offer full-value high-quality user experience on mobile phones, are usually ranked higher in search results.

If you are looking for an easy way, how to make your website mobile friendly try our free templates.

Don’t forget the security certificate

The security SSL certificate provides encrypted data transfer between a visitor’s device and a server. Thanks to encryption, sensitive data such as payment data is secure. In addition to increased security, the security certificate also brings an advantage in the field of SEO. Google strives for a safer Internet. The pages with a security certificate have an advantage. The security certificate has also a psychological impact on visitors of the page itself. The page with a security certificate looks more trustworthy.

Other factors affecting order of the site

Even good on-page seo needn’t guarantee the page top rankings in a search. There are also other important factors that determine your success or failure in Google search.

1. Domain authority

The domain authority is the rating which the page receives based on the age of the domain and a quality and quantity of feedback references to the domain. The domain authority likewise its content has a major impact on a position of the page in a search. If you would like to find out more about the domain authority, visit the MOZ project page https://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority.

2. Maintaining attention

Our analysis is not able to reveal how good the text of the page is. Consider, based on The Page Focus analysis, whether the keywords are really the right ones for you and your potential customers. Is it that what people look for? Is the content of the page attractive and interesting enough? If a visitor who visits your page through a Google search leaves it immediately, it means he did not find what he was looking for. As a result of that Google will move your page behind more successful pages, or eventually it will completely stop showing your page for that phrase. If a visitor stays on your page and does not return to a search immediately, Google will interpret it in a way the visitor is satisfied with what he has found on your page. So think about it. Create the content of your page so that the visitor has a motivation to stay on it for a while.

Find out the on-page SEO score >