On-Page SEO Success

 8/25/2016 12:00:00 AM
Views: 6,860
8 Minutes, 39 Second
 Written By John Marx
Tags:SEO

On-Page SEO Success

When it comes to getting the word out about your great website you need to be found. Sure your marketing materials, even your social media, will link to your website. What about the search engines? They still play the biggest factor in getting your website found. This is where on-page SEO can increase the success of your website. In this article we'll cover the factors that influence the search engines to further improve your SEO success.

What is on-page SEO?

On-Page SEO

On-Page SEO is a science of balancing your site design, with content, and the overall ease of use within your website. On-Page SEO relates to everything within your site itself.

Off-Page SEO

Off-Page SEO focuses on actual trust when it comes to your website and the pages within your website. Off-page SEO are all elements that are off of your website that work to get people to visit your website.

Page Titles Matter

When it comes to your title tag you want it to contain your primary keyword phrase that you want to be found under. If you want to be known for Chicago Web Design, then your title should contain Chicago Web Design. The title is only one factor though. You need to have that keyword phrase also in the content of your page. No more than five times and normally around three times. Don't just add it though to add it or you'll be "spammy" and no one likes spam (except for the food and that is an acquired taste). Another important factor is how quickly your title keyword phrase shows up in your text. If it is at the bottom it will hold less weight to the search engines than if it was in the first sentence or paragraph.

Getting to the Long of Things

Two words to get found on the internet is almost never enough. Long Tail keywords are keyword phrases that you want to be found under and go from three to five words deep. When the word long comes around it means your phrase is not "Web Design" but something more description. An example of a long tail keyword phrase would be "Chicago Illinois Web Design". A long tail keyword phrase will be a minimum of three words with the maximum being five words in the keyword phrase. Long Tail keywords means you truly know your target audience as you have to know what a person will be typing in more closely.

Research Is King

When it comes to search engine optimization one of the key factors in improving your site month-over-month is with time and research. You need to look at your site analytics, understand them, learn from them, and then respond appropriately to what they are telling you. Without this your SEO campaigns will ultimately not work as well as you want. SEO takes work and with that work you can and will get results you can be proud of.

Be nice to your site visitors

When it comes to a positive user experience (UX) you need to truly think about how people interact with your site. Yes, search engines make the most arcane website able to be found. This doesn't mean your URL's should be cryptic and not easily understood. Having a URL of https://domain.com/1/2/3/category/title is not very clear at all. If you use something more clear like https://domain.com/Blog/Article it is a lot clearer to your user that they are reading a blog article.

Another item to take into account as you structure your URL appropriately is that your URL and title should align. If your title is "Web Design Gary Indiana" it may be good to have your URL as https://domain.com/Gary-Indiana-Web-Design/ to not only be easily understood what the page is but align your SEO title and URL.

Every page should have a unique title

Like a chapter in a book you need a title. The title should align with your page title and your URL. This title will be wrapped in what is called the H1 tag. There should also be only one H1 tag within any page. The H tags or Header tags range from 1-6. You should only have one H1. If you need more than one H1 tag you need to create a new page. You can have as many H2-H6 tags as you want. Keeping a logical flow, you shouldn't jump from an H1 to an H3. You should structure it so the H1 is at the very top, then H2, and onward.

As you utilize the header tags you should try to wrap your keyword in a sub-header as well. You are already going to include it in an H1 tag. It is good practice to put in in an H2-H6 tag as well if your page content allows it. Don't just add it to add it.

Content Is King

Content on a page is what drives your SEO. Having quality content that people want to read is crucial. We talked about already that your keyword phrase should be in the first part of your page and in the first paragraph. Taking this important information into account we are also going to state you should do your best to include that phrase in your first 100 words of text.

Be responsive to your audience

More often users are using smaller screens to access your website. No more is the day where all screens are 15" or larger. Your screen needs to be responsive where it resizes to the size not only of the user's screen but their browser window as well. A site visitor could be on a brilliant 30" screen. Your website may only be on a quarter of that screen. At no time should your user have to scroll left/right unless you specifically have designed your user interface (UI) to scroll left/right.

Outbound Links Matter

As you write content for your site you will often be thinking of an article you recently read that gave you inspiration. Linking to this source of information is a great way of gaining credibility for what you are writing. The key here is to link to sources that are reputable but also will not pull business away from your core business. We have seen as well as done linked to a competitor. This isn't because we are trying to lose business for a client but because they offer something unique, there is an established business relationship between the two businesses, and the other business does the same.

Inbound Links Matter

Often as you write information on your site you are referencing products and services you have to offer. When we talk SEO or social we always think of our Maintenance Plans. The reason we think about them is SEO takes time to learn. We allocate a minimum of three months for someone to understand the basics before even getting them their own clients and then they have a mentor for another three months at a minimum. When you can link to your page it is good to link to two or three internal links within the page.

Synonyms taste great

Wait, that's the wrong kind of cinnamon. These don't taste great but are alternate words that you can use to make your page less like a spam filled page. Being we are talking about SEO here and are talking about on-page optimization success we could also use on-page SEO checklist as a phrase that can mean the same thing.

Social Media Matters

Social signals can help boost your brands engagement. As people share your information on social media there is a continuing greater chance as people see that information they will in-turn come to your website using social media rather than the search engines. This is still a success no matter how you look at it. The visitor may not be coming from Google, Bing, or Yahoo but they are still coming because someone shared information on social media. Having social sharing capabilities on your website will help you improve your brand engagement.

Size Matters

Yes, page size does matter. A page with only 200-500 words will not rank as well as a page with 1,500-2,000 words on it. The reason is the page will seem significantly more relevant as more time and effort was put into it. As people search there is a greater chance your information will be found and heard. Don't spam fill your page though. Have great content your visitors will want to read.

Conclusion

We are not closely done when it comes to on-page SEO. Over the years we've written many blog articles related to SEO and welcome you to read them. If you read all that we offer you would have a beginner-intermediate knowledge needed to handle SEO completely yourself.

As you can see from the above list SEO is a big part of what JM2 Webdesigners does. SEO is something we do each day. We believe that SEO is crucial to all businesses for success. With everything in our past articles, this article, and future articles already planned for SEO for the rest of the year and beyond it is possible for you to do SEO yourself. If your objective is to grow your business and would appreciate a business partner that is dedicated to growing your internet presence you can give us a call at @BUSINESSPHONETOLLFREE@, email at @BUSINESSEMAILADDRESS@, or through our contact form here.