On-page SEO is about optimizing web page content for search engines and users. As you build your website and move forward with content production, on-page optimization becomes an integral part of all your SEO strategies.

Using on-page SEO helps you attract search engines and helps them understand, recognize and rank your content. On-page SEO usually involves various factors, as well as optimization of title tags, content, internal links, and URLs.

In this article, we will review 10 essential ranking factors that can help you in this on-page SEO process.

What Are the Different Types of SEO?

In general, SEO can be divided into three basic areas: On-Page SEO, Off-Page SEO, and Technical SEO.

Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO consists of SEO practices that occur outside of your websites, such as link building, social sharing or any other form of promotion through social media platforms and the like, designed to increase your visibility in search engines.

On-Page SEO  

is about all the content that appears on your website that you have a direct influence on.

Technical SEO

 Describes, as the name suggests, all the technical details and issues of your site.

What is On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing individual pages of content to achieve higher search rankings and generate relevant traffic. On-page SEO includes all the internal factors of the website such as content, your H1 tag, images and site speed.

But on-page SEO alone may not be enough to rank a page. It must also be supported by other types of SEO such as off-page and technical SEO to help your overall site be more attractive to search engines.

Why Is On-Page SEO Important?

On-page SEO is important because it helps search engine spiders understand your website and its content to assess its quality and relevance to searchers. On-page SEO increases the visibility of your pages on search results. In fact, the first page of search results captures up to 91.5% of traffic.[1]

Plus, on-page SEO with its relatively low cost and long-term benefits offers the best return on investment of almost any digital marketing strategy.

What Are the Essential Ranking Factors for On-Page SEO?

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1. Content Quality for On-Page SEO

On-page SEO starts with optimizing a website’s content for search engines which is the most important of all On-Page factors.

• Original Content

If you offer content that is far superior to any other existing content on the search engines that meets a specific demand, rankings often come naturally. You should have as little duplicate content as possible on your site to avoid SEO problems. You can use a duplicate content checker to detect such problems on your site.

• Useful and relevant content

Your content should meet a specific search intent, meaning that it answers specific questions or requirements that the user is looking for when searching the internet. The most important thing is that your content corresponds to the search intent of the keyword in question and fulfills at least one search intent as perfectly as possible.

Write texts and content that offer added value to the user and do not publish inferior products just for the sake of publishing them.

• Content length

Longer content always outperforms shorter content in search rankings. The deeper the information, the more valuable it will be perceived by a search engine’s robots. Google prefers to present in-depth content in search results that best answers the user’s questions about a search intent rather than multiple weaker pages for each variation of a keyword.  

When it comes to the number of words to rank on the first page, there is no exact number. What matters is satisfying the search intent sufficiently. Some queries can be answered completely and accurately in less than 1,000 words and ranked on the first page, while others may require more than 2,000 words!

The word count of your content will vary depending on the purpose of the page and the depth of the topic. Just try to aim for as much depth of content as possible.  If your content meets a search intent perfectly even if it is short can rank well in search results.  Google increasingly reveals search results into clusters.

• Up-to-date content

The currency of your pages is another direct ranking factor you can influence. Fresh, up-to-date content can help you improve your ranking. Google as well as readers care about content prefer the most recent content.

• Spelling and grammar

Spelling and grammar are the essential parts of your writing that ensure your content is high quality, authoritative and worthy of being at the top of search results. Before publishing your content always proofread it for spelling and grammar mistakes.

• Readability

User experience is one of the main goals of on-page SEO. Readers and search engines like content that is easy to read and understand. This means that the layout and formatting of your blog’s content should allow a person to quickly and easily navigate through your content to find the answer to their question.

So you need to make your content layout easy to read and navigate and help users find the answer to their questions as quickly and easily as possible.  To enable your readers to scan your content easily and review it quickly use the following factors:

– Breaking down the body text into paragraphs

– Divide content into sections with subheadings.

Dividing your content with useful headings can help readers navigate the page. Subheadings are especially useful on long pages where a reader may only be looking for information from a particular section.

• The use of bullets

Bullets are Ideal for lists, bullets can help readers navigate the page and find the information they need more quickly.

• Use bold formatting or italics

Bold or italic formatting and captions are very effective in highlighting important points in the text.

• Font size

Font size is also a decisive factor in terms of readability. Unreadable content that doesn’t make much sense will be perceived as low value. Avoid fonts that are too small. Google recommends a font size of 16 points or larger to minimize the need to “pinch and zoom” on mobile.

• Text color

The color of the text in relation to the background color of the page should also promote readability.

• Visual elements

Take advantage of visual elements such as images and other visual aids to enhance your text.

• Simple writing

The writing of your content is a decisive factor for your visitors that have a direct impact on your ranking pages. Keeping it as simple as possible will ensure that your content and blog posts are accessible to as many people as possible. But this can change depending on your niche.

2. Keyword Research

 On-page SEO begins with researching the best keyword for a particular content page. The focus is on one or a few search terms that ideally meet a specific search intent.

Your keyword must be:

– Relevant to the main topic or theme of your content.

– Regularly searched by your target audience.

– Increases the authority of your site.

High search volume keywords drive more traffic to your site, but they are generally more competitive and can be more difficult to rank for on search engines.  A primary keyword should never be assigned to more than one page of content on your site.

Assigning the same keyword to more than one page can confuse search engines, who don’t know which page is more important and may not rank either page.

• Choosing the right keywords

Choosing the right keywords is critical to ranking. With thorough keyword research, you can ensure that your content meets the user’s intent.  But it is not always easy to find the best keywords that can help you improve your search engine rankings.

You can take advantage of SEO tools in your keyword research and find profitable keyword ideas and opportunities. Jaaxy is a very powerful tool that helps you find informative long-tail keywords that I use and recommend

• Similar Searches

Perform keyword research to find keywords related to your main keyword. You can also use Google Autocomplete data for on-page SEO. When you search for a term, Google will show you matching results.

Google also shows you a list of similar searches on the topic at the end of the search results. By using these similar searches in your content, you can communicate the topic of your page to Google even more clearly.

Using this information can help you align your content with your target audience’s search intent and optimize your content for on-page SEO. You can use the “Users also ask” section in Google search results for better on-page SEO. The entries in this section are great inspiration for finding LSI keywords and headlines for your content.

• Using keywords in the content

The best practice for using keywords in your content is to incorporate them naturally into your content and distribute them evenly throughout the body of the text. This shows search engines that your content is closely related to the topic.

From an SEO perspective, the sooner your target keyword appears in your content the faster a search engine’s crawlers can determine the topic of your content.  Try to include your keyword in the first 50 to 100 words of your content to reflect the user’s search intent.

Still, try to avoid overloading your text with keywords to avoid keyword stuffing issues. Instead, use the keyword and its synonyms in a natural way.

• LSI keywords in the content

LSI (latent semantic indexing) keywords are terms and phrases that are synonyms or semantically related to your main keyword. LSI keywords help give context to your content. They are simply words and phrases that are related to the topic you are talking about.

Using LSI keywords allows you to increase traffic to your site. By using variations of LSI keywords in your content, you can broaden the scope of your topic, making it more relevant while signaling to Google that your content covers the topic in its entirety. 

3. Using Titles for On-Page SEO

In general, title tags are one of the most important factors in on-page SEO because they give users the first impression to entice them to read your content. Title tags describe the content of the web page and its purpose in the SERPs.

Optimizing the title tag can also significantly increase the click-through rate (CTR) which has an indirect impact on your page ranking. The more compelling your title tag is, and the higher it ranks in search results, the more visitors you will attract to your site.

 This underscores the fact that SEO isn’t just about search engines, but rather the entire user experience. But optimizing the title tag allows search engines to see what the main topic of your content will be before anything else.

• The use of keywords in the title tags

Writing an attractive title, preferably including the main keyword at the beginning of the title, in a descriptive and concise manner, is an important factor for on-page SEO.

The presence of your target keyword that describes the main search intent in the title can help users and search engines understand what your page is about.

• Length of title tags

 On average, search engines display the first 50 to 60 characters of a title tag in search results. That’s why it’s advisable to place the keyword at the beginning of the title to avoid being overshadowed in the search results.

• Title in H1 tags

The title of your content must absolutely be an H1 tag. An H1 title tag is a piece of HTML code that tells search engines that the text is the title of the page and an important description of the content.

You can add more than one H1 title to your page but the important thing is to respect the hierarchy of sub-titles with the following tags: H2, h3, H4, …

The division of your content into different sub-categories allows the reader to better understand your text. It also allows search engines to classify your content even more comprehensively according to the search intent.

• Sub-headings in H2 tags

Using header tags for your subheadings gives structure to your web page and allows readers and search engines to get a clear picture of your page and the subtopics you’ve written about.

Try to tie your content to your keyword by using your keyword or a variation of it in one of the subheadings. Using modifiers like “buy”, “download”, “the current year 2021…” etc. in your title tag increases the chances of appearing in search results.

4.  Optimize Meta Descriptions for On-Page SEO

Meta descriptions are short descriptive phrases about the content, function, and purpose of the web page that will be displayed in the SERPs.

The meta description tag is a factor that Google pays attention to for on-page SEO but if you optimize it well it will be very effective for the click-through rate.

• Principle keyword in your meta description

Meta descriptions should contain the principal keyword and summarize your key concept so that the searcher sees enough information to know that they will find exactly what they are looking for on the page.

Including the main keyword at the beginning of the description along with a call to action encourages readers to click. In addition, Google puts your keyword in bold in the description.

And if you don’t write the meta description the search engine can display the most relevant section of the web page content according to different queries as meta description in the SERP. However, it is better to write it yourself than to leave a default page meta description.

• Length of the meta description

It is best to write meta descriptions between 150 and 300 characters in length, otherwise, like the title tag, it will be shortened by Google, which reduces its effectiveness, especially if your keyword is not at the beginning of the description.

• Use of Schema tags

Another way to optimize your meta description is by using schema tags, also known as “rich snippets”, which are information added to the title and meta description. Rich snippets contain additional information such as stars, images or prices, stock availability, and stars for reviews.

• Structured data tags

Structured data is additional code that helps search engines recognize specific categories of text in your content. Structured data gives your web page an on-page SEO boost by making it even more attractive. 

Using Rich Snippets with the help of structured data implementation can help improve ranking, CTR, as it also gives the user a visual incentive to click on your page.

5. URL Optimization in On-Page SEO

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) are the locations or addresses of different pieces of content on the web. URLs also play a role in on-page SEO and can improve the ranking of your web pages as they are related to the user experience. URLs are used by search engines to evaluate and rank pages.

  URLs help the user to understand the content of the page and choose the results that best match their search. In addition, URL optimization helps Google to recognize the subject of your page directly.

Search engines display URLs in SERPs, so the name and format of URLs can have an impact on click-through rates. Search engines need a unique URL for each page on your website in order to display your pages in search results, but clear URL structure and naming are also helpful for people trying to understand what a specific URL means.

An SEO-optimized URL contains the keyword, indicates the content’s place in the site hierarchy, its relationship to the category, and its content. The structure of your page’s URL must be consistent with your site’s hierarchy, otherwise, search engine spiders and users will be confused, which will affect the page’s ranking.

• Keywords in the URL

If your target page contains a specific keyword or phrase, be sure to include it in the URL. Having your principal keyword in your URL is a ranking factor.

So adding your principal keyword to all your page URLs, while considered a small ranking factor, should be part of your on-page SEO practices. Also, avoid keyword stuffing and over-optimization in URLs.

• URL Length

In general, users and search engines prefer short URLs because they are easier to understand and better present the search intent. Short URLs will also be presented in full in Google’s search results, which makes it much easier for the user to find the information.

In effect, short URLs for search engine spiders add clarity to your page and takes less time to crawl your site.

• The breadcrumb trail

Another point at the page level is the “breadcrumb trail” that allows your visitors to understand where they are on your site. You can assign relevant tags and categories for your blog posts. Tags and categories for blog posts organize the content of the site and help search engines understand the topics.

• Protocols: HTTP vs HTTPS

Regarding the protocols of HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) and “HTTP” that precede your domain name, as of July 2018, Google Chrome displays “not secure” for all HTTP sites, Google recommends that all websites use an “HTTPS” protocol.

To ensure that your URLs use the HTTPS protocol, you need to get an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate, which is used to encrypt data. The SSL protocol ensures that all data transmitted between the web server and the user’s browser remains private.

6. Multimedia Optimization

Having images and videos in your content is a factor that has a positive impact on on-page SEO because they make your content more interesting for readers, increase the visit time and show search engines that the content has value.

So as you can see images are not only about web design. But you should also think about optimizing your images for on-page SEO. A proper caption with a clear reference to the corresponding keyword is also crucial. Alt tags also help search engines like Google to interpret the images on your page.

While image crawlers are currently powerful enough to read transcripts on images and understand them, it’s best to help them do so by adding an alt text tag to your images.  For video optimization, provide a summary or transcript of the videos.

Size the image correctly. Check the size of your image and make sure it is not so large that it slows down the loading of the site. Compress large files before uploading them to your site and resize images to the intended display size.

Another way to optimize your images and improve the speed of your pages is to choose the right image format. For animations use a GIF. If you need to preserve the high resolution of the image, use PNG format otherwise uses JPEG format.

7. Use of Links for On-Page SEO

• Internal links

Internal linking is one of the on-page SEO strategies you should pay attention to, as part of your website’s crawlability lies in its internal link structure.

Internal links are links from one page on your site to another relevant page on your site. When you link to other pages on your website you add value to the reader because it gives them an additional resource to read.

But you also make it easier for search engine spiders to find other parts of your site and give other content a chance to rank. Add relevant internal links to other pages on your site and, use the target keyword of the linked page as anchor text for the link. Anchor text is the text with which you link to a page and send signals to search engines about the content on that page.

It is often useful to combine information from several articles on a single page. But it is best if the use of anchor text is natural. If you use the same anchor text for too many internal links to a specific page, search engines may get the impression that you are trying to manipulate the ranking of that page.

You can make links automatically using some plugins but using internal links in a natural and well thought out way is much more useful than automation.

• Using outbound links

High-quality outbound links can help search engines determine the overall value of your content. Citations and links to research articles and case studies on the topic you’re covering help build your page’s authority and show that you’re trying to add value.

• Add links to quality sites

Links to authority sites in your niche are a sign of relevance that search bots take into account. So also include relevant, valuable, high-quality outbound links that lead to other trusted authority sites in your niche when you mention a resource or cite a source in your content.

• Configure outbound links to open a new page

Set each outbound link to open in a new window so that your website stays open even if the user temporarily visits another site.

-Also pay attention to the dofollow and nofollow tag.

• Add social sharing links

Having sharing buttons is another on-page SEO factor. By including social media sharing buttons on your page, your content is more likely to be found, which has a positive impact on search engine optimization.

To avoid hurting your users’ experience, make sure all external and internal links on your site are working and not leading to 404 pages.

 8. Mobile-Friendly Website

With Mobile-First Indexing, Google primarily uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking since most users access Google search via mobile devices. If your site does not display on a mobile device, you will have trouble ranking well.

So having a mobile-friendly website improves the user experience and can generate traffic. You can check if your site is mobile-friendly by using Google Search Console.

9. Site Loading Time

The speed of the average loading time of a site is a ranking factor on Google. The search engine assumes that users don’t like pages that load slowly and are more likely to click through.

Optimizing your page load speed not only improves the user experience but can also help improve your search engine ranking. High website speed is extremely important, especially for mobile use.

You can test your page load time for free with tools such as PageSpeed Insights. This tool evaluates the loading time on a scale of 0 to 100 and indicates when your page can be optimized.

10. Website Structure

The website structure is an essential aspect of your on-page SEO strategy because it tells Google which pages are the most important on your site. Through the structure of your site, you can influence which articles will rank higher in search engines.

If you structure your website well, users will find their way around more easily and Google will be able to index your pages better. A good page structure shows the search engine that your website is user-friendly, that each sub-page can be reached with a minimum of clicks, that the navigation is well thought out or that the design is correct.

It is therefore important that you configure a page in such a way that search engines can access it as easily as possible. This can be done by creating a sitemap to facilitate search engine indexing as well as granting the appropriate rights in the robots.txt file of the page.

Conclusion

I hope you found the review of these on-page SEO ranking factors helpful. Even if you are creating content with the goal of ranking, always remember that your priority should be to write high-quality, useful, well-written content for your readers.

From an SEO perspective, not all factors are equal. While the factors listed in this article are among the most important in terms of on-page SEO, some of them carry more weight than others. On-page SEO is also influenced by technical SEO and off-page SEO.

Be sure not to overlook these other SEO factors. Now that you know which On-page SEO factors to focus on, make sure you apply them as part of your content marketing strategy and SEO campaign!

Start conducting an SEO audit and optimizing your content.