Contrasting off-page SEO, on-page optimizations focus specifically on each individual page – such as title tags, meta descriptions, content creation and more.
An effective title tag helps Google understand what a page is about and can influence whether users click through. Furthermore, an attractive meta description can convince more visitors to visit your page.
Keywords
Keywords are words or phrases people enter into search engines in order to access content online; these keywords inform website pages, connecting those searching with those offering answers to their query.
An integral component of any successful SEO strategy is conducting ongoing research to ensure your target keywords remain relevant for your audience. This involves considering language changes, seasonality trends and competition as part of this endeavor.
Keywords should be naturally integrated into your website content, including page titles, meta descriptions and internal links. It is also crucial that keywords be present in each URL of each page – using them in headers (h1> and h2> tags can help show Google that this page is relevant – however too much keyword stuffing could damage your ranking!
Title Tag
Title tags give both visitors and search engines an idea of the type of content they will find on your webpage, using keywords in them can help Google understand and rank it for associated search queries. Since title tags will likely be their first interaction with your content, it is crucial that they reflect user intent when creating them.
Keyword stuffing can damage your rankings as it’s considered spammy and makes for an unpleasant user experience. A title tag should focus on one primary keyword with several long-tail variants relevant to its content on a page, including color/size variants if applicable; dynamic title tags may be helpful on eCommerce websites selling multiple variations without creating duplicate pages for each variation, while local SEO benefits from including your location information in its title tag.
Meta Description
Meta descriptions appear below a page’s title tag in search engine results pages and provide searchers with an indication of its content – an incentive to click through. Furthermore, search engines use them as a way of determining whether a page is relevant for a query and to highlight words or phrases which match user search terms.
Meta Descriptions may no longer be a ranking factor, but they still play an integral role in driving traffic and shaping brand perception. Therefore it is imperative that quality meta descriptions that are both readable and compelling are produced.
Meta descriptions should provide an in-depth summary of your page’s content and be no more than 160 characters long. They must also highlight any focus keywords or keyword phrases so they are easily searchable and draw readers in for clickthrough.
Content
Content refers to any and all information present on a webpage, such as text, images and videos. Content plays a pivotal role in on page SEO as search engines understand what the page is about and rank it appropriately.
Content also refers to meta tags, URLs and anchor text (clickable text in a link) of each page on your website. While on-page SEO has long been recognized for its importance, creating quality content which benefits your audience is just as essential.
Google understands this to be true as user intent can best be met through providing relevant, helpful information – hence why its search quality guidelines emphasize E-A-T (expertise, authority and trustworthiness).