Search engine optimisation helps Google find and index your website’s content and is the process of improving a websites search engine ranking through relevant keywords/key phrases and fresh topic-specific content. On-page SEO refers to the optimisation of page specific content in order to better the search engine ranking of that page. 

So, in order to do that you need to do some keyword research. Check out Content Marketing 101: Keyword Research Tactics for more information on how to go about researching keywords and key phrases. Another important element of SEO is the long tail of keywords. This is covered in Long Tail Versus Long Neck: Are You Optimising the Most Obvious Keywords?

Now that we have covered keyword research and the long tail it’s time to move onto the elements of on-page SEO.

Title Tag

The title tag is the text that appears at the top of your browser. Your home page title tag is the most crucial considering that your home page is the centre point for your website. Consider your most important keywords and incorporate them into your title tags. This applies to all your web pages, after all where there’s potential - exploit it (however within acceptable ‘white hat’ SEO criteria). A couple of tips for title tag construction: The first few words in your title tag carry more weight so make sure your most relevant keywords are put first. Make sure your title tags make sense; after all, the users are not robots.

Meta Description Tag

A meta tag provides information about a specific web page. Meta tags should summarise the pages content concisely, so keep them short. It is important to note that meta tags do not affect search rankings, however they serve a valuable purpose regardless. The meta tag acts as a lure to your web page by providing the user with a complete and concise summary of that page. So if a user searches your keywords and comes across your web page, if your keywords are included in the meta tag they will appear in a bold font. 

Page Headings

Webpages are usually structured according to a set theme described by a main heading (also known as an H1 heading). Following the theme of the page will be sub-headings called H2, H3, H4 headings. These are named according to order of appearance starting from H2. It is important to note that your headings should include the appropriate keywords and phrases associated with the webpage. Imagine a webpage optimised for horse riding, but the heading says “horsing around” now google scans your webpage and discovers an unfamiliar phrase, not only does this weaken this webpages SEO ranking for horse riding but associates it with an unrelated term.

Body Text

It is highly important that the body text of a webpage is related to the theme of the webpage. Ensure that the links on the webpage both adhere to your website’s structure and are relevant to the theme of the webpage. Irrelevant links can potentially damage the ranking of a webpage. Also it is very important to note that the body text is properly edited to eliminate spelling and grammatical errors. Google penalizes websites with spelling and grammar errors. 

Tips

Google reduces long descriptions so keep your meta tags short. One to three sentences is a safe guideline. Make sure you create unique meta tags for every web page. It is important to maintain continuity throughout your webpages, your content and descriptions thereof should be accurate and effective. Be especially careful of duplicate content. Google will pick duplicate pages up and may penalize your site’s priority in search rankings.

Previous Article in the series: How the Google Algorithm Works Part 1; Next article in the series: Website Structuring and Linking Strategy

Julian Karstel is a Digital Marketing Consultant for Sound Idea Digital | @JulianKarstel | Julian@soundidea.co.za

Sound Idea Digital is a full service digital agency | www.soundidea.co.za