On Page SEO - Without It, You'll Never Get The Search Engines Attention
On-page SEO includes every method of optimization than can be used on your own site (unlike off-page SEO, which focuses on methods used on other websites). These methods pertain to every form of content on your website, such as each webpage's text, additional documents that are in Word or PDF form, and videos.
The items you must optimize your site for are the following: page title, page description, keywords, internal and external links and your image alt tags. Let's look at each one in more detail.
Page Title
When the search engine spiders crawl your site, the first thing they see is the Page Title. Therefore, this is perhaps the most important element to optimize for. A proper title should include the keyword your are optimizing for and provide a strong call to action for visitors to click through to your site. In addition, you should also include your business name in the title, as many directories prefer -sometimes require- this for your submission to be considered.
These present a challenge. How can you write a title that is optimized for the search engines and still provide your business name and a strong call to action? Unfortunately, there aren't any easy answers for this, and you will have to sacrifice one (at least in part) in order to gain another.
Remember the following points when optimizing your title:
- Page titles should be no longer than 64 character including spaces, according to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
- Each title should be different to avoid confusion, and should follow a uniform design.
- The title should include your business name, keywords and a call to action in that order.
- Your title should ideally be less than 64 characters, but never over 120.
- All keywords in the title should be copied into the description and keyword meta tags.
Description
This tag should provide a short explanation of what your webpage is about. The line should go like this <meta name="description" content=YOUR DESCRIPTION HERE."/>
Admittedly, search engines are paying less attention to the description tags for rankings, though they still are important for two reasons: firstly, when your page appears in the search results, the description is more than likely to appear in the snippet; and secondly, directories will often use your description verbatim to describe your site in their listings.
Keywords
This tag includes the keywords most relevant to your webpage. It should be written like this: <meta name="keywords" content=keyword1,keyword2, etc."/>
Pleast note that each keyword should be separated with a comma, not a space. For example, if your keywords are "frozen orange juice," "fresh orange juice" and "organic juices," the line should read "frozen orange juice,fresh orange juice,organic juices."
Of the tags covered so far, the keyword section is the least valuable for SEO. However, it does help you map out your SEO efforts by outlining which keywords you want your page to target. You can add as few as one keyword per page, but never more than 35, as this may alert the spiders of a potential spam site.
The Breadcrumb Trail
This method of on-page optimization is omitted by many webmasters, despite the huge SEO value it provides. For each webpage simply add a navigation bar like this:
OrangeJuice >> Fresh Orange Juice >> Fresh Squuezed Orange Juice Recipes
Each keyword will have an internal link to another page on your website. Not only does it provide humans with a chance to explore your site further, it quickly ushers the search engine spiders throughout your site. As the breadcrumb trail is usually the first line of text on your page, you have a chance to load that section up with relevant keywords (as in this example "orange juice").
Headers
Search engines attach more value to words in header tags, and rightfully so. If your article has several sub headers with the words "Orange Juice" in it, then it's more likely about orange juice, right? In HTML, these headers have their own tags like <h1> and <h2>. The lower the number, the higher the SEO benefit it receives.
Ensure that your headline has a <h1> tag and every proceeding sub header uses at least an <h2> header tag.
Body Text
This is the meat and potatoes of your webpage. Ideally, each page should consist of 400-500 words. This size is most beneficial for search engines and humans alike. Ensure your keyword appears exactly how it is at least once every 100 words, preferably closer to the beginning of a paragraph than later. You can bold and italicize your keywords, so long as it's done conservatively.
Image Alt Tags
For every image on your website, there's a tag used to describe it. Don't blantantly stuff the tags with your keywords; rather, describe the image and find a creative way to incorporate your keywords into the description itself.
These are the most important elements of on page-optimization and they apply to every webpage on your site. Through proper on-page optimization you are preparing your site to rank well with all the major search engines.
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