On-Page SEO: It’s What’s For Breakfast
Monday, 1:23 pm
July 6, 2020 (Updated 2023)
Dear fellow Digipreneur & ADthusiast,
My son was eating Alphabets cereal this morning and it got me thinking:
On-page SEO is kind of like breakfast for your website and overall online presence.
Do you know what I mean?
Oh… You don’t know what I mean?…
Ok, sorry… Let me elaborate on that a little bit more then.
Just how breakfast helps support a healthy body, on-page SEO helps support a well-built, healthy website, and online presence.
Think of it like this:
It’s part of a complete website.
And similar to eating breakfast first-thing in the morning, it’s the first step you take towards maximizing your results.
Or, in other words, it’s a good place to start building a healthy and robust online presence when you’re just waking up to SEO and digital marketing.
Wow! Doesn’t On-Page SEO Sound Grrrrrreat?!
Yes, Mr. Tiger, it does sound grrrrrreat!
So let’s go grab some coffee and let’s get to steppin’ towards building a healthy online presence that maximizes your results and nets you massive organic traffic.
Here’s what you need to know.
What On-Page SEO Is...
This type of search engine optimization focuses on optimizing your web pages to help boost your website’s ranking, earn you organic (unpaid) traffic, and drive conversions ($Cha-Ching$).
It takes into account the different aspects of your web page such as:
- Content
- Headlines
- HTML Tags
- Images
And bundles them together to improve the visibility of your website in search results.
Why On-Page SEO Matters...
People are experiencing a lot of problems and are turning to the internet for solutions.
But with the vast amount of information available online, it’s nearly impossible to find one without some help sorting through it.
So, this is where search engine ranking systems come into play.
These bad boys…
Excuse me…
Or girls (can’t forget the ladies) get to work sorting through this vast amount of info looking for the solution you have to offer.
Therefore, optimizing your web pages for search will put your solution in front of the right prospect at the right time and really drive those conversions we were talking about earlier.
And that’s why on-page SEO matters.
(Drop the mic)
Some Things To Consider First...
Ok, now it’s time to start optimizing your content.
And if you’re wondering how to actually do that then you’ll love these actionable tips.
Let’s jump right in and start increasing those rankings, traffic, and conversions.
But first, here’s some things to consider before you embark on your on-page journey
#1. E.A.T.
Since Google has always put a premium on high-quality content, it strives to make sure that sites that produce high-quality content are rewarded with higher rankings.
And sites that create low-quality content…
well…
They get penalized with lower rankings and less visibility.
With that said, the way that Google determines the fate of your website is by using a framework with a neat acronym called E.A.T.
E.A.T. stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Google hires raters to assess webpages, websites, and content creators as a whole.
Thus, creating a clear relationship between what’s considered high-quality content and what appears on top of search results pages.
E.A.T. plays a strong role in Google’s organic search results which means it must be a consideration in your on-page SEO strategy.
#2. User Engagement
SEO is just as much about people as it is algorithmic ranking systems.
Therefore, as you work on enhancing your on-page SEO, it’s vital that you also work on enhancing your user engagement.
It’s important to make sure that your users don’t bounce, and that they actually continue to view your content, engage with it, and come back for more.
Just focus on these details:
- Simplifying your site’s navigation.
- Improving your internal link structure.
- Reducing page load times and increasing site speed.
- Creating longer blog posts.
- Sectioning your content with Images, subheadings, bullet points, etc…
- Displaying related content.
- Adding a chat box.
- Being mobile-friendly.
And you’ll not only receive traffic but you’ll retain engaged users. ($Cha-Ching$).
#3. Content Audit
It’s easy to forget about your existing content as you get focused on creating new content.
However, this actually hurts more than it helps.
Believe me I know… I’m a big culprit of this.
That’s why doing an audit of your existing content (on a regular basis) is crucial.
It helps you, tremendously, in several ways:
- A content audit evaluates whether or not your existing content is achieving your goals.
- A content audit identifies whether or not your content is still accurate and up-to-date.
- A content audit determines what types of content really work for you.
- A content audit greatly helps your SEO strategy.
#4. Keyword Cannibalization
Wanna play a game?
You do?
Ok, true or false…
The more pages you have ranking for the same keyword, the better your site will rank for that keyword?
You say it’s true?
Ooh…I’m sorry, but that is incorrect.
The answer is false.
Trying to rank for a specific keyword across multiple pages has disastrous consequences for your SEO.
It causes a condition known as “keyword cannibalization”.
Let me explain…
By having multiple pages on your site rank for the same word or phrase, you actually compete with yourself for the high ranking.
Thus, causing Google, and other search engines to not know which page to rank highest for that certain search query.
For this reason, it’s absolutely imperative to find out if “keyword cannibalization” is happening on your website so you can fix it asap.
What To Start Optimizing...
Keywords
Everybody says keyword research isn’t fun, but what do they know?
Keyword research is great for getting your creative juices flowing and crucial for gaining insight into what your audience is actually searching for.
It’s a way to tap into their mind states.
Think about this…
You may already know how to describe yourself and what words you want to rank for, but does your audience search for the product, service, or info that you offer in the same way that you describe yourself?
The answer is probably not.
A lot of the times what your audience searches for is vastly different than what you want to rank for.
For this reason, it’s important to focus on what your audience actually wants by doing some keyword research.
That way you can hone the insights from your keyword data to make your SEO efforts much more successful.
Header Tags
Header tags are HTML elements used to help structure your page by distinguishing headings and subheadings from other parts of your content like paragraph text, for instance.
They range in order from H1-H6 with H1 being the largest and H6 being the smallest.
Picture something like this:
Your Title <h1>
Your Important Heading <h2>
Your Less Important SubHeading <h3>
Now, header tags aren’t as critically important as they used to be for your rankings, but they still serve a pretty important purpose for search engines and your audience:
- They provide keyword-rich context about your content for search engines.
- They make your content easier and more enjoyable to read.
Meta Description
A meta description is a short snippet of roughly 155 characters, displayed on the search results page (SERP), that summarizes your page’s content.
And it’s particularly important for boosting your organic click-through rate (CTR) for a couple of reasons:
- Search engines display it in search results when the searched for keyword or phrase is in the description.
- Searchers use them to figure out which result to click on.
- A well-written description will help your result stand out amongst the thousands of other results competing with yours.
- They improve the perception of the quality of the result.
- They improve the perception of what you’re offering.
Here’s an example of a meta description using the one I wrote for this article on SEO Mofo’s Snippet Optimization tool:
Headlines
This one’s a little more about copywriting than it is about search engine ranking systems.
Don’t get me wrong, your headline still needs a keyword and must be relevant to the searchers intent in order to be ranked;
But, in this instance, it’s the copywriting that subsequently raises your ranking by getting more people to click on your results more often.
That’s why if you want your content to perform well on search you’ll have to have compelling headlines.
Because just like meta descriptions, they need to spark interest in order for them stand out on the SERPs.
They must entice searchers to click through and continue reading the rest of your content.
In this extremely competitive digital jungle, it’s imperative that you have fun, get creative, and be strategic, because a great headline can mean the difference between a click and an impression.
Images
Not all images are created equal, as some can really slow down your website.
So in order to get the most out of these valuable SEO assets, it’s best to optimize them before you begin uploading them.
Here’s a quick checklist to help you get started.
- Make sure your images and alternative text are relevant to the page.
- Choose the right format such as JPEG or PNG.
- Reduce image file size to make your page load faster.
- Make sure images are featured in your sitemap.
- Make sure all other on-page SEO elements align with your image.
And as a result of following these steps you’ll create a win-win situation for you and every single one of your visitors.
For example…
Search engines will reward you with additional ranking opportunities like showing up on Google images.
And your visitors will benefit from a better user experience and faster page load times.
Conclusion...
When you skip breakfast your metabolism slows down.
Likewise, if you skip the on-page SEO process, your site traffic and sales slow down.
Thus, if you want the key to longevity, and are just waking up to digital marketing try starting your day off strong with these on-page SEO essentials.
Because just how breakfast helps support a healthy body, on-page SEO helps support a well-built, healthy website, and online presence.
Well, until next time my friend, stay healthy and stay wealthy.
John Selvey