On-page SEO (also called “on-site SEO”) is about optimizing the content of your website to help search engines, and users, understand your content. Popular on-page SEO practices include improving title tags, content, internal links, and URLs.
This practice is different from off-page SEO, which involves optimizing signals that occur outside of your website (e.g. backlinks ).
Do you want to improve your search engine positioning and attract more qualified traffic to your site? Discover 15 techniques to improve your on-page SEO now!
On-page optimization techniques:
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| SEO on page |
Optimize your internal links
The internal links on a page help search engines to crawl and understand its content. Plus, they keep the reader on your site, which minimizes the bounce rate, which is important for your SEO.
So the first step is to include internal links from the start of your article. Make sure to include at least 3-4 links and refresh them every time you post a new one.
Use clear, relevant, and descriptive anchor texts to help the visitor clearly understand the nature of the link and how it relates to your page. Avoid using your target keyword in internal links. Instead, focus on the key term of the page they're directing the visitor to.
Use keywords and phrases from Google Ads
Advertisers do research before launching their advertising campaigns. An easy way to find relevant terms for your on-page SEO is therefore to "be inspired" by the ones they use.
Simply enter your target keyword into the search bar and find out the phrases used in sponsored results. You can use them on your page or in your meta description to attract clicks.
For example, by typing "safety shoe", you will see that the ads contain expressions like "women's safety shoe", "shoe for construction workers" and even "safety boots":
Place your keyword in strategic places
By placing your keyword in strategic places on your page, you help search engines better understand your content.
Include a keyword:
- In the URL of your page
- At least once in the H1 tag and in the subtitles
- In the first paragraph (and even the first line, if possible)
- In the image file name
- Approximately every 200 words.
However, be careful not to overload the page with your keyword phrases. Google would risk mistaking this for over-optimization. It is also necessary to work on the semantic environment of the keyword by using synonyms or closely related terms.
Are you looking for inspiration to alternate expressions used by your prospects? Look at the proposals at the bottom of the search results!
Leverage Schema.org and Rich Snippets
Rich Snippets or rich snippets allow you to provide additional information to search engines. Information that you want to appear in the results to attract the attention of Internet users. Typically, Rich Snippets frame your content and put it in pole position, like here:
An efficient on-page SEO practice, which increases the click-through rate and pre-qualifies visitors.
To find out more, we invite you to read our article:SEO: all you need to know about Google Rich Snippets.
Keep important pages one click away from your home page
Your homepage is the main entry point to your website, so make good use of it. Your most important pages should be just one click away.
The higher a page ranks at the top of your sitemap, the more importance search engines place on it.
Highlight the value of your page in the meta description
43% of users click on a search result based on the meta description alone. So work well on this paragraph of 155 characters!
Reading it should convince visitors that you will provide them with value and that they will find the answer to their question. So whatever the purpose of your content is, highlight it in the meta description.
In this example, found by typing the query "travel advice with baby", the meta description makes you want to click. We immediately understand that the author shares her experience and will reveal concrete tips:
Optimize your title tag
The title tag is one of the most important ranking factors on your page. Search engine robots analyze the title to determine its relevance to a query. The closer it is to the user's search, the more your page will appear at the top of the results.
For an SEO-optimized title tag:
- Place your keyword at the beginning
- Limit the title to a maximum of 65 characters
- Include strong and impactful words like "best", "professional", "free", "cheap" ...
By typing the query "video editing software", we realize that the sites do not skimp on the use of captivating terms, such as "best", "free", "easy to use" ...
Integrate geographic keywords in URLs
Is your activity centered on a geographical area? Indicate it everywhere! Consider incorporating terms related to your city in titles, content, URLs, etc. The goal is to be referenced by Internet users who are located in your area.
If you don't make it clear, search engines won't notice it on their own!
Use canonical URLs to avoid duplicate content
You can have similar content accessible under multiple URLs. This is particularly the case for e-commerce sites that have common product sheets, with different links by color or material, for example.
A canonical URL allows you to indicate to search engines (with the rel = canonical attribute) that certain URLs offer identical content. This transparency prevents this duplicate content from affecting your ranking in search engines.
Format the content on your page
Formatting doesn't guarantee that your content will be read, but it improves its readability. By keeping visitors to your site, you increase its SEO.
Here are the on-page elements to format:
- The Font: Google recommends 16 points (or greater) typography to minimize the need for pinching and zooming for mobile users.
- Colors: the color of the text should be slightly contrasted with the background color to improve readability.
- Subtitles: Subtitles give a logical flow to your content. Use H2, H3, H4, etc. tags without moderation.
- Bulleted lists: These allow users to quickly browse and find the content they are looking for.
- Paragraphs: Divide your content into short paragraphs to improve readability.
- Finally, use a mix of images, videos, and other media to complement your content.
Use copywriting techniques
Copywriting can boost your on-page SEO efforts. Here are some techniques to use:
- Write concise and compelling introductions. Clearly state the problem and your solution.
- Avoid long sentences and paragraphs: a sentence should be one line and a paragraph should be 3-4 lines.
- Divide sections longer than 300 words into captions.
- Align content with search intent.
- Incorporate stories and emotions to pique the interest of readers.
Provide a good user experience
You need to provide an optimal experience for your users to increase their browsing time and decrease the bounce rate.
To do this :
- Make your content easy to understand.
- Make sure all of your links are working.
- Improve the loading speed of your site.
- Switch to responsive design.
For a mobile user, the font type, size, and color must be legible. Make sure that the buttons on your site are neither too big nor too small, to be clicked from a smartphone.
Adopt a long format
The longer a piece of content, the better it will rank in search results. For Google, it's a question of value: the more information there is, the more relevant the page is.
The other benefit of detailed content is that it can increase the time a visitor stays on your page.
However, regardless of the length of the content, it should be of high quality. The goal of search engines is to provide relevant results to their users.
Include share buttons
For search engines, shares are an important ranking factor. Even though these shares take place on various platforms, you should encourage them.
How? 'Or' What? By integrating "share" buttons on your page. These can encourage you to share your content on social networks or via email and therefore send a strong signal to Google!
Place a review and comments section on the page
Another way to improve the on-page SEO of your website is to include comments and opinions from your customers.
These provide high-quality content to readers. They help you easily enrich your pages while giving you all the benefits of social proof.