Producing high quality, original, long-form content should be the primary focus for anyone trying to rank well in the search engines. However on page SEO also has an important role to play.
Depending on the keywords you want to rank for, in this ultra-competitive world great content simply might not be enough. To win in this scenario, you have to also think about elements of on page SEO that give the search engines another reason to rank your page above everyone else’s.
On Page SEO Factors
There are several techniques that you can use to optimise your content for search engines, including:
- Keyword placement – It goes without saying that you need to include your target keywords in your content, but you also need to think about the specific placement of these keywords. It is good practice to include them in the opening paragraph and spread throughout the text. With search engine algorithms getting smarter it’s also important you don’t fall into the trap of keywords stuffing. This age old on page SEO technique will now send warning signs to search engines and your page could penalised.
- Multimedia content – Great articles consist of more than just text. To improve your search engine ranking you should also include images, or embedded videos. You should also make sure that images are appropriately titled, including the file name, so that they appear in image results. Ensure that image Alt tags are used appropriately as well to improve ranking.
- Headings – Some text takes precedent in the eyes of the search engines and this is certainly the case for headings. Firstly make sure that your site is properly set up to use “H1” tags for titles and ensure that you include your target keyword in the title. Secondly, make appropriate use of H2 and H3 titles throughout the text, including target search terms and long tail keywords.
- Meta descriptions – These descriptions give a brief summary of your article that help search engines and users understand what it is about. Setting this up correctly to include your target search terms should not only boost your ranking, but it should also improve your click through rate.
- SSL certificates – Google takes site security seriously and you should too. Ensuring that you have the proper security certificates installed on your site will not only protect your customers’ data, but it will also help to improve your ranking.
Optimising with AsOne
With so many factors in the ranking algorithms, it is difficult to be sure which will have the greatest effect. Therefore it is important to employ a holistic on page SEO strategy, where you address all the key things that search engines look for each time you post new content. This can be a challenge to do on a consistent basis and this is where many companies fall down.
By partnering with an external agency like AsOne, you can be certain that all your content will be fully optimised, and that there will be sustained effort to have a serious positive effect on your ranking.
For more information relating to on page SEO, or an overview of how AsOne can help to improve the performance of your site, don’t hesitate to get in contact and speak to one of our experts.
If you enjoyed this post why not read some of our other latest blog posts: How to Improve Google Ranking & SEO Content Strategy – Forward Planning for Long-Term Success
