On-page SEO has the power to bring countless new visitors — and customers — right to your website.

Additionally, on-page SEO is also completely up to you: You get to establish what the topic and/or goal of each page
will be. You get to decide on the target audience for that page. And you get to choose the target keywords and
phrases you want to focus on.

Jump To:

 What is On-Page SEO?

 Why On-Page SEO is Important

 On-Page SEO Elements

 On-Page SEO Checklist

 What is on-page SEO?

On-page SEO, or on-site SEO, is the process of optimizing various front-end and back-
end components of your website so that it ranks in search engines and brings in new
traffic. On-page SEO components include content elements, site architecture elements,
and HTML elements.

Google's algorithm ranks your website on three main factors: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical
SEO:
•We'll cover on-page SEO elements below.
•Off-page SEO refers to social sharing, external linking, and more.
•Technical SEO refers to all the SEO elements not included in on-page and off-page practices, such as
structured data, site speed, and mobile readiness — the more technical parts of SEO.
 Why is on-page SEO important?

On-page SEO is important because it tells Google all about your website and how you provide value to visitors and
customers. It helps your site be optimized for both human eyes and search engine bots.

Merely creating and publishing your website isn't enough — you must optimize it for Google and other search engines in
order to rank and attract new traffic.

On-page SEO is called "on-page" because the tweaks and changes you make to optimize your website can be seen by
visitors on your page (whereas off-page and technical SEO elements aren't always visible).

Every part of on-page SEO is completely up to you; that's why it's critical that you do it correctly. Now, let's discuss the
elements of on-page SEO.
 On-Page SEO Elements

1.High-Quality Page Content All on-page SEO elements fall into three main categories:
2.Page Titles •Content elements
3.Headers •HTML elements
4.Meta Descriptions •Site architecture elements
5.Image Alt-text
6.Structured Markup You'll see these elements divided into sections below.
7.Page URLs
8.Internal Linking
9.Mobile Responsiveness
10.Site Speed
Content Elements

Content elements refer to the elements within your site copy and content.
In this section, we'll focus mostly on crafting high-quality page content
that benefits your visitors and tells Google that your website provides
value.
1. High-Quality Page Content

Page content is the heart of on-page SEO. It tells both search engines and readers what your website and business are all
about.

The first step to creating high-quality content is choosing relevant keywords and topics. Conduct keyword research by
searching Google for terms and seeing what surfaces for competitors and other websites. You can also use tools
like Ahrefs, AnswerthePublic, and UberSuggest.

Next, consider how your page content falls into the buyer's journey and visitors' search intent. These will impact how you
will use your keywords and what types of content you will create:

CUSTOMER'S JOURNEY SUGGESTED CONTENT/WEBSITE PAGES

Awareness Blog posts, videos

homepage

Consideration Buyer's guides, case studies

about page

Decision Product demos, comparison tools

product or pricing pages, contact page
Now, it's time to write your page content or clean it up if you're currently auditing your on-page SEO.
Here are a few best practices for writing high-quality page content (we'll touch on some of these in more detail below, in
our Checklist):

•Incorporate short and long-tail keywords naturally.

•Add engaging and relevant visual content.
•Write for your specific buyer persona(s).
•Actively solve your audience's problem.
•Develop content people will share and want to link to.
•Optimize for conversions with CTAs (call to Actions) to offers and product pages.

Page content is your opportunity to communicate value to Google and your site visitors; it's the heart of the on-page SEO
process. All other on-page SEO elements stem from high-quality page content, so invest ample resources to develop and
optimize it.

HTML Elements

HTML elements refer to the elements in your source code.

Note: To see the source code for any page in your browser, click View > Developer > View Source in the top menu.
 2. Page Titles

Your website page titles (also known as title tags) are one of the most important SEO elements.

Titles tell both visitors and search engines what they can find on the corresponding pages. To ensure your site pages rank
for the proper intent, be sure to include the focus keyword for each page in the title. Incorporate your keyword as naturally
as possible.

Here are some best practices for when developing a page title:

• Keep it under 60 characters (per Google's update) to ensure that your titles display correctly. Although Google doesn't
have an exact character limit, its display titles max out at 600 pixels. Keeping your titles at 60 characters or less ensures
the title won't be cut off in search results.

• Don't stuff the title with keywords. Not only does keyword-stuffing present a spammy and tacky reading experience,
but modern search engines are smarter than ever — they've been designed to specifically monitor for (and penalize!)
content that's unnaturally stuffed with keywords.

• Make it relevant to the page.

• Don't use all caps.

• Include your brand in the title, i.e." https://www.vishwa.co.in/gate-exam/electrical-engineering#GATE-Questions

 3. Headers

Headers, also known as body tags, refer to the HTML element <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, and so on. These tags help organize your
content for readers and help search engines distinguish what part of your content is most important and relevant, depending
on search intent.

Incorporate important keywords in your headers, but choose different ones than what's in your page title. Put your most
important keywords in your <h1> and <h2> headers.
 4. Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are the short page descriptions that appear under the title in search results. Although it's not an official
ranking factor for search engines, it can influence whether or not your page is clicked on — therefore, it's just as important
when doing on-page SEO.

Meta descriptions can also be copied over to social media when your content is shared (by using structured markup, which
we talk about below), so it can encourage click-throughs from there, too.

Here's what makes for a good meta description:

• Keep it under 160 characters, although Google has been known to allow longer meta descriptions. (Note: Include
your entire keyword or keyword phrase.)

• Use a complete, compelling sentence (or two).

• Avoid alphanumeric characters like —, &, or +.

 5. Image Alt-text

Image alt-text is like SEO for your images. It tells Google and other search engines what your images are about ... which is
important because Google now delivers almost as many image-based results as they do text-based results.

That means consumers may be discovering your site through your images. In order for them to do this, though, you have to
add alt-text to your images.

Here's what to keep in mind when adding image alt-text:

• Make it descriptive and specific.

• Make it contextually relevant to the broader page content.

• Keep it shorter than 125 characters.

• Use keywords sparingly, and don't keyword stuff.

 6. Structured Markup

Structured markup, or structured data, is the process of "marking up" your website source code to make it easier for
Google to find and understand different elements of your content.

Structured markup is the key behind those featured snippets, knowledge panels, and other content features you see when
you search for something on Google. It's also how your specific page information shows up so neatly when someone
shares your content on social media.

Note: Structured data is considered technical SEO, but I'm including it here because optimizing it creates a better on-page
experience for visitors.

Site Architecture Elements:

Site architecture elements refer to the elements that make up your website and site pages. How you structure your website
can help Google and other search engines easily crawl the pages and page content.
 7. Page URLs

Your page URLs should be simple to digest for both readers and search engines. They are also important when keeping your
site hierarchy consistent as you create subpages, blog posts, and other types of internal pages.

Here are a few tips on how to write SEO-friendly URLs:

• Remove the extra, unnecessary words.

• Use only one or two keywords.

• Use HTTPS if possible, as Google now uses that as a positive ranking factor.
 8. Internal Linking

Internal linking is the process of hyperlinking to other helpful pages on your website.

Internal linking is important for on-page SEO because internal links send readers to other pages on your website, keeping
them around longer and thus telling Google your site is valuable and helpful.

Also, the longer visitors are on your website, the more time Google has to crawl and index your site pages. This ultimately
helps Google absorb more information about your website and potentially rank it higher on the search engine results pages.
 9. Mobile Responsiveness

Google started favoring sites that are optimized for faster mobile speeds — even for desktop searches.
Mobile responsiveness matters.

It's critical to choose a website hosting service, site design and theme, and content layout that's readable and navigable
on mobile devices. If you're not sure about your own site's mobile readiness, use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool.
 10. Site Speed

Whether viewed on a mobile device or desktop, your site must be able to load quickly. When it comes to on-page SEO, page
speed counts big-time.

Google cares about user experience first and foremost. If your site loads slowly or haphazardly, it's likely your visitors aren't
going to stick around — and Google knows that. Moreover, site speed can impact conversions and ROI.

Check your website's speed anytime using Google's PageSpeed Insights tool.

 On-Page SEO Checklist
1.Crawl your website.
2.Conduct an SEO audit and define your site architecture.
3.Update URLs, page titles, and meta descriptions.
4.Make sure your keyword is in your URL.
5.Include your keyword throughout your page.
6.Track keywords and topics for each page.
7.Don’t keyword stuff.
8.Establish value propositions for each page.
9.Define your target audience.
10.Plan new page titles.
11.Add new meta descriptions.
12.Review and edit page content as needed.
13.Incorporate visual content.
14.Optimize your visual content.
15.Add internal links.
16.Add external links.
17.Optimize for conversions.
 1. Crawl your website.

Get an overview of all of your website pages that search engines have indexed. Use a free tool like Xenu's link crawler.

After crawling your site and exporting the results into an Excel (or .csv) file, there will be three key columns of data that
you should focus on:

2.The web address (a.k.a. URL)

3.The page title
4.The page meta description

Copy and paste these three columns into your template.

The URL should be pasted into column B, the page title into column C, and the description into column E.
 2. Conduct an SEO audit and define your site architecture.

Now that you have a basic index of your site in the template, you'll want to organize and prioritize your web pages. Start
by defining where within your site architecture your existing pages currently sit.

Do this in column A. Note whether a page is your homepage (ideally you'll only have one of those), a page in your
primary (or secondary) navigation menu, an internal page, and so on.
 3. Update URLs, page titles, and meta descriptions

Review your current URLs, page titles, and meta descriptions to see if they need updating.

(This is the beauty of using a template to organize your SEO: You get a broad overview of the type of content you have on
your website.)

Notice how column D and column F automatically calculate the length of each element. The recommended length for page
titles is anything under 60 characters. (And, actually, a quick and easy optimization project is to update all page titles that are
longer than 60 characters.)

The recommended length for page meta descriptions is 155-160 characters. This is the perfect length to ensure none of the
description is cut off by the ellipses. Make sure you're not too repetitive with keywords in this space. Writing a good meta
description isn't tough, but it deserves just as much consideration as the page content itself.

(Note: For some sites, you may also have to update the URLs, but that's not always the case and thus was not included as part
of this optimization template.)
 4. Make sure your keyword is in your URL

As we mentioned above, add your keyword to your URL. For example, imagine you own a hot yoga studio called
ADYoga. You have a web page that includes videos of your classes. The keyword for this page is "hot yoga online
classes" — so, you'd want to include that keyword in your URL.

5. Include your keyword throughout your web page

In addition to your URL, you'll want to add your keyword throughout your web page(s). This includes your title and
headers. Sprinkle your keyword throughout your content as well where it fits naturally.

6. Track keywords and topics for each page

Think of your target keyword as the designated topic for a particular page. If you're using the HubSpot template, In
column O, define just one topic per page.

By doing this, you'll be able to go more in-depth and provide more detailed information about that topic. This also
means that you are only optimizing for one keyword per page, meaning you have a greater chance to rank for that
keyword.
There are, of course, a few exceptions to this rule. Your homepage is a classic example. The goal of your homepage is to
explain what your entire website is about, and thus you'll need a few keywords to do that. Another exception is
overview pages like services and product pages, which outline what all of your products and services may be.
 7. Don’t keyword stuff
We just covered many examples in which keywords are both helpful and necessary for SEO purposes. However, one mistake
many first-timers make when improving their on-page SEO is "keyword stuff".

Keyword stuffing can be detrimental to your website and web page's SEO and it can feel spammy to readers/ visitors.

Examples of keyword stuffing include:

•Lists of phone numbers without substantial added value
•Blocks of text that list cities and states that a webpage is trying to rank for
•Repeating the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural, for example:
We sell custom cigar humidors. Our custom cigar humidors are handmade. If you're thinking of buying a custom cigar
humidor, please contact our custom cigar humidor specialists at custom.cigar.humidors@example.com.
 8. Establish value propositions for each page

A very important next step, which is often overlooked, is establishing a value proposition for each page of your website.
Each page should have a goal aside from just ranking for a particular term.

9. Define your target audience

Define your target audience — do you have a single buyer persona or multiple personas? Keep this persona in mind as you
optimize your site's pages. (Remember, you are optimizing for humans, too — not just search engine robots.)

10. Plan new page titles

Now that you've documented your existing page titles and have established value propositions and target audiences for each
of your pages, write new page titles (if necessary) to reflect your findings.

People usually follow the formula of "Keyword Phrase | Context." The goal of the page title is to lay out the purpose of the
page without being redundant. You should also keep the additional recommendations we made above related to titles.

11. Add new meta descriptions

As we covered above, meta descriptions should be a short, declarative sentence that incorporates the same keyword as your
page's title.
It should not reflect the content verbatim as it appears on the page. Get as close as you can to the 150-character limit to
maximize space and tell visitors as much as possible about your page.
 12. Review and edit page content as needed

Good copy needs to be thorough, clear, and provide solutions ... so, be compelling! Write for your target audience and about
how you can help them. Compelling content is also error-free, so double-check your spelling and grammar.

Aim to have at least 500 words per page, and format content to make it easier to read and digest with the use of headers and
sub headers.

13. Incorporate visual content

Content can be more than just text, so consider what kind of visual content you can incorporate into each page (if it adds
value and serves a purpose, of course). Columns S and T allow you to note which visual elements need to be added. When
adding an image to a page, be sure to include a descriptive file name and image alt-text.

14. Optimize your visual content

We talked earlier about image alt text. You'll want to optimize your visual content this way — and be sure to include your
keyword in your image alt text. It'll help with the page's SEO as well as offer the potential to rank in image search (e.g. on a
search engine image results page or image carousel).
 15. Add internal links

As mentioned earlier, incorporating links throughout your pages is a must, but it's often something that's easily overlooked.
Make sure that your anchor text includes more than just your keywords. The goal isn't to stuff in as many keywords as
possible, but to make it easy for people to navigate your site.

16. Include external links

It may seem counterintuitive to include external links throughout your page considering we just covered multiple reasons
why internal linking is so important for on-page SEO. However, external links are also important. By externally linking, to
credible and trustworthy sites, Google will know your page is also credible and trustworthy. Not only does Google want to
know your site is well-referenced, but your visitors do, too.

17. Optimize for conversions

If you're also not optimizing your site to increase the number of leads, subscribers, and/or customers you're attracting ...
you're doing it wrong. Remember that each page of your website presents a conversion opportunity. That means every page
of your website should include at least one call-to-action (CTA), though many pages may have multiple CTAs.

Be sure that your site has a mix of CTAs for different stages of the flywheel.

(Note: The On-Page SEO Template refers to the stages of the buying funnel — top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and
bottom of the funnel. 
 Put Your On-Page SEO to Work

Once you finalize your SEO plans, implement these changes on your website or pass them along to someone to
implement for you. This will take time to complete, so aim to work on 5 to 10 pages per week.

Remember: SEO is not a one-and-done deal. It's something you should continually improve upon. You should treat this
On-Page SEO Template as a living, breathing document that will help guide your SEO strategy for months (or years) to
come.
1. SEO basics
2. How to create SEO content
3. How to optimize your content
4. Advanced on-page optimizations
5. On-page SEO tools
1. Keyword research basics
Finding keyword ideas
2. How to find keyword ideas
Analyzing keywords
3. How to analyze keywords
Targeting keywords
4. How to target keywords
Prioritizing keywords
5. How to prioritize keywords
Keyword research tools
6. Keyword research tools
What is keyword research?
Keyword research is the process of understanding the language your target customers use when searching for your
products, services, and content. It then involves analyzing, comparing, and prioritizing the best keyword opportunities for
your website.

Why is keyword research important?

Keyword research is the only way to figure out what people are typing into search engines. You need to know this to avoid
creating content about things that nobody is searching for. Many website owners make that mistake, and it’s likely a big
part of the reason why 90.63% of pages get no traffic from Google, according to our study.
Keyword research starts with thinking about how potential customers might be searching for your business or
website. You can then use keyword research tools to expand on those ideas and find even more keywords.

It’s a simple process, but two things need to be true to do it well:

1.You need to have good knowledge of your industry.

2.You need to understand how keyword research tools work and how to get the most out of them.

We see few actionable ways to improve your knowledge in both those areas and discover potentially winning
keywords for your website in the process.

3.Brainstorm ‘seed’ keywords

4.See what keywords your competitors rank for
5.Use keyword research tools
6.Study your niche
3. Use keyword research tools

Competitors can be a great source of keyword ideas. But there are still tons of keywords your competitors aren’t targeting, and
you can find these using keyword research tools.

Keyword research tools all work the same way. You plug in a seed keyword, and they pull keyword ideas from their database
based on that keyword.

Google Keyword Planner is perhaps the most well-known keyword tool. It’s free to use, and although it’s mainly for advertisers,
you can also use it to find keywords for SEO.
How to analyze keywords

Having tons of keyword ideas is all well and good. But how do you know which ones are best? After all, going through them all
by hand would be a near-impossible task.

The solution is simple: Use SEO metrics to narrow things down and separate the wheat from the chaff before adding them to
your content calendar.

Let’s explore five keyword metrics you can use to do this.

•Search volume
•Clicks
•Traffic potential
•Keyword Difficulty
•Cost Per Click (CPC)
How to create SEO content
Before you even think about making ‘technical’ optimizations like placing keywords here or there, you need to create content
that Google wants to rank. For that, you need a main target keyword in mind. Read our keyword research guide if that’s not
the case.
Otherwise, here are the four things you need to master:
1.Be relevant
2.Be thorough
3.Be unique
4.Be clear
1. Be relevant
Relevance is arguably the most crucial part of on-page SEO, which means aligning your content with search intent. Fail to give
searchers what they want, and your chances of ranking are slim to none.
Because nobody understands search intent better than Google, the best starting point is to analyze the current top-ranking results
for the three Cs of search intent:
5.Content type
6.Content format
7.Content angle
We already briefly covered this concept in our keyword research guide. But we’ll go a bit deeper here, as again, aligning your
content with intent is critical.
1. Content type
Content types usually fall into one of five buckets: blog posts, product, category, landing pages, or videos. For example, all the
top-ranking pages for “black maxi dress” are ecommerce category pages from well-known stores.
Content format
Content format applies mostly to blog posts, as they’re usually either how-tos, listicles,
news articles, opinion pieces, or reviews.

Content angle
Content angle refers to the main ‘selling point’ of the content. For example, those searching
for “how to make latte” seem to want to know how to make it at home—without specialist
equipment.
Be thorough
Be unique
Be clear
How to optimize your content

1. Include your keyword in the title

2. Use short, descriptive URLs
3. Optimize your title tag
4. Write a compelling meta description
5. Optimize your images
6. Add internal and external links
Advanced on-page optimizations

1. Optimize for featured snippets

2. Embed link magnets
3. Get rich snippets with schema markup
3. Get rich snippets with schema markup