On Page Optimization: 10 Best Practices

The days of ‘searching’ through something on the internet is long past us. Now even before we start typing on the search box, the search engine gives us prompt. Gone are the days when people used to dig through sites after sites just to find what they need. Today is the world of instant gratification. People expect instant answers and if your website doesn’t appear in the first page of the search engine, it may never get discovered by your target audience. In order to get discovered, you need SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Although the term SEO may sound complex, it is actually just a method to provide visibility to your website. SEO can be broadly classified in two categories – on-page search engine optimization and off-page search engine optimization. On page optimization is the process of optimizing a web page such that the search engine bots can easily crawl and index it. As on-page optimization is the first step in getting your SEO acts together, read on to know the number of parameters you need to take care, in order for your website to rank high in search engine results:

• SEO Friendly URL: The URL should be short and SEO friendly. Some experiments have shown that small URL’s perform better. URL also need to be keyword rich. It can also contain the location as it may increase the chances of ranking higher in case of local search. For instance, carmatec.com/SEO-services is good but with location in the URL i.e. carmatec.com/SEO-services-bangalore chances of ranking for keyword “SEO services in Bangalore” becomes higher.

• Title Tags: Title tags play a significant role from SEO point of view and also attracts visitors which eventually increase click through rate and this in turn results in improved ranking. As such any number of characters can be written but it is advised to write in the range of 60 characters as these characters are displayed in SERP (Search Engine Result Page). Title tags should have the keywords and must clearly convey the message of that particular page. Make sure it is appealing too.

• Meta Description: Meta description provides a brief introduction about the page. This too appears in google SERP along with the title and URL. This is useful for both searchers and google bots. An effective description with proper keywords and meaning helps in attracting visitors and converts searchers into visitors or may be even leads. Suggested length for description is 160 characters.

• Image Optimization: Images should be well optimized. Optimization here means that the images should have a proper name, alt text and image description. It helps search engines to understand about the image. Alt text appears on the website in case the image does not appear and helps user understand what the image was about. Some search engines uses image name, alt text and description for visually impaired individuals to narrate what the image is all about.

• Proper Heading Tags: Heading tags should tell google and users what the content is all about. It should be short and descriptive. Heading tags are basically defined from H1 to H6. Priority order is H1 > H2 > H3 >H4 > H5 >H6. Make proper use of heading tags.

• Site Speed: Site speed matters a lot. It is even proven from the fact that Google even displays the time in which it returns the result to its searchers. Major search engines like Google wants to improve the user experience and when the page loads faster, it makes the searcher happy and that is why the speed of your web page is important.

Here is the link to Google Page Speed Checker:

https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

• Mobile Friendliness: Majority of the search happens on mobile. Google even shows “This page is mobile friendly” in the Google Listings. Google has developed a tool to check mobile friendliness. Ensure that your website is mobile friendly.

Here is the link for it:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

• Keyword Density: Keyword density is a very important factor but that does not mean you should just stuff the keywords as major search engine penalize for wrong keyword density. The density of the keyword should be around 4 to 5 percent. Keywords need to be used in such a way that they sound natural and not forced. Keyword stuffing should be avoided as it irritates the visitor and search engines.

• Internal Linking: All the pages of the website should be internally and effectively linked. Proper internal linking allow visitors to move easily from one page to another and search engines notice that. The more time a visitor spends on website, better the website becomes in the eyes of search engines and the ranking of the website improves.

These are some of the important factors to be keep in mind while doing on page. Wait! We are missing one of the most important aspect i.e. content.

• Content: Content is the heart and soul of SEO. Content is called as king as quality content can take a website from zero visibility to the top rank. Content has to be unique and should carry value for the searchers and visitors because they are the final consumer of the content.

With these useful tips, you would be able to ensure that your website ranks higher in the search engines. Let us know if you too have any more ideas on leveraging the on-page optimization process.

With over 19 years of expertise in the IT Industry, Carmatec IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd. has carved out a niche to become an enterprise class solutions provider and provides one of the best SEO services.