Search engine optimisation (SEO) is one of the most important aspects of digital strategizing in today’s competitive marketing landscape. More specifically, a practice known as on-page SEO must be employed by professional marketers and small business owners to boost organic traffic and drive sales. If you’re new to on-page SEO and are wondering how to harness its powers, we’ve put together a handy guide below.

Why is on-page SEO important?

On-page SEO is crucial for your site’s success as it helps search engine crawlers understand your content and match it to relevant search queries.

Thanks to the power of complex algorithms, search engines are getting better at presenting relevant results. These algorithms take into account several ranking factors, allowing sites such as Google to:

• Understand the needs of web browsers.
• Deliver results that reflect user intent (for example, keen shoppers are presented with e-commerce pages while researchers are presented with informational sites).
• Boost the visibility of sites with high-quality content.

Modifying your site to align with search engines’ SEO factors is vital if you want to improve brand visibility online. Without it, your search presence will remain low, and your brand reputation will suffer.

When should you practise on-page SEO?

If you’re building a new website, you will need to undertake several on-page SEO tasks during the structuring process. For example, building a sitemap, crafting a keyword-rich landing page, and optimising the speed of your web pages are all examples of on-page SEO.

Once your website has gone live, you will regularly need to carry out tasks related to on-page SEO. For example, you must optimize your content with relevant keywords and internal links every time you publish a new blog post or insert a new product page.

On-page SEO is an ongoing project you must carry out even if your website ranks at the very top of search results pages. Remember – search engines such as Google constantly update their algorithms, meaning you must alter your content in line with the latest changes. This could involve refreshing old content with a new focus keyword or getting rid of duplicate content.

How are pages assessed by sites such as Google?

Broadly speaking, search engines such as Google assess sites according to the so-called ‘E-A-T’ principle. E-A-T stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It ranks the quality of websites and their different types of content.

Google has always focused on pushing high-quality content to the top of its search pages. It aims to ensure trustworthy content producers are rewarded for their work while low-quality, unserviceable sites are pushed to the bottom. The E-A-T principle represents a simple and effective way of ranking sites in this way, so marketers must try to make their sites appear as authoritative and trustworthy as possible by creating engaging, fact-based content and focusing on the user experience.

What on-page ranking factors should you focus on?

Of course, adapting your site in line with the E-A-T principle is easier said than done, particularly as search engine algorithms are always liable to change. Fortunately, there are a few ranking factors you can rest assured will remain crucial for on-page SEO, including:

Link building

Adorning your content with plenty of reliable internal and external links will alert search engines to your trustworthiness and help search engine crawlers understand your sitemap. Just make sure to check for broken links regularly, as they could affect your ranking.

Keywords

Every time you upload a piece of new content, you should try to enrich it with at least one target keyword.

URL structure

The URL must be easy to read and demonstrate the purpose of your page.

Metadata

Sites with title tags and other types of metadata will rank higher.

User experience

Search engines are more likely to favour fast, well-designed websites free from broken links, duplicate content, and poor-quality content.

Need help with your on-page SEO? Reach out to Allsopp Media today!

The world of on-page SEO is complex and ever-changing. If you’re not a seasoned digital marketing expert, it can be difficult to pull off. Fortunately, Allsopp Media is here to help. If you’re a business owner or marketing leader in need of a helping hand, get in touch with us today to organise a consultation.