26 Jun On Page SEO Key Areas
Today we’re talking On-Page SEO. This is that wonderful stuff that you have control of, that Google is most interested in and yet, for some reason, most people don’t get right. So today I want to give you a quick snapshot of what would be a good page.
First things first. I have to assume that you’ve done some keyword research and you’re in the right place. You’ve got perhaps half a dozen primary keyword phrases and, across your entire site, you’ll be targeting these different keyword phrases. In this example for today, we’re choosing just one page and one of these primary keyword phrases. Now here’s the thing….
You will have a couple of sub-keyword phrases. That is, related, but not as important keyword phrases that you’ll also be targeting for this page and other pages.
So in this particular page example I want you to take your primary keyword phrase and make sure that it’s a part of your Meta Title. That’s the thing which is right at the very top that appears as the title in the search engine results.
On page SEO starts here –
Go and have a look at your website right now. Have a look and see on any of your internal pages, usually this is done on the Home Page, but check the internal pages and see if you have your primary keyword phrase in your Meta Title.
Then you must also have your primary keyword phrase just once in your Meta Description. You can only see this by looking at your title as it appears in search engine results or by viewing the source code of the page. If you don’t know how to do that, Google it. You’ll find out how quite easily.
Your primary keyword phrase should also appear as part of the H1 Header Tag, which really is the heading of the page that people can then see. I’d like to suggest, then, that one of your secondary phrases, related but not specifically the same, becomes a sub-heading, a H2 Header Tag, immediately underneath your H1. There will also be two or three other H2 sub-headings further down the page to break up the content that goes on this page.
Now, here’s the thing. People argue about what kind of keyword density should we have. I think if you really want to get down to the nuts and bolts of it, around two and a half to three percent. No more. But seriously, what does it matter? Just be careful not to spam your page with your keywords. Because people will notice the spam, as will search engines.
Most importantly, you must have your keyword phrase repeated perhaps two, maybe three, times in the actual body text of the page. The content. That’s important. It must appear naturally. It doesn’t have to be bold faced. It doesn’t have to be in italics or underlined. That’s a myth. However, if it looks natural to maybe boldface your keyword phrase, perhaps as part of an entire sentence, then great. Knock yourself out. Go and do it. But it doesn’t have to be.
The most important thing is that the content on your page is natural. That it is easy to read and it is, here’s the key, what Google’s customers are looking for. Yep. That’s the key. So your keyword phrase appears in all of these different places and then scattered throughout the content of the page.
You can, also, name any images on that page after your keyword phrase. It won’t hurt nor hinder. Label your alt tags as well…. you should always do the same. These little things can make a difference. Of course, the page name, nearly forgot, should also be your keyword phrase. For example, paulbarrs.com/keyword-phrase. That’s where it goes. And then, you have to build a good link structure within your website around your keyword phrases to the right pages, and so on. And this is all part of on-page SEO. Might talk about this more in future editions.
Paul
PS. Each week I set aside one full day to do on-page search engine optimisation for my local business clients. If you live locally (Queensland Australia) and you recognise that you need help with this – contact me.
