No doubt that Google can change algorithms like the wind changes direction. However, your website’s on-page SEO is still a vital factor in ranking well. Question is – what are the best on page SEO techniques? This isn’t rocket science… but good SEO is a bit of a science with a pinch of art weaved through it. Let’s start with content and title tags with a brief discussion on keywords.
On Page SEO Techniques
1 – Does your content suck?
The single greatest on-page SEO ranking factor is Google is great content. You can get every box on your checklist marked off as
complete and if your content isn’t great then you’re really not accomplishing anything. Content truly is king and great content can be easily spotted:
- Is your content helpful to the reader? Are you providing answers, yet leaving them wanting for more?
- Is your contact theory or does it contain some “meat and potatoes”, something your reader can chew on and implement?
- Is your content original? Not a unique topic of course but a uniquely presented, not simply reworded from 10 other blogs. Is your content written in your voice, with your experiences, your values, etc.
- Does your content have a compelling title and headline?
- Do you have great images and or video in your content? Not just any image but one that makes sense and adds to your content.
- Is your content link worthy or shareable? If your content is great, friends will gladly share your content with their friends – now we’re getting somewhere!
2 – What’s your keyword?
Select a keyword that gets traffic yet isn’t targeted by every competitor in the neighborhood. You can do this with many different keyword tools online or even with Google Adwords. Again, important aspects here is the monthly traffic but you also want to choose keywords that don’t have too much competition.
If you’re a roofing company in Seattle, you need to know the ideal keyword is “roofing companies Seattle” and not “roofer Seattle” (chosen at random – I have no idea of the best keyword for roofers in Seattle). Then use this keyword on your website’s homepage and posts.
3 – What is a Title Tag and Why Should I Care?
Title tags are very important for Google ranking. These tags are displayed in search engine results (called SERPs) as a headline of sorts. You’ve seen them. Below is an example. The title tag in the SERP below is “Cleveland OH Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather…”.
This title tag area is key because it tells Google and your prospective visitors what your website is all about. Doing this right can lead to better rankings and more clicks by possible customers. This is a great place to add your keyword but don’t overload the field (or junk it up) with every keyword you can think of. Just be natural about it but include your keyword. Remember to write this title for a person searching in Google and not for a computer… tell them who you are and what you do with a keyword included.
What Size Are You?
Most search engines limit the title tag area to approximately 60 characters so spend some time on this and keep it below 60. However, you can’t truly depend on that 60 character limit. The reason being – if you use FAT letters such as “W” often you’ll take up more space than say a lower case “l”. This also makes the point for never using ALL CAPS as they’re a bit chubbier than your lower case letters.
Also, you should be aware that your title tag is also placed on the top of your web browser. See the below example. The long title tag, in this case, is shown just to the right of the small “C”, called a favicon.
Each page of your website should have a unique title and keyword. Don’t recycle the keyword over and over again on your various pages and posts as that would be competing against yourself. Instead, focus each page’s content, keyword, and title tag… and get some great results.
This is just part 1 of the series, The Best On Page SEO Techniques. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think or simply drop us a line if you have any questions.
Regards.
