On-page SEO Checklist. Every web page and post should conform to an On-page SEO Checklist. This is a must-have to get your pages ranking on the first page of search engines. If you’re letting the page you want ranking to slip to the second page, you’re missing opportunities. People are too busy these days to scroll to the second page and beyond.
Remember, your website is your profit center. It is the nucleus of your online presence. The right website strategy mixed with clear content and SEO must work together for the success of your online presence. Well done SEO research will lead you to the right keyword phrases to use in developing your content.
This research tells you how customers are searching for your products and services online and it is directing search engines to serve your business information to the first page of search results.
This information is one part of a Website Strategy for creating a winning online presence that can help you
First, spend time performing keyword research. Keyword research sounds like a daunting task. What’s the point?
Shouldn’t your natural marketing instincts tell you which keywords are most relevant to your business? Not quite…
Without quality keywords, your search marketing campaigns (paid AND organic) will be completely misguided. If people aren’t searching for your keywords then the content you spend valuable time creating is useless.
It’s amazing what this research will reveal to you in terms of the top search phrases, the questions online searchers are asking to find your solutions, and search volume.
Search volume corresponds to interest, and without interest in your keywords, leads won’t be able to discover your ads or organic listings, visit your website, and turn into a paying customers.
Here’s information about resources to perform keyword research. Seven Free keyword research tools.
or continue reading to become proficient in On-Page SEO…
The first item for your on-page SEO checklist is the keyword phrase you use in the URL of the page. The URL for this page is https://www.hitthewebmarketing.com/on-page-seo-checklist.
The next item for On-page SEO Checklist is the SEO Title. The SEO Title for this page is On-Page SEO Checklist: 13 Ways to Optimize Content for Higher Ranking. The title of your website page describes what your visitor will find there. As you hover over the tab in the browser, the title of the page displays. In WordPress, the Yoast SEO plugin fields look as follows, generally below the text of your blog
The third item for On-Page SEO Checklist is the title – your Heading 1. The heading 1 or H1 Tag is the main topic of your content. In WordPress, Header 1 <H1> is your Main Header is what you name the document, using your most important keyword string.
Rule: There is only one <H1> tag or keyword phrase per page. Using only one <H1> heading or Header 1 will strengthen your SEO.
In recent versions of WordPress, the first field you place the title of your page or post is generated as Header 1.
(Heading) H2 through H6 are used for the subheaders in the content of a post, a page, or a custom page. For H2 and H3 you can use them 3-4 times. H4, H5, and H6 are not required but using them once or twice are good for SEO.
H2 – H6 On-Page SEO for Subheader content
Place your cursor at the beginning of the subheader line – 4. Keyword Phrase n H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6 above image. Just above this phrase, you see this line is assigned Heading 2. At the top of the text editing screen, you will see the drop-down field that defaults to Paragraph. Click the arrow in the dropdown list, and select Heading 2.
Subheaders serve the reader allowing them to quickly scan the content to see what it is all about. Making it easy for them to read.
The meta description again includes the keyword phrase right at the start. A total of 160 characters to describe the content of the page.
The image is a very important element for On-Page SEO. Search engines look for at least one image in each post, page, or custom page. Videos, quality videos, do very well these days helping pages and posts to rank high.
Every image needs an Alt tag containing the Best Keyword Phrase. Every image should have an alt-tag description or keyword phrase. Each image should have a name that describes what the image is and includes your company name. Click to expand the image so you can see what it looks like behind the scenes on a WordPress page. Click the image to expand and see the Alt tag is Image Alt Tag On-Page SEO
Isn’t the same keyword string bad for search engines? Won’t my page get a reduced ranking for having the same keyword on my page too many times? The answer is not if you show how the page content fits into your overall website or blog. 5% means using the keyword phrase about 2 or 3 times.
Place keyword placement in the first paragraph. Somewhere at the beginning of the paragraph is best.
Place your keyword or keyword phrase in the last sentence of the paragraph.
On-page SEO is the keyword phrase that is important to keyword density. It is no longer necessary to repeat the main keyword phrase in your article 22 times or more. Two times is enough to use the Bold feature.
Applying the Bold feature to the keyword phrase will help guide the reader through the article for important points.
The strategy for internal linking is to think about which pages represent your product or services. YOu create a post with a relevant topic. Link your post to this page and it will tell the search engines the importance of this page within your website.
This internal link will help increase the ranking of the page you link to.
It also guides your readers to other useful, complementary information throughout your website.
Why link to external resources? Linking out to relevant content helps search engines understand your niche, and it can increase trust in your website.
As a strategy link to relevant content outside of your website. Look for high-ranking websites such as high influencer blogs, and wikis – called Authority Sites – that will strengthen the statements in your content. We discuss what Domain Authority and Authority Sites are in our Get Your Blog Done Online Course.
External links also show your information is based on fact and not opinion.
Link to the source from where you gather your information. This is a good way to give credit. And it satisfies SEO rules.
When linking to another source, do not use the keyword phrase as the hotlink. That’s against SEO rules.
We often link to Content Marketing Institute – CMI – what is content marketing?
No. While On-page SEO is necessary, the strategy that moves the needle for content ranking in search engines is backlinks. This is discussed in other articles.
An easy-to-use tool we use and love is the keyword difficulty checker by Ahrefs.com. This tool tells you how many backlinks we need to rank at or above the competition for a specific keyword phrase.
We wish we could give you a standardized answer here, but it’s not possible.
Each site will take a different amount of time depending upon:
1) The competition of the niche
2) The existing authority of the website
3) The quality and health of the website
And a few other factors that are kind of geeky to most people.
Some clients get great results within weeks, but we don’t want you to expect this. SEO is NOT a race.
It’s best to expect at least 3 months before a solid movement in the rankings. The larger the Rank plan, usually the faster the results.
Besides the on-page strategy, you need a backlink strategy. A backlink strategy is another way of producing long-lasting results that will outrank your competitors to stand the test of time.
You’ve worked hard to put content together for your website. So, take some time and make sure the search engines are going to give it notice. If you’re using WordPress for your website or blog, the WordPress “Yoast SEO” Plugin will save you time trying to figure out how you are improving on-page SEO. Does your website or blog need help getting found? Contact Hit-the-Web Marketing today for your on-page SEO.
Ask about our new program regarding Blogs and SEO – Get Your Blog Done Workshop, Online Course, and our Videos on our Youtube channel. For a private consultation, Call Carol at 781-996-9163 or contact us and we’ll call you.
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We hope this helps. If you have any questions visit us on LinkedIn
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Free On-Page SEO is part of our Get Your Blog Done Workshop. Read More about our commitment to helping you create a habit that will catapult your business with quality content. Inbound marketing drives more traffic, engages more visitors, converts prospects to customers, and creates ambassadors.
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