“If you’re going to post content on your website, you might as well take the time to ensure Google takes notice of your efforts.”
– The Content Factory
90% of people don’t move past the first page of Google.
If they do, they are desperately looking for an answer.
In short, it’s rare.
So, if you want to put your business in front of your audience, you need to make sure that your website ranks at the top of the search engine results for relevant keywords.
57% of marketing executives claim on-page content development to be one of the most effective SEO tactics and is consistently heralded by John Mu, a Search Advocate at Google.
Your competitors are already trying to gain that #1 search engine rankings spot.
In this crowded market, if you want to make your way to the top, you need to implement the most relevant and proven On-Page SEO tactics in the book.
This blog post lists out four such tactics that’ll work like a charm.
Let’s have a look.
Implement These 4 On-Page SEO Tactics to
Level Up Your Search Engine Rankings
Here’s the list:
- Improve User Experience
- Optimize Page Titles & Meta-Descriptions
- Optimize the URLs
- Focus on Internal & External Linking
Improve User Experience
Google’s primary aim is to provide the most relevant results to its users. They roll out regular updates and changes to their algorithm to deliver the best possible experience.
That’s the reason Google is the #1 search engine in the world.
So, if your website is unoptimized or poorly designed, it will fall further down the search engine rankings.
Your website should appear trustworthy, up-to-date, and authoritative.
If it doesn’t, your potential visitors are likely to bounce off and while bounce rate isn’t a direct ranking factor, it will indirectly affect your other ranking factors.
So, the first thing you got to do is improve the user experience on your website. Make sure that it’s easily accessible. Avoid any clutter.
Your blog posts should be easy to understand and actionable. Focus on if your users are going to find what you have to say valuable.
If you tune in to our blog posts regularly, you may already know that they are easily digestible and are super easy to read.
Here’s our readability score:
A score above 10 is too tough to read.
So, while writing blog posts, make sure that they:
- Focus on the information your audience is looking for
- Are easy to read and comprehend
- Comprise shorter paragraphs that are easily scannable so mobile users will be able to access and retain what they are reading
- Consist of bullet points
- Include relevant visuals that help you convey your message
Optimize Page Titles & Meta-Descriptions
Before reading your pages, search engine crawlers will check your pages’ titles and descriptions.
That’s because they want to understand what each one of the pages is all about.
And based on different ranking factors, search engines will determine your website’s search engine rankings.
Every single page needs to have a unique title. Let me throw your way some page titles optimization tips:
- Create descriptive titles that clue readers in on what they can expect on-page
- Include number and power words
- Keep character length around 50-60 characters
- Don’t include the domain in your title or any erroneous information
On the meta-descriptions front, make sure that it’s descriptive and unique for each one of your pages. While writing meta-descriptions, keep in mind:
- Avoid auto-generated descriptions
- Add your primary keyword in the description
- Don’t make it too short or too large.
Optimize the URLs
Another important on-page SEO element you should focus on is URL optimization. It has the following two parts:
- URL Optimization
- URL Structure
Google URLs are less than 255 characters and use hyphens for separating the different parts.
Make sure that it includes your target keyword.
Some good examples include:
- https://www.redfoxvisual.com/pay-per-click-ppc-advertising-simplified/
- https://www.redfoxvisual.com/seo-in-web-design/
- https://www.redfoxvisual.com/digital-marketing-guide/
While some bad examples include:
- https://www.redfoxvisual.com/p?225
- https://www.redfoxvisual.com/seoinwebdesign/
- https://www.redfoxvisual.com/digitalmarketingguide.html
While writing SEO-friendly URLs, divide them into categories. This will help the search engine crawlers understand the category a blog post or content piece belongs to.
Of course, there are a variety of other rules to follow like, using set file paths for your URLs, don’t include capital letters, spaces, or special characters. Your URL should be a hint at what that page is and where it lives onsite.
In this example, you can see that this page is a part of our services pages, which describe the services we offer. This page in particular describes redfox’s wonderful work with creating and developing brands, which you might expect from that URL.
Focus on Internal and External Linking
Let’s say the search engine crawler landed on one of your blog posts. The most common way for a crawler to explore your website is through internal links. These internal links also let the search engines know how important particular pages on your website are and how pages might relate to each other.
While internal linking is important, make sure that you are adding links to qualified external relevant sources. This means linking to websites, writers, and articles that you see as a good source of additional information for your users.
External linking will help Google understand what your page is about. It shows that your page is a hub of quality information that is backed up by experts.
The most important reason to include links, beyond basic navigation is to help users find more information. Cite your sources via internal and external links or provide your user’s a clear path to follow if they would like to learn more. If you would like to learn more about link systems, their benefit, and why other than content, links are the most important element of SEO, connect our Search team today.
Conclusion
Some of the other factors you should focus on are:
- Headings and content formatting
- Page Loading Speed
- Mobile-Friendliness
- Comments
- And so more!
Don’t let your content marketing efforts go in vain.
Optimize your content pieces for maximum impact.
And if you need any help, redfox visual’s On-Page SEO team would love nothing more than to help you out.
Hire the #1 SEO agency in Boise, Idaho, today.
