We have heard a lot about the need for proper URLs and title tags etc. when it comes to on-page SEO. From website developers to SEO specialists all are keen about these top considerations to make while preparing web pages in order to have a better performance over the search engines. However, in this article, we will discuss some additional on-page SEO aspects too which you need to keep an eye on for better search engine performance.
#1. Meta description as the fourth shortest page summary
The meta description is an important HTML element, which offers a brief summary of the page in question. It is displayed in the preview snippet of the SERPs (search engine result pages). Even though meta description has no direct role in SEO ranking, it is still a key factor in terms of making the page user-friendly and in turn, increasing traffic to enhance SEO value. Make meta description the most compelling and informative element of the page.
#2. Content is king
We can blindly say that content is the most valuable component of any site. Quality content is what drives people into a website and keeps them content. In a typical scenario, users search for something and look at the search results for the most relevant headers, URLs and meta tags to click through the link to land on the page. Here is where the relevant content plays crucial.
#3. The first impression is the best impression
Once a user lands on the web page, they may typically spend around three seconds first to decide whether they have landed on the right page with apt information they look for. This is the golden time frame to get the user to take a decision in your favor to continue on the page. When it comes to content, the headline may be the first thing they look at. If there are a lot of bounce backs from your web page, then it will be adversely affecting your search ranking.
#4. Preparing good content
There is no hard and fast rule as to writing great content, but it should be made great. The basic thing to remember as that the look and feel of the content should be prepared in a way that the user need not have to read every single part of the content to get information. Ensure that they get the most important information simply by scanning the page. It can be best done by preparing good headlines, bold text, content tables, ordered or bulleted lists, etc.
- Write informative content for real people, not for search engines crawlers.
- Write in a balanced way.
- Prepare the first paragraph as the summary of the page
- Place the targeted keywords at starting of the text.
- Always being content with text, but you may feel free to add any other format which makes the content more meaningful.
- Don’t use any Flash banners
- Avoid any advertisements of promotions inside the content.
- Include relevant images too to make the content more user-friendly and understandable.
- Add at least one link to a relevant page.
- Provide only relevant and unique information.
- Make the content more as interesting and informative as possible.
- Put the most relevant takeaways at the starting of the content itself to hold readers back and explain them later.
- Write short paragraphs to precise sentences for the users to expose to the right ideas only.
- Use super-keyword two to three times on each page.
- Use synonyms and meaningful variations of the keyword a few times.
- Don’t bother about keyword density, but try to make things meaningful.
- Never stuff keyword.
- Group easy to comprehend paragraphs and put sub-headlines also with keyword variations
- Try to include a table of contents and link to sub-headlines
- User italic, bold, and underlined text to emphasize keywords and other key points.
- Check content for any spelling or typos errors before posting the content.
#5. Using images
All pages on a website have images, and they are crucial in search engine ranking. Images may show up in image search results, and also contribute to the regular SEO results. A good user experience consists of good-looking and cheerful pages with good images and proper graphics.
Even though search engines crawlers cannot interpret images as such, they can read the texts within the images. However, it is not suggested to put crawlable keywords inside pictures. While optimizing, use only appropriate keywords for the primary image as alt text and use the synonyms and variations of the primary keyword for the second image, and try some long-tail keywords for the third image and so on. Here are some tips for image optimization.
- The filename for images should match closely with URL suffix.
- Separate the keywords in file name using dashes.
- Always use lowercase characters to name images
- Don’t use any special characters to make the filename
- Always use high-quality images on web pages.
- Try to use the right resolution of images.
- Make sure the file size is smallest possible, but without compromising on quality, to load fast.
- Provide a proper ALT attribute for images which will be displayed by the browsers on failing to load the images. This should match closely with the meta description.
- Provide a title attribute as the name of the image, which will be displayed as a tool-tip while hovering the mouse over the image. This should also closely match the <title> tag.
Along with all these, the performance of your site also remains a key ranking factor, which you need to focus on. Time and again, Google reconfirms the fact that those websites which may load faster may also rank better.
This is also very crucial in mobile search ranking. Slow websites may have a higher bounce rate, which will adversely affect the rankings. So, you should test each element of your website loading for speed also to ensure that you meet that primary requirement too to have better search engine ranking.