If you know that digital marketing is essential for your business to gain visibility online, you've certainly heard of SEO.
But maybe you still don't know what on-page SEO is. On-page SEO is one of the pillars of the so-called SEO techniques and that's what we're going to talk about in this article.
As we've detailed in other articles here on the blog, the acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and corresponds to a set of techniques that aim to make websites and blogs reach the top positions of search engines.
The use of these techniques is important because, with a good organic ranking, your website gains more traffic and visibility.
With the many possibilities offered to different audiences on the Web, SEO has become essential for companies to be visible online.
It is not, therefore, just a strategy to improve your business results, but a survival strategy on the network.
The market is increasingly competitive and conquering visibility on the web may not be easy.
You've certainly needed to buy something and chose to Google it before going to physical stores.
You've probably bought something online so you don't have to leave your home. And I bet when you Google something you don't even get to the second search page.
If your business is not being seen on the first page of these search results, you are certainly missing out on a lot of business opportunities.
In this context, on page SEO will help you to optimize your web pages so that your website or blog is highlighted when researching on certain subjects related to your business.
What is on-page SEO in practice?
As we said, on page SEO is one of the pillars of SEO, which includes techniques for optimizing websites and blogs.
When someone does a search on a particular subject, the search engine checks the pages available online.
This verification takes into account aspects related to the structure and content of websites and blogs, in order to provide the best possible user experience.
On-page SEO takes care of exactly this adaptation of your pages to the factors prioritized by search engines.
The goal is that your website or blog contains all the prerequisites to suit what search engines demand.
This way, you can get a good ranking and your company gains not only visibility, but also authority in your business segment.
To get this favorable result, you must pay attention to some specific parts of your page.
For starters, website accessibility, keywords, and use of easily accessible data for search engine algorithms must be strategically thought out.
Also, don't forget to worry about rich content and the user experience, which must be great, responsive and suitable for sharing.
In other words, we can say that your pages need to be user-friendly and offer the user exactly what they are looking for or need.
So, on-page SEO is, in short, a set of optimizations applied within the pages of a website to send search engines the message that you have quality content and relevance.
Among the optimizations to be implemented are factors such as headings, images, URL, meta description and content in general, as we will see below.
Key elements in on-page SEO adoption
There are many possibilities for optimizing websites and blogs to obtain good placements in the results obtained through online search tools.
To use the best on-page SEO techniques, you need to take into account the current performance of your website and the moment when the optimization will be adopted.
A great example of using on page SEO is the proper use of keywords. You should strategically place them within the title of an article and fit them properly in your text, providing a good reading experience.
Next, we will talk about some of the fundamental elements that you should pay attention to when using on-page SEO on your website or blog.
Heading Tags
Heading tags are page titles and subtitles. They serve to rank the information, making it easier to read.
They range from H1 to H6, starting from the most important information to the smallest.
Usually the H1 matches the page title and is used only once, but there are exceptions.
The organization from H1 to H6 may seem complicated, but its objective is exactly to make the content more organized, dividing the information in a hierarchical way.
Let's look at the following example:
- H1: Brazil;
- H2: Regions of Brazil: North, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and South;
- H3: States of Brazil;
- H4: Capitals of Brazilian states.
Do you see how the division is according to the hierarchy of information?
Within these titles and subtitles, search engines look for keywords to make associations with users' searches.
So, try putting the most relevant keywords in H1 and H2, which are the most prominent subheads.
Tag Title
The title tag is inserted in the header of the page and is what appears as a title in search engines.
This is one of the most important elements of on-page SEO, as the page title has great potential to increase the number of clicks and entries on the site.
What catches your attention the most?
1. Chocolate cake recipe
2. The best chocolate cake recipe in history
Even if the first title was ranked first on Google, you would probably click on the second, correct? That's why the title tag is so important.
The title tag is an HTML tag that is displayed on the search engine's results page and is only visible in the code.
The results page only displays about 65 characters, so you need to think of a concise and straightforward title tag.
Meta description
Like the title tag, the meta description is an HTML markup visible only in the code and search results.
Meta description is a complement to the title tag. It allows a space for arguments that convince the user to enter your site and also increases the click-through rate after searches.
Tools like Google display around 160 characters and that space should be put to good use.
You can emphasize the main message, use keyword variations, and resort to call to action.
Here is an example of how a Desk Manager article appears on Google when we search for “service desk”:
seo onpage text
Keywords
The correct use of keywords is also very important when creating an on-page SEO strategy.
You must use the keywords properly within the content: place them on H1 and H2, always at the beginning.
Also use variations of keywords and expressions from the same or complementary semantic field.
Put the main keyword right at the beginning of the text, in the first and second paragraphs, but always worrying about the user experience, that is, without “forcing” the word in the text.
Do not produce shallow or unrelated content just for the purpose of using your keywords. Your text needs to be fluid and quality content.
Videos, images and graphics
Having rich content is a prerequisite for getting results with on-page SEO.
Your page’s content should not be limited to texts. They are just one type of resource to be exploited.
Try to use images, infographics, videos, e-books and whatever else is convenient to provide complete and high quality content.
Think of varied media that add information, that complement each other. This creates the possibility that your site will be found not only in traditional searches, but also in those restricted to images and videos.
friendly URL
Your URLs must be easy to read and memorize by the user. There are several tools that allow you to configure friendly URLs.
See below for some tips:
- The subject of the page must always be indicated in the URL;
- The keyword must be used;
- Do not use special characters;
- Use short URLs, this will make them easier to remember.
Internal links
Internal links make it possible to discover other interesting pages for both users and search engines.
They are great encouragers of visits to other pages of your website and allow the user to stay longer with your company.
But be careful not to use decontextualized links that will drive the user away from their initial goals.
Links should provide extra information that will complement the user's search.
And, speaking of internal links, of course we're going to close this article by offering you additional content on SEO.
Now you know that “on-page SEO” is one of the pillars of digital marketing tools, you should also know the others. How about starting by reading our article on how your website hosting influences your SEO? Just click here.
Have a good reading!
Junte-se à conversa.