There are a number of factors which need to be considered if a website has to rank high on the SERPs (Search Engine Ranking Pages). These Factors are called On-site or On-page factors which a webmaster or website owner can control directly by manipulating the website pages and its contents. Some of the most important on-site factors are discussed below briefly. Each of these factors will be discussed in detail in the coming articles we will add to our blog.
Title Tags
The Title Tag of a website or webpage is the most important factor as far as on-page optimization is concerned. It is displayed at the very top bar in the browser window when ever a web page is opened. Search Engines index the Title Tags and pay relative importance to it. The Title Tag also gets displayed in the Search Results when someone carries out a Search Query.
Meta Tags
The Meta Tags of a webpage include the Meta Keywords Tag and the Meta Description Tag. They do not contribute much towards SEO, but they are still important as the Meta Description Tag is displayed in the Search Results along with the Title Tag when someone carries out a Search Query. It is therefore important to add the Meta Description tag to every page of your website.
Similar to the Meta Description Tag, the Meta Keywords Tag is also important as it gives an idea about the theme and topic of the webpage to the Search Engines. Although Google dives very little importance to this tag, some search engines like Yahoo still consider it important, and using it on your website pages will be beneficial.
Heading Tags
The Heading Tags are another very important on-page factor after Title Tags. The use of important keywords in <h1>, <h2> and <h3> tags on a webpage help considerably in improving the search engine ranking of that page for its target keywords.
ALT Tags
Alternate Tags are used with images to label them and to tell the Search Engines what an image is about. Important keywords can also be used in the ALT Tags of a web page to improve on-page optimization.
Internal Linking Structure and URLs
One of the most important on-site factors includes proper internal linking of a website and its URL structure. Search engine spiders are able to index websites and web pages which follow a search engine friendly URL structure, and which are interlinked together to make browsing easy for both the Search Engines as well as for the visitors to the website. This factor is one of the first ones to be considered for SEO and should be planned out at the development stage of the site.
Anchor Texts
Use of keywords in Anchor Text or as hyperlinks within a website and its pages is another very important on-page optimization factor. Anchor Texts help to tell the search engine spiders as well as the visitors about what information will they find on the page if they follow the hyperlink. Using the most appropriate and relevant keywords as anchor texts helps to improve the rankings of a website drastically.
HTML Tags
Other HTML Tags like bold, strong and emphasis and italics are also considered important to some extent by the Search Engines. These HTML Tags put emphasis on the important keywords by highlighting them in the body of the webpage content.
Content and Body Text
The website content itself holds great significance in terms of on-page optimization. Adding relevant content to your web pages not only provides ‘food’ to the search engine spiders, but it also provides information to the users visiting a website. Adding fresh content to your web pages is another factor which will help you in achieving improved search engine rankings.
Use of Keywords
Keywords are the building blocks of a website around which the theme of your website or webpage revolves. A well optimized site for important keywords can get regular traffic to it from the Search Engines. When you plan your website pages, it is important that you decide the keywords and related key phrases which you will be using on your web pages. Once the keywords are decided, it is essential to use them in the important factors which help in on-page optimization. These places of keyword usage include Title Tags, Meta Tags, ALT Tags, Website URLs, Anchor Texts, HTML Tags and also the body content.
These are the top most important factors which you should consider for a websites on-page SEO. A number of Off-site or Off-page factors are also important for SEO purposes which we will discuss them in the coming articles. So stay tuned!