How To Correctly Optimize On-Page SEO

The importance of On-Page SEO

You might have just posted the world’s greatest blog article, but if nobody reads it – what’s the point?

In the world of online writing, optimizing your content is as crucial as the content itself. It’s one of the best ways to rank higher in search engines and earn more relevant traffic.

While there are many aspects of SEO, one of the most important areas to focus on – especially if you’re a newbie blogger – is on-page SEO.Click To Tweet

We’re talking about more than just weaving in the right keywords. It’s about optimizing both the content and the HTML source code of individual web pages.

Along with greater visibility and more traffic, on-page SEO also improves the speed of your web pages, the uniqueness of your content, and your overall marketing efforts.

To help you get started, here’s a list of six tips you need to know:

1) Take care of your title tag and meta description

Don’t be put off by the technical language – it’s easy to understand with a little explanation.

Basically, title tags define the title of your web page and are used to display snippets of your blog. You’ll want to keep these short, clear and descriptive – around 50 to 60 characters is the ideal length.

The meta description is what search engines use to understand the topic you’re blogging about. Like title tags, keep them clear and concise – no more than 160 characters. And rather than stuffing keywords into your meta description, it’s better to use synonyms of your main keyword.

2) Site speed matters

These days, online readers don’t like sticking around. So if your blog loading times are lagging (even by seconds!) – your rankings and traffic will suffer.

Simple ways to improve your site speed include removing unwanted plugins, using a better host, changing your site’s theme, and optimizing your images. To check your site speed you can use PageSpeed tool from Google

3) Secure your blog from hackers

Hacked blogs are bad news for search engines.

To prevent this from happening to you, make sure you invest in good security software, create complicated passwords and change them regularly (for your blog and your email account), be wary of plugins you’ve installed, use the latest version of your blogging platform (WordPress for example), secure your smartphone, and be mindful of using public networks when you’re out and about.

4) Create content for people – not robots

At the end of the day, you’re writing to satisfy real human beings. So don’t try to trick search engines by overcomplicated your blogs with too many keywords and hyperlinks – it’s a recipe for failure. First and foremost, make sure your content is engaging, easy to read, and relevant to your particular audience. On that note…

5) Create unique and in-depth blog articles

When it comes down to it, your blogs need to drive traffic. Your content should be interesting, in-depth and well researched. Essentially, your articles need to answer people’s questions.

This means understanding who your audience is, how they communicate and behave online, and what their problems are. Remember, content is the backbone of any thriving blog or business – so it deserves all the attention you can give it.

6) Use internal and external links

Once you’ve written a few posts, interlinking them will help your readers spend more time on your site, as well as help boost page ranks on your other blog articles. That said, you should only use internal linking if it’s relevant and necessary.

The same idea applies to external linking. Linking to credible and popular websites and other blog sites can boost your own blog’s authority. But again, you should only use external resources if they are relevant to your content and readers.

SEO vs. user experience

What’s user experience? Simply put,  user experience refers to the overall experience a person has with a product, website or in this case – your blog. In particular, it refers to how easy or pleasing your blog is to read and navigate. So, what should you be looking out for?

When it comes to blogging, the main aspects of user experience to think about include how relevant your content is, the usability of your site, how visually pleasing your blogs are, how easy it is to find your content, and how credible your blog is.

While on-page SEO is certainly important and has its part to play in user experience, your priority should always be your audience. To keep your readers happy, you to regularly put yourself in their shoes.

Back your blogging

Ultimately, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to improve your blog – it’s simply about understanding the basics.

it’s no secret that the market is hugely crowded and competitive, don’t let that dissuade you! Just keep in mind these on-page optimization tips, make sure your content is original and engaging, and you’ll start seeing the results in no time.