What does SEO stand for?

When you type in a query to different search engines, certain websites appear first in the results. But why? How does Google, for example, decide what content to put first? And how do you make sure your website gets a good spot too? 

This is where SEO comes in!

SEO stands for search engine optimization. Basically, SEO is the practice of optimizing web pages to make them rank better on SERPs or search engine results pages. 

There are also different types of SEO, such as on page SEO and off page SEO, that focus on using different techniques to achieve these higher search rankings. For this blog, we’ll just be focusing on ‘on page’ or ‘on site’ SEO.

What is on site SEO?

On page optimization is a successful way to increase your web page’s ranking and organic traffic flow. 

This process includes optimizing your headings, paragraphing, structured data, terms, meta title tags, meta description, images, internal linking, NLP or natural language processing words, and keyword usage. By improving all of these elements, you will increase the authority and trustworthiness of your site, get a higher rank, and thus, receive more clicks. 

Basically, on site SEO or on page SEO includes anything that appears ‘on the page’. Every word you craft, image you add, or formatting you use, contributes to your website’s ranking. 

What is an on page SEO target keyword? 

One of the most crucial elements of on site SEO is keyword research. 

Here is a breakdown of the on page keyword research and implementation steps:

  1. Research the target keywords that you want to rank for on your web pages
  2. Check out what competitors are doing. What keywords are they using? What pages are these keywords found on? What qualities do their pages have?
  3. Map your new keywords to your own pages, new or existing. Make sure you understand the search intent behind the queries made with these keywords 
  4. Make content better than your competitors. Make sure you use all the keywords you identified and mapped

 

But wait! Don’t just start keyword stuffing! 

 

I know that it’s tempting to just add as many keywords onto the page as you can, wherever possible, but this technique will actually hurt your ranking instead of helping it. 

Remember that your content is being read by humans. You want high quality content, not a page that seems like it was written by a robot.

On site SEO is more than just adding keywords onto a page. You need to write well, with a vision for each page, and you need to understand your target audience and what they’re looking for with their queries. 

So you’ve followed the steps, have your keywords, and you’ve written great content for your pages…but what’s next? How will this on page SEO start to help your ranking? Read on to find out!

How does on page SEO work? 

So you’ve completed the on page SEO process. You’ve written your web page with all the keywords, added your internal links, written the title tag and meta descriptions, and added all your images. What’s next? How does on site SEO actually work in the search engines? Will your rank in the search results go up immediately?

Sadly, it’ll take a little while before you start to see the true results of your newly optimized on page SEO. But even though on site SEO is more of a long-term gain, it’s definitely worth it!

Google is all about relevancy. To crack the algorithm and get your content ranking high on Google’s results pages, you have to not only have the keywords that it searches for when it works to answer different queries, but you need to also have other relevant content. 

For example, if someone is searching for ‘Restaurants in Brisbane’, although you may have the keyword ‘Restaurant’ on your page a hundred times, Google won’t actually show your page unless it’s relevant to the full query. Google knows that this person also wants ‘Brisbane’ and probably is looking for either breakfast, lunch or dinner. When trawling through all the web pages out there, Google will also be looking for mentions of this content too. 

You’ll only rank on Google if your page is relevant for multiple aspects of the search intent behind someone’s query. 

But don’t worry, there’s good news! If you manage to make your content relevant, you’ll be rewarded! Although you’ll need to consistently check that your content is optimized for Google, once you have good on page SEO, it’s easier to stay high in the rankings.

Why is on page SEO important? 

If you don’t use on site SEO to really target what Google wants, no one will visit your website. 

Let’s be real for a moment, no one ever really clicks on the second page of search results unless they’re truly desperate. The first page is where you need to be and on page SEO will help get you there!

You can even superpower your on page SEO strategy by using other types of SEO tactics. For example, by also using off page SEO’s link building and social media marketing tactics, you’ll get an even better result in your SEO campaign. Get the ranking you want thanks to SEO. 

 

I wish you luck with all your on site SEO endeavours!