On-Page SEO: The Definitive Guide

What is On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO (also known as “on-site SEO”) is the practice of optimizing web page content for search engines and users. Common on-page SEO practices include optimizing title tags, content, internal links, URLs, and other ranking factors.

This is different from off-page SEO, which is optimizing for signals that happen off of your website (for example, backlinks).

Other examples include social media marketing, guest posting, and PR.

Does traditional on-page SEO still make a difference in 2024?

Yup! Google’s “How Search Works” report states that, even with advancements in artificial intelligence, certain traditional SEO practices, like specific keyword presence, remain integral:

Even though Google is MUCH smarter than it was back in the day, it still uses old-school stuff (like looking for a specific keyword on your page).

And there’s data to back this up.

Our analysis of 11M Google search results didn’t find a correlation between keyword-rich title tags and first page rankings.

But if you search for any competitive keyword, you’ll notice that the top-ranking pages almost all use that exact keyword in their title tag.

How to do On-Page SEO

On-page SEO has changed A LOT over the last few years. Back in the day, you only needed to do four or five basic things to optimize your page (like making sure that your keyword density was high enough). And you were pretty much done.

Today? Optimizing your site’s content is much more involved. There are more steps. And those steps are more complex than before.

But there are ways to make it simple to create content that helps you rank for your target keywords.

Semrush’s On-Page SEO Checker can help you analyze your content and provide actionable insights you can implement in minutes.

This tool lets you know if you have your keyword in all the key locations like the H1 and body content but also offers suggestions for improvement and provides valuable information on semantic keywords to enhance your content.

Semrush also offers a suite of other tools that make it the all-in-one companion for on-page SEO.

But tools aren’t the only way to simplify your SEO process.

Our on-page SEO checklist helps you keep track of all the little things that you need to do to optimize your content.

Download Now: On Page SEO Template

You can use it like a checklist to make sure that you’re checking off all of the boxes that Google and alternate search engines want to see.

In fact, I personally use this on-page SEO checklist to keep track of things. Otherwise, I’ll forget something small (like adding my keyword in an H2 tag).

But when I have my handy on-page SEO template open in one tab and my page open in another, I make sure that every step gets done.

Make Click-worthy Titles

In my opinion, your title tag is the most important on-page SEO factor.

That’s because your title tag gives search engines a high-level overview of what your page is all about.

In my experience, the closer the keyword is to the beginning of the title tag, the more weight it has with search engines.

Here’s an example from my image SEO post.

Your keyword doesn’t necessarily have to be at the very beginning of your title. It doesn’t always make sense to do that.

But the closer your title is to the front of your title tag, the better. For both search engines and users.

Users will know that your content matches their search query. But there are other ways to get them to click on your site.

Using modifiers like “best”, “guide”, “checklist”, “fast” and “review” can help you rank for long tail versions of your target keyword.

For example, our SEO tools post includes the modifiers “best” and “free”.

That way, we can rank for long-tail versions of “seo tools” like “best free seo tools”.

You can even be more strategic than this.

Pro Tip: If you need help generating hundreds (or thousands) of relevant keyword ideas, check out our free keyword generator.

I added the title tag modifier “for SEO” in this list of keyword research tools.

Why? So my page would show up when people used terms like “SEO keyword research tools”. And it worked!

Title tags ensure each individual page’s purpose is clear to Google, and users know what they’re clicking on.

One of the easiest ways to improve your title tags is simply by confirming you have one on every page. And it’s original.

Site crawlers, like Semrush’s Site Audit tool, can help to identify pages that don’t have a title tag or have a duplicate title.

AI tools, like ChatGPT, can be a great place to brainstorm potential titles, offering a starting point for your creative process.

Embrace Uniqueness

When I say “unique”, I’m not just talking about duplicate content.

I mean publishing something that doesn’t just regurgitate the same stuff that’s already out there.

In other words: fresh content that brings something new to the table.

That something new can be:

• A new tip or strategy
• A better list of curated resources
• Strong design and UX
• New case study
• Streamlined step-by-step process

For example, this SEO checklist post ranks as number 1 for the keyword “SEO checklist”.

Do you think I rank because I used my keyword a bunch of times?

That helped. But for a competitive term like this, using keywords isn’t enough.

My page ranks at the top because it’s unique.

Sure, it has tips and strategies that you can find anywhere, but it also has lots of tips and examples that you can only find in my post.

Satisfy Search Intent

Unique, valuable content can get you to the first page of Google.

But if you want to stay there, your page has to satisfy Search Intent.

In other words:

Your page has to be EXACTLY what a Google searcher wants.

Otherwise, your page will likely be buried on the 3rd page.

This is a mistake that I had to learn the hard way.

Some time ago, I published this comparison of the top backlink checkers on the market.

My goal was to rank for the keyword “backlink checker”.

A few days after I published that post, I decided to check out the SERPs for that term.

And I quickly realized that 100% of the type of content on the first page results were tools.

Literally, 10 out of 10 results were backlink checker tools. There wasn’t a single blog post on the first page.

This means the chance of my post hitting the first page was basically zero.

Whoops!

Fortunately, I do rank for a long-tail version of that keyword (“best backlink checker”).

But if I spent more time looking at the Search Intent for that term, I would have realized that my content had zero chance of ranking for “backlink checker”.

And now it’s time for the next chapter…

Use Your Target Keyword In The First 100 Words

This is an old-school on-page SEO tactic that still makes a difference.

All you need to do is use your main keyword once in the first 100-150 words of your article.

For example, in my article optimized around the keyword “email marketing”, I mentioned that keyword right off the bat.

Why is this important?

Google puts more weight on terms that show up early on your page.

Which makes sense. Imagine that you just published an article about The Keto Diet. If your article really was about The Keto Diet would it make sense to first use the term “keto diet” halfway down the page?

Of course not.

This is why you want to drop your keyword somewhere in the first 100 words or so. This is one of those little things that helps Google understand what your page is all about.

Keyword Frequency

Keyword Frequency is just like it sounds: It’s how many times your primary keyword appears in your content.
Google may deny that using the same keyword multiple times helps. But SEO pros with experience will tell you that it definitely works.

Think about it this way:

Imagine that you have a page that Google THINKS is about a specific keyword. But that keyword only appears once on the page.

How confident can they be that the page is about that keyword? Not very.

On the other hand, if the page mentions the keyword 10 times, Google can be more confident about that page’s topic.

To be clear:

This isn’t about keyword stuffing or anything like that.

It’s simply mentioning your target keyword a few times to confirm to Google that your page really is about that subject matter.

For example, one of our posts ranks in the top 3 in Google for the keyword “YouTube SEO”.

How many times do you think I used the exact term “YouTube SEO” in that 3,200-word post?

6 times.

So yeah, there’s no need to go overboard here. As long as you use your keyword naturally a few times, you’re good.

Key places to include your keywords on your page include:

• Title Tags and Meta Description
• Alt Text
• URLs
• Headings
• First Paragraph

The Semrush On Page SEO Checker can provide you with a comprehensive list of recommendations to let you know if your keywords are in these key places.

Use “Question Title Tags”

Few years ago we analyzed 5 million Google search results to figure out why certain pages get clicked on over others.

And one of our most surprising findings was that question-based title tags have an above-average CTR.

So whenever it makes sense, I recommend testing title tags that have a question.

For example, my nofollow links guide uses a question in the title tag.

That’s because anyone searching for “nofollow link” probably just wants to know what that means.

And my title tag shows people that my site will give them what they want.

In fact, that page has a 27% CTR for the keyword “nofollow link”.

Use Review or FAQ Schema

Schema doesn’t directly help your SEO.

But using certain types of Schema can hook you up with you Rich Snippets.

And Rich Snippets CAN help you get more clicks.

As a refresher, rich snippets are enhanced search results that provide additional information beyond the typical meta description.

They can include images, ratings, reviews, and other structured data, offering users a more informative preview of a webpage directly in the search results.

Two of the best types of Schema for getting Rich Snippets are review Schema:

And FAQ Schema:

You can double check if you have your Schema set up correctly using the Structured Data Testing Tool.

Add the Current Year to Title and Description

Here’s an example of what I mean.

Adding the year to your title and description won’t make or break your CTR.

But in my experience, it does help… especially for content that can go out of date really quickly.

For example, someone searching for “Seneca philosophy” doesn’t need something that came out last month.

But for a keyword like “best smartphones”, people want to make sure they’re about to read something current.

And adding the year to your title and description makes it clear that your content is up-to-date.