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 and URLs.

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

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.

Wrap Subheadings in H2 Tags

Include your target keyword in at least one subheading. And wrap that subheading in an H2 tag.

Will an H2 tag make or break your on-page SEO?

Nope. But it can’t hurt. And my own SEO experiments have shown me that wrapping your target keyword in an H2 tag can make a dent.

Here’s an example of this strategy in action (target keyword=”content marketing tools”):

Use External (Outbound) Links

External links to related pages helps Google figure out your page’s topic. It also shows Google that your page is a hub of quality info.

And this isn’t just a theory. The folks at Reboot Online ran an experiment to see if external links helped improve rankings.

They created 10 new websites. Half of the websites linked out to authority sites (like Oxford University). The other half had no external links.

And the websites with external links outranked the sites without them.

Front-load Your Title tag

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 big list of SEO tools.

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.

Use Unique, Keyword-Rich Meta Descriptions

Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide states that:

And Google recently recommended that you write your own meta descriptions.

(Even though Google can override them with their own snippet.)

That’s because a good meta description helps your result stand out, which can boost your organic CTR.

Here’s a description template that I use and recommend.

You also want to include your keyword once in your description.

Why?

Because Google bolds terms that match the person’s query.

Again, this can give you a nice little CTR bump.

Unique Content

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: 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 the featured snippet for the keyword “SEO checklist”.

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

That definitely 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.

Content That Satisfies 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 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 “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 titles 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.

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.

Push Content Above the Fold

When someone lands on your site from Google, they want their answer FAST.

This is why you want to avoid massive images above the fold, like this:

Instead, put your headline and introduction front and center.

To be clear: it’s OK to have an image at the top of your post. But if it pushes your content down the page, that’s bad.

Have an Active Community

Having a community on your blog is like a Bounce Rate cheat code.

Why?

A high-quality comments section gives people something to read… after they finish reading your post.

That’s because comments add context to your post:

Contribute new approaches and strategies:

And, sometimes, spice things up with a little bit of controversy:

All things that keep people super glued to your page.

Use Original images

Do you use stock images in your content?

Well, those stock images might be hurting your SEO.

Shai Aharony recently tested the effect that stock images had on Google rankings.

Here’s what went down…

First, Shai created a bunch of brand new websites just for these experiments. These were fresh domain names that had never been registered before.

He used generic stock images on some of the sites. And original images on others.

The results were clear: sites with unique images outranked the sites that used stock photos.

So if you’re using stock photos that a thousand other sites use, consider creating custom images.

This is something we do at Backlinko. And at least according to this little study, these original images probably help us rank.

Write Comprehensive Content

Google wants to show their users content that gives them EVERYTHING they want on a single page.

In other words: comprehensive content.

And if your post covers an entire topic, it has a higher chance of ranking.

And one of the easiest ways to make sure that Google sees your content as complete?

LSI keywords.

LSI keywords are synonyms that Google uses to determine a page’s relevancy.

I don’t go nuts about LSI keywords because I usually write REALLY long content.

(Long content increases the odds that you’ll naturally use LSI keywords.)

But if you want to make 100% sure that you’re using LSI keywords, search for your keyword in Google and scroll down to the “Searches Related to…” area at the bottom of the page:

And toss any that make sense into your post.

Image Optimization

You want to give every image on your site a descriptive filename and alt text.

This helps Google (and visually-impaired users) understand what each image is showing.

And if it makes sense, make one image optimized around your target keyword. So use a filename that includes your target keyword (for example, on-page-seo-chart.png). And use that same keyword as part of your image alt tags.

Another reason to optimize your images for SEO: it gives search engines another clue of what your page is about… which can help it rank higher.

Put another way: when Google sees a page with pictures of “blue widgets” and “green widgets” it tells them: “this page is about widgets”.