On Page Optimization.

On Page Optimization

What is On Page Optimization?

On page optimization is a type of search engine optimization that focuses on meta tags, keyword placement, content, headers, image alt text, and more for a web page or website. The goal by using these elements together is that a web page or website will hopefully see higher and more precise search engine rankings.

Meta Tags

Meta tags are HTML tags that tell the browser what the web page is about and are placed within the body of a HTML document between the open and closed head tags. Originally, the meta keywords tag with the use of keywords helped search engines to find relevant web pages and was first used in the mid-1990’s. It seemed to work well, until several search engine providers realized that meta keywords tags could often be used to be misleading and deceptive, leading users to websites that didn’t have anything to do with what was relevant to their search. These days the most common meta tag is the description attribute, which is used to provide a succinct explanation of each web page. This attribute is often used within search engine results pages, which is why it is used for on page optimization since it can affect click-through rates.

The Title Tag and URL

Often the title is the first element that a person glances at when they open a new web page or website and it also regularly becomes the link when indexed in search results, which is what makes it so important in on page optimization. It is essential to figure out what needs to stand out about a web page and have that reflected in the title so users know that that is relevant to their interests. Another essential element is the URL of a web page, not only is it helpful to a user when the URL has words relevant to the web page it is a part of, as opposed to random numbers or letters, but it also helps with search engine results pages.

Header Elements and Text Styles

With on page optimization it is important to highlight certain areas of your web page and website to catch an individual’s eye; there are several HTML tags that can help with this. The header tag (h1, h2, h3, etc.), the bold tag (strong), and the italic tag (em) are some of the most common. The header 1 tag is generally used to highlight the header of a web page while header 2 and header 3 are used for titles and essential sections. Using the header tags correctly helps to make a site easier to read and navigate; they are also usually given high relevance by search engines. On the other hand, the bold and italic tags are commonly used to put emphasis on certain key words or phrases that are significant to the web page.

Image and Link Optimization

Image alt, short for alternate, text is essential because it tells users more about what it is that they are looking at on a web page. Originally, image alt text was used so that if an individual had their browser settings to not show images they would still be able to know what the image represented. While that is still one of the reasons it is used today, it also helps with on page optimization because search engines cannot presently read images but they will be able to read the alt text to figure out if it is relevant. It is also important to optimize how an image’s file name and title is worded because this can also be used by search engines, in addition to being useful to users browsing a web page or website. Having a file name called “chair.jpg” is much more relevant than “iC3123.jpg” for search engines.

There are several ways to optimize both internal and external links, one being with anchor text which is given high priority with most search engine rankings. Anchor text is the text that is used to represent the link, for example Elite Concepts the words “Elite Concepts” are the anchor text. Link alt text can also be used, it will appear when an individual hovers over a link, this will give more information to the user as well as help with on page optimization.

Content and Keyword Placement

If search engine optimization was easy, then there would be no reason to build entire companies around providing the service in the first place. Understanding SEO in theory can take a lot of research and time, but learning how to effectively make it work can take even longer. It also takes time both in the classroom as well as time in the field tweaking websites and following up on what the rules used by certain websites and search engines actually are. For many individuals that need SEO services today, they don’t have time to settle in and learn to do it themselves. That’s why they find experts, first to audit the site, and then to fix the errors found, if those errors are serious enough to keep a website off the front page of the search engines. One of the most important elements to on page optimization is content. Content is the valuable, specific information that the user is seeking when they use a search engine. It’s the bulk of a web page or website and it’s what the user is clicking for when choosing a link. Good content is linkable and it supplies a demand. By being linkable that means that it is shareable, easy to replicate, and not stuck either in a format that isn’t transferable or behind a website where a user has to log in to access it. By supplying a demand, content is there to be needed by the users that are looking for it; if no one is looking for what a website is supplying, then it will not receive enough traffic to become relevant for search engine rankings.

Keywords are what users type into search engines to find relevant websites. Keyword placement is important because search engines use them to determine if the content of the web page is relevant for the users that are being targeted. Keyword density, which is how often keywords are used within the content, is an important element to balance. It is essential to have keywords appear several times within content for the search engine rankings while also making the content readable to the user.

Overall, on page optimization is important because most of the elements are what are shown on the web pages and websites, thus it is what the user sees when they click on the link from a search engine. These elements are essential to boost search engine rankings and affect click-through rates to any web page or website.