What Is On-Page Optimization Anyway?
In the early days of public Internet access, few knew the enormity it would become. .com sites popped up like wildfire, offering everything from coupon clipping services to instant mail- e-mail! This revolution took the world by storm and streamlined the way everything was done around the globe. It created huge competition for every industry and even more competition for those desirable high page rankings.
So, what is search engine optimization exactly? Put simply, it is comprised of steps taken to strengthen the visibility of a website. But if not done property, the process can actuallyin some cases, a website’s search engine results. SEO experts use several criterion to “optimize” your site’s page rankings. One factor that is fairly simple, but quite time consuming, is on-page optimization. Not many know exactly how it can help or even what it is, so let’s discuss it!
On-page optimization includes the use of keywords, keyword placement, meta tags, internal linking strategies and, formatting. There are other strategies, but these are the basics. These on-page optimization strategies will start a company on its way to better search engine results. Remember, patience is key. Even if a person goes out and implements all these strategies today, it takes months of refreshing content, researching keyword effectiveness, and re-formatting webpages to result in the optimal SERP. With some basic knowledge, though, you can help your site move up in page rankings.
One way to help is the process of using keywords in a natural way within your website. Doing so helps search engine spiders see what your site is about and decide that it’s legitimate. You should avoid placing too many keywords on any page; the rule of thumb is one to three percent of content should have your keywords.
Meta tags are weighted differently depending on the search engine in question. Meta tags include: title tags, description tags, keyword tags, robot tags , heading tags and alt tags. All of this are a form of key word placement, essential to helping search engines identify the name of your web pages and the information on them. As a result, each page should have its own unique set of meta tags.
Internal linking is one of the most important on-page optimization strategies. Linking from your websites homepage to your category pages is one way to accomplish some easy internal linking. This is usually accomplished through use of a navigation menu. Try not to place more than three links to the same page on your homepage; this could look bad to search engines, especially Google.
Formatting consists of many factors like content placement, proper keyword placement , using heading tags and alt tags , having a site map and trying to avoid flash and java script. Content placement is important because spiders read content much the same way as humans read books: top to bottom and left to right, so you will want to have your content as close to the top of a page as possible.
Heading tags and alt tags are forms of meta tags. Heading tags help indicate the importance of the content and alt tags describe pictures on your page. The main benefit to this is you can use keywords in these heading tags and the search engines will read them.
The use of Flash and Java Script should be limited, it’s simply not easy for search engine spiders to read them. However, this doesn’t mean you can never use them We all know how visually appealing Flash is, just try to refrain from making entire pages of Flash and Java Script.
Sitemaps make it easier for spiders to crawl your site faster and they help visitors find content on your site. Experts recommend including short descriptive text for each link. Uploading your site map directly to search engines also has a positive impact on your SERPs.
There are many factors that go into on-page optimization and, as you have read, each category can be made up of several categories. With just this brief overview of on-page optimization, we hope you are able to help begin your rise in the ranks; don’t forget there are still many more ways to optimize your site, so check back for future articles on SEO.