Lesson 3: On Page Optimization for SEO
This is the third part of a series of search engine optimization lessons. On this lesson I will be explaining you the methods to do the actual on page optimization. You will take what you have learned from past lessons and use it to create the proper tags for your pages. When Google analyses your cached content in his algorithm it gives special consideration to certain tags on your page. When I speak of on page optimization I refer to the optimization of these tags to increase your possibility to rank for your target keywords.
The most important is the Title Meta Tag, which is located at the header of your page. This tag along can count up to 20% of the total value of your page on the algorithm. When writing keep this tag under 70 characters long. Also, the algorithm will give more value to the keywords that are more on the beginning of your tag. Keep your most important keywords at the start; here are different ways to create Meta tags:
- {keyword 1} | {keyword 2} | {site name}
- {keyword} – {category} | {site name}
Another important one is the Description Meta Tag. This tag counts in a small percentage of the actual value of your page on your algorithm, but what you state on this tag is what it will be shown as a description in the SERP???s. If you have a properly written description tag for your page you will increase the chances of having click-troughs. Write this tag using keywords on your list.
Some other tags to consider are the headers. These tags include <h1>, <h2> and <h3>. Use this tags to properly organize your web pages, it will also help you keep the style consistent throughout the site. Another tag that will give more power to a keyword is by using the <strong> tag. Now days the algorithm is also taking a look at how you are styling your site. So for example if you use CSS to make a <span> bigger and bolder, then it will take this in consideration and give more value to the words that are inside of these tags.
And then comes the page primary content. This is a very important part for ranking for the keywords that you like. Always keep the content related to the theme of the site and use your keywords in it. Use multiple synonyms or others ways of writing it trough your content, this will help you rank for alternate searches and bring in more traffic. One thing to watch is keyword spamming, by this I mean don???t write the same keyword 100 times on a 300 word page. This will mark the page with a red flag and it might hurt your rankings.
Always remember, if you combine all of these factors together with your keywords in a balances way it will make your job way easier. Some people say that links will help you rank, but if you do not have the proper on page optimization it will be really hard to rank for your goal.
In the next lesson I will be discussing internal and external link building. This is a very important process if you want to rank for hard keywords. Remember SEO is a process, so if you build up your site with all of the different pieces properly configured you will be very successfully to reach your goal. Hope that you enjoyed this lesson, please if you did share it below via Twitter or Facebook. If you have any questions or comments please write them on the form below.
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