ON PAGE SEO
It’s often the case when we see new client who are unable to rank in organic searches that their On Page SEO is the largest contributor to the problem. On Page SEO refers to the sites text and HTML (source code). Plainly stated, the on page stuff is what the users see, and what search engines sees as text on the page. These elements must be implemented correctly, and they must target the correct keywords. We are On Page SEO experts here to ensure our client sites are putting their best foot forward.
We review the following elements when evaluating a websites On Page SEO:
Title Tags
Every page on a website should have a Title Tag, also known as a Page Title. These titles appear in search results as well. All too often these title tags are missing, poorly formatted, too short or too long, or are duplicated from page to page. These issues must be fixed, and the right keywords need to be used in the title tags.
Meta Descriptions
Meta Descriptions appear in the source code of page, behind the scenes if you will, and then communicate to Google the purpose of a page. They also appear in search results beneath the Page Title. Metas are problematic when they are under optimized, duplicated from page to page, longer than they are permitted to be. When these issues occur, they must be fixed.
H1, h2, h3
The h1, h2s, and h3s are the titles and secondary titles of a page, also known as H tags. These tags are used to communicate to Google the primary focus of a page, and the secondary or tertiary focus of a page. These H tags can be used to send a strong signal to Google, and to help the visitor understand the page. There are rules regarding how these should be implemented, how often, and in what fashion. When those rules are ignored, problems are created.
Keywords
When we send a signal to Google saying a page is about a specific topic but fail to mention that topic in the text on the page, websites get penalized. It simply does not pass the logic test, and so it’s important to leverage the results of an SEO Keyword Research, and to work the target keywords into the text of every page.
Responsive Design
Every site which hopes to rank in organic search should be responsive. Responsive Design refers to a website which responds, resizes, and adjusts for users on different screen sizes. This is important since today users come in on mobile devices and desktops of all sizes. Sites which are not responsive, will be penalized in organic search.
XML Sitemap
One of the main ways we have to communicate to search engines what content can be found on any site, is by submitting a sitemap. The preferred format for a sitemap is the XML Sitemap, which itemizes the various pages and their location for search engines to crawl.
URL Structure
Websites have been set up various ways over the years – some with subdomains (e.g. blog.google.com), sub-directories (e.g. www.google.com/blog/), variables inserting into URLs for tracking purposes. In all cases, it’s wise to be mindful of keeping URLs short and relevant, to use the right structure for the right situation, and to use relevant terms in URLs.
Canonicals
Canoncials are means of tagging a page to indicate to search engines that a specific URL is the master copy (or version) of a web page. This minimizes the risk of problems related to duplicative content from arising, and serves as a handy tool for handling closely related or mirrored pages.