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SEO is a big game, and it has everything to do with whether or not your customers can find you
online. One of the best investments you can make is entrusting your SEO to an experienced
agency that has your best interests in mind.
We’ve outlined the top 10 on page search engine optimizations tips as a means to keep you
informed. It’s not about taking the reins and running off to do your own SEO but instead to
keep you in the know. If you understand the process, then you can better control your
presence on the web.
Why Is On Page SEO So Important?
When you want higher search engine results you have to start building links that are anchored to
your target keywords – this helps the search engines identify you as being relevant to a specific
market. If your site isn’t optimized for those keywords – booth for indexing and for user
engagement – you’ll have issues ranking and converting the traffic that does show up.
If you’re running targeted PPC campaigns, you’ll find that your cost per click is a lot higher
when your content doesn’t directly relate to the keywords you’re targeting.
In all aspects, on-site optimization – especially the on page content – is the driving force
behind all of your online marketing efforts.
Use these search engine optimization tips to get your on site content in line with the rest of
your marketing and link building strategies so that you can rapidly and quickly outperform the
competition. The following are the onpage search engine optimization tips we will cover:
Canonical Domain Issues
Keyword Research
Title Tags
Meta Content
Keyword Density
On-Page Content
Sitemap
Crawlability Issues
Linking Internally
Stay Fresh
Search Engine Optimization Tips #1: Canonical Domain
Issues
A domain can consist of multiple versions such as domain.com, www.domain.com and
domain.com/index. (insert file extension). Google can read all of these different urls as
different versions of your site. This can trigger a duplicate content filter which reduces
the number of pages shown in the search results. If all your backlinks point to the
non-WWW domain and Google flags that one for duplicate, only listing your www.domain then your
backlinks are wasted.
Fix this with a simple 301 redirect within your domain control panel or .htaccess file.
This code tells bots to redirect traffic to various URLs over to a single location and eliminates
duplicate content worry with search engines.
Search Engine Optimization Tips #2: Keyword Research
Take the time to dig into your market and find out what people are using to search for your
products and services. The results might surprise you. Likewise, don’t just pick the
most competitive keywords and run with it. Find variations of the words using a variety of
tools to help flesh out your targeted words. Google wonder wheel is a great tool as is Word
Tracker and the Google Keyword tool for PPC ad management (even if you’re not doing PPC).
Long tail keywords, or keywords that read more like a sentence than a flat word, help you target
buyers that are ready to buy now as opposed to those who are just kicking tires. Example “buy
firestone tires in Detroit” is a long tail version as opposed to “firestone tires” which is a more
competitive and info-based keyword phrase.
Search Engine Optimization Tips #3: Title Tags
The title is the single most important aspect of on-page content. Not only is the first
piece that’s indexed when it comes to the content of your page but Google and other search engines
use it to establish relevancy.
When a user searches for your keywords they are dished back the title of the content. Most
people base their decision to click a website on the strength of the title and whether or not it
interests them. Having keywords within the title makes it all the more enticing.
The best title structure is often considered to be:
Keyword | message | branding
Search Engine Optimization Tips #4: Meta Content
The Meta Keywords is pointless, so it’s best to just leave this out. Don’t make the
mistake of putting your money keywords into the Meta tags. That’s basically putting them out
there for a competitor to look at and swipe.
The Meta description is next in line beneath the importance of the title tag. Make sure
your description peaks interest without answering or solving. Use keywords to inspire rank,
relevance and interest.
Search Engine Optimization Tips #5: Keyword Density
You’ll often hear people talk about keyword density, where you need to use a keyword a specific
number of times in order to get a site, page or piece of content to rank well for that
keyword. There is very little weight that’s actually placed on keyword density anymore.
The algorithm is able to establish relevancy based more on the content overall than on individual
words.
If you craft quality content on your site first for people then sprinkle in your keywords along
with related themed words you’ll have far more success over those who create content and repeat the
same keyword over and over in each piece.
Search Engine Optimization Tips #6: On-Page Content
While keyword density isn’t important in your on-page content, it is important to optimize
properly so that your keywords are used in “key” places. To help establish relevancy for
targeted keywords, remember to use them in some or all of these places:
- ALT tags on images
- H tags (h1 for title, h2 – h6 for sub headers)
- Body content (keywords along with themed keywords to support them)
- Title & Description
- Anchor text (keyword based links)
- Images, files and other folder names
Search Engine Optimization Tips #7: Sitemaps
The sitemap is important because it tells the algorithm/search engine exactly how to crawl your
site and where to easily locate your content. If search engines had to navigate each link on
our pages going from page to page it would difficult to navigate deep content. The sitemap is
particularly helpful if you have a site with numerous listings such as shopping cart categories or
product descriptions on a variety of pages. Google, Yahoo and MSN teamed up to create a
single protocol for XML sitemaps at www.sitemaps.org
Search Engine Optimization Tips #8: Crawlability Issues
A lot of design elements can make it difficult for the search engines to index your site.
If they can’t index your pages then your link building and other optimization efforts will be
wasted. You can create a variety of crawlability issues by using JavaScript, flash and an
abundance of images for design and navigations. If you must use these things for design and
navigation then also offer a text version with simple links in your footer.
Search Engine Optimization Tips #9: Linking Internally
Make sure the pages within your site are linking to one another – especially if the content is
closely related. Use your targeted keywords that relate to destination copy and create links
among your pages that point to one another. On-site links don’t carry as much weight as
off-site links but they still pass link juice & relevancy on to one another.
Search Engine Optimization Tips #10: Stay Fresh
You’re never “finished” when it comes to content on your website. You should revisit the
content every 1 to 3 months with continued keyword research. As interests and conversion
changes you’ll need to adapt your copy so that it speaks to your changing target audience.
Keep your content fresh and help improve your listings.
Discover How Easy it is to Supplement your On-Page Search Engine
Optimization Tips with a professional SEO service like one of our Dominator Packages.
Contact Us Today to Schedule
a Free Consultation & Discuss Your New Marketing and Optimization Strategy to Renew your Online
Presence.
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