If you want your website to rank high in search results, On-Page SEO is essential. It forms the foundation of every successful SEO strategy – covering everything you can optimize directly on your website. In this article, you’ll learn what On-Page SEO is, which elements are crucial, and how to improve them step by step.
What is On-Page SEO?
On-Page SEO includes all optimizations you make on your own website to make it search engine-friendly. In contrast, Off-Page SEO relates to external factors like backlinks. On-Page SEO therefore encompasses both technical and content-related measures – from meta tags and heading structures to your site's loading speed.
Key On-Page SEO Factors
1. Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
The page title and meta description are the first things users and search engines see. Make sure your title includes the main keyword and the description encourages clicks. Both should be unique and precise.
2. Heading Structure (H1–H6)
A clear content hierarchy helps not only your readers but also Google understand your page's content. Use H1 for the main title and H2–H4 for subtopics. Avoid multiple H1 tags on a single page.
3. Keyword Optimization
Identify the terms your audience searches for and integrate them naturally into titles, text, and subheadings. Important: avoid keyword stuffing! Google penalizes excessive repetition.
4. Images and Multimedia
Always include descriptive alt attributes for images. Compress them to reduce load times and use modern formats like WebP. Videos and audio files can also improve your ranking if relevant and properly embedded.
5. Internal Linking
Strategically use internal links to related pages to provide logical navigation and help Google crawl your site. This strengthens the authority of your subpages and keeps visitors on your website longer.
6. Mobile Optimization
Google now evaluates websites using the Mobile-First principle. Your site should work just as well on smartphones as on desktops. Regularly check layout, buttons, and text size for mobile friendliness.
7. Page Speed and Core Web Vitals
Load speed is a central ranking factor. Google measures values like LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) for load time, INP (Interaction to Next Paint) for interactivity, and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) for layout stability. Keep these values as low as possible to ensure a good user experience.
8. Structured Data
With structured data (Schema.org markup), you help Google better understand your content. Stars, prices, or FAQs can appear directly in search results as “Rich Snippets.”
9. Content Quality
Search engines prefer high-quality, unique, and helpful content. Write for people, not algorithms. Regularly update your texts to remain relevant and avoid duplicate content.
Conclusion
On-Page SEO is the foundation of every successful website. Investing time in optimization pays off – clean technical structure, well-organized content, and good user experience result in better rankings and more visibility. If you need support building your website: at Aurelix, I combine web design and web development to create visible, fast, and search engine-friendly websites with heart and mind.
Further Tip: A full overview of the known 200 Google ranking factors can be found on Backlinko.
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