SEO can be a huge task to carry out, so we’ve broken down on-page techniques into simple tips you can use to create an effective SEO strategy.
It’s so much easier to break up an SEO strategy into manageable pieces (e.g. technical SEO strategy, on-page SEO strategy, off-page SEO strategy), rather than have a million-page document. And it just so happens that an on-page SEO strategy is a great starting-point.
For those that aren’t sure what on-page SEO is, it’s an organic method for optimising each of your website pages in order to gain a higher search engine ranking, and is done through making changes and edits to various elements on the physical website.
Below we have explained what you can do to create a simple, yet effective, on-page SEO Strategy.
1. Defining your target audience
In order to create effective content and understand which keywords will work best for people finding your business online, you need to define your target audience. Characteristics like age, gender, hobbies, interests, location etc. should all factor into how you define your target audience. This will then inform the tone-of-voice you use for your written content, as well as the types of images and keywords you use.
I understand that defining your audience is easier said than done. You’ll need to carry out some research to properly understand the similarities in your audiences. Social media can be a big help with this, as can encouraging your existing customers to fill out a quick questionnaire.
If you don’t understand your audience enough, there is a risk that the keywords you choose won’t be as effective in generating the results you want to see.
2. Deciding on your keywords
Choosing keywords is a necessary factor of SEO, and allows your website to be more visible to audiences most likely to purchase from you. While researching your target audience can offer some guidance into a few keywords that will be helpful, you can add to these by using several free tools including:
- Google autofill
- Google related searches
- Google’s ‘people also ask’
Basically, if you conduct a search in Google with a keyword or key-phrase you think your business could rank well for, you can use these features to find more keywords to add to your list.
3. Creating your SEO-friendly content
Once you’ve defined your target audience and decided on relevant keywords for your page, the next logical step is to plan and write the content, keeping in mind these things:
- The purpose of your page (inform/educate/entertain/encourage a purchase)
- Who you’re writing for
- Keywords you’ve chosen
Instead of having long blocks of text, think about breaking content up into shorter paragraphs, and add relevant images that will either support what you’re writing or help to keep the page visual and engaging.
Using header tags can be a great way to organise what you’re saying with your written text, and they can also help to positively influence the visibility of your website.
As well as using header tags to break up your content into manageable chinks for your readers, you should also think about your meta-title and meta-description. These are what is shown to a potential reader when your page shows up in search results. The title is the blue link that tells the reader what the page is about, and the description offers more information about what is included within the content of the page.
It’s important to use relevant keywords in the meta-title and meta-description to give your page a better chance of ranking well in relevant search results. You should also consider using your business name in the meta-title – although this can be tricky as there is a character-limit set on both titles and descriptions.
And whilst I encourage the use of relevant keywords within your pages, please, please, please don’t overdo it. Search engines know when you’re trying to include keywords where they’re not needed, and can penalise your website for it. Keyword spamming is by no means a useful tactic when it comes to SEO, and it can help to remember that you write your content for your potential customers, not for search engines.
4. One Page at a Time
This probably goes without saying, but rather than tackling your whole website at once, update your pages one at a time, primarily focusing on the more poorly performing ones. It can take Google 6 months or more to index and rank a single page that’s been updated, so it’s probably best to get the ball rolling.
5. Analysing the results of your on-page SEO strategy
Once you’ve completed and published the webpages you’ve updated, you may feel an overwhelming sense of relief. Unfortunately (sorry for bursting your bubble), the work isn’t quite over (nor will it really ever be over). It’s important to continually analyse the effects of your SEO techniques on your website traffic, as there may be indications that some pages need more updating.
The way the public is using search, is constantly changing. Voice search wasn’t even a thing 20 years ago, and now there are billions of people across the world using it, thanks to new technologies like Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Home Hub. This means you’re webpages are going to need analysing and updating regularly, to make sure you’re keeping up with changing search trends.
If you’d like to know how we can help boost the number of visitors to your website, contact us today!
