12 On-Page SEO Factors You Need To Focus On

What Is On-Page SEO?

Which factors are involved in Search Engine Optimization? This is one of the hottest questions when it comes to website rankings. Unless you are a large conglomerate like Amazon, chances are that your rankings fluctuate all the time and you need to fight for better positions. On-page SEO factors are to blame for promoting or demoting your website, with content, meta tags, headings, images, internal links, and the user experience being the usual suspects. This means that search engine marketing intelligence never stops for you in your search for better keywords and more targeted ads. One of the core reasons your on-page SEO score decreases is old, irrelevant content. Search engines want to see fresh material that appeals to today’s needs and challenges.

Another core reason why rankings change is Google’s algorithm. In fact, the company uses over 200 ranking factors, which they update regularly. In 2024, Google ran 7 algorithm changes that impacted thousands of websites and their rankings. You may have noticed a severe traffic dip within the course of a month. Search Engine Optimization specialists spend hours upon hours studying these changes and making appropriate changes. Do you have your own expert doing this job, or do you need an external collaborator?

How Does On-Page SEO Differ From Off-Page?

Off-page Search Engine Optimization is quite different from on-page SEO. Basically, on-page is where you rank, and off-page is how you rank. While both of them are equally important, there are many more on-page SEO techniques you should implement. We already mentioned that content, meta tags, headings, images, internal links, and the user experience play a pivotal role. If you’re wondering how to optimize a landing page for lead generation, you should know that headers, URLs, external links, visuals, snippets, page speed, and schema markup also play a massive role. On the other hand, link building, content promotion, local SEO, social media marketing, guest posting, and public relations are important off-page SEO factors. Additionally, you may want to utilize content syndication platforms to maximize visibility and leverage other websites’ audiences.

The point isn’t to choose one or the other. Both off-page and on-page SEO are crucial to ranking highly. However, we advise you to create a clear and organized on-page structure before focusing on off-page tactics. You basically want to build strong foundations before you move on to the rest of the construction.

12 On-Page SEO Factors To Take Into Consideration

1. Content

It feels like we’re repeating ourselves, but content is like a shop window. It’s what attracts users or makes them click the X button. You may look at successful content marketing strategy examples to understand what good content looks like. For example, the best blogs in your niche are probably spending hours tracking keywords and creating evergreen articles based on them. From an on-site SEO perspective, great content means that your articles are linkable. It’s not enough for people to find them online and visit your domain. Other blogs should link back to your site as a reference. Every time this happens, Google takes it as a sign that your domain is an authoritative source. Therefore, your ranking improves.

Even the greatest content marketing ideas require some refining, though. For instance, trending topics are wonderful at gaining instant traction and targeting high-traffic keywords. However, writing such articles isn’t a wise option for long-term success. Even if you’re writing a trending article, find a way to turn it into an evergreen piece that will be relevant years from now.

2. E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It may not be among Google’s on-page SEO factors, but it’s an important component of the company’s guidelines. Satisfying these four elements is an indirect way to help your ranking. But let’s discuss all four of them.

Experience refers to content that is based on real-life cases and customer interactions with your company. Basically, it’s reviews users leave on your website, testimonials, and case studies you create about a collaboration and how you helped a customer overcome their struggles. Next, we have expertise. How knowledgeable is the person writing or publishing the content in your field? For example, eLearning Industry’s expertise in digital marketing comes from thought leader Christopher Pappas, who is a credible figure in the eLearning and HR fields. Authoritativeness is the third element. It depends on the recognition you receive from others in your field. Do people link back to your website or talk about your brand on their domains? For every relevant backlink you receive, your domain authority (DA) increases substantially. Lastly, we have trustworthiness. How accurate is the information you share? Do you do thorough research before you write your articles?

3. Keywords

The days of keyword stuffing are long gone. Now, Google has become extra strict with websites that do this. Also, its algorithm needs to identify your content as relevant and valuable. However, no matter how well-written it is, it won’t perform well if you don’t apply on-page SEO optimization. Start by doing an SEO competitor analysis to understand which keywords and phrases your competing websites rank for. This is a good first step but not nearly enough to boost your SEO. After locating competitor keywords, you should also optimize for semantically related phrases and topics. For example, if you provide an LMS solution, related topics could be employee engagement, onboarding, and training.

Additionally, ensure that you use the right contextual texts when you link to other articles. You want to use the key phrases you’re targeting. To create a successful SEO page, you can use tools like Ahrefs, Google Trends, and Google Autocomplete. Alternatively, eLearning Industry can do an SEO competition analysis for you and help you create a more effective content strategy.

4. Meta Descriptions And Title Tags

Like E-E-A-T, meta descriptions are not direct on-page SEO factors. So, why should you even care about them? They are useful HTML elements that inform Google about your website’s subject. The more targeted and specific your meta description is, the more clicks you’ll generate. That is because people who do their research can see that you have the answer they’re looking for. As an agency with years of expertise in offering content marketing services, we advise you to include at least a primary and possibly a secondary keyword. Keep your description short at about 150–160 words so it’s viewable. And don’t forget to add a CTA to make it more actionable.

Meta title tags are another important element in the on-page SEO process. These tags are the header text shown when someone does a search query and notifies them about the content of your page. That’s why your titles should be short and specific, as Google shows only 50–60 characters. And the more accurate it is, the more clicks you get. In some cases, you may notice the meta title and page title to be slightly different. It’s best to keep them identical unless you want Google to change your titles and descriptions.

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5. URL

There used to be a time when Google took website URLs very seriously in ranking pages. This is no longer among the top SEO parameters. However, you should still pay close attention. You must still make your page URLs descriptive and include targeted keywords. Every experienced B2B content marketing agency will tell you that short and easy-to-read URLs are better for on-site SEO than longer, complex ones. Another crucial tip is to avoid using numbers in your titles. That is because you’ll lose all the juice and authority the URL had, and you’ll have to start from zero. To avoid that, you can set a redirect. Moreover, HTML does not like spaces and prefers hyphens to separate words. Lastly, don’t use special hashtag characters, as they aren’t rendered in browser bars.

6. NAP Citations

If you want to find local customers, name, address, and phone number (NAP) are necessary. Include them everywhere, including your social media accounts, websites, directories, and local listings. Don’t think that NAP citations are only beneficial for local SEO. Yes, it’s a far more valuable on-page SEO factor for those of you with physical stores and businesses, as Google shows customers companies near them. The way Google verifies your information is by crawling other reputable sources to ensure the same details are listed. But why should you care if you are operating exclusively in the digital world? Google wants to ensure that your website belongs to a valid business with headquarters and a working phone number. This way, they know that potential clients can call and communicate with humans.

A few of the most popular platforms businesses use to submit citations and get more customers are Facebook, Google, Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Foursquare. Depending on your industry, you may find other high-quality domains.

7. Visual Elements

Among the top SEO essentials are the visual elements you incorporate into your articles. Images, videos, graphics, GIFs, animations, infographics, and polls are all pivotal to engaging audiences and decreasing bounce rates. It may sound far-fetched, but the time people spend on your website improves your Google ranking. So, this is your cue to leverage the benefits of video marketing. If you’re already creating videos for your social media, you should include them in your articles, too. If you have yet to make original videos, it’s time to rethink your entire B2B content marketing strategy. When it comes to on-page SEO photo content, it’s best to include captions with relevant information. Also, your visual elements should be high-quality and original. If you’re using non-original content, make sure to get permission.

8. Internal And External Linking

How many backlinks should your website have to rank? There isn’t a definitive number for all websites in the digital world. It depends on your backlink profile and your competitors’ profiles. A market intelligence report can help you identify how many backlinks competing websites have so you can set the right goals. But enough about backlinks. Internal linking for SEO is one of the most important on-page SEO factors, too. Using the right anchor texts, you should link as many of your own articles as possible. Obviously, you should choose relevant links that enrich the user experience. Additionally, external links send users to other authoritative websites, proving you’ve done your research. Associating yourself with such domains shows Google that you know what you’re talking about.

9. Image Alt Text

Have you ever visited a website where the images failed to load? Or have you forgotten your cursor over an image? In both cases, the alt text appears, describing what the image is about. For starters, this on-page SEO technique helps people and search engine bots understand what your images and articles talk about. But most importantly, alt text is an accessibility feature that allows people with visual impairments to understand what an image shows. To make your alt texts beneficial to these people and to your on-page SEO, you should keep them brief with relevant keywords.

Since we’re talking about images, let’s mention a few formatting tips. For starters, ensure your images aren’t too large in size, as your page will take a lot of time to load. Also, use the right aspect ratio so they are mobile-friendly. Finally, use an accurate name for your images. Don’t settle for automated names like IMG_009887.

10. Schema Markup

To get people to buy your product, you have to make them visit your website first. Your on-site SEO score improves when you add a schema markup to your pages. It is basically code you add to notify search engines about the content of your page so they can show it to the most targeted audiences. This special code informs Google what the content is about, who it is for, and who benefits from accessing it. Let’s say you have HR software you want to promote. Your schema markup should mention your company’s name, address, phone number, social media profiles, opening hours (if applicable), and services. For example, mention all the things your software does, like helping with payroll, onboarding, engagement, time tracking, and recruiting. The more information you add, the easier Google results create snippets, ratings, and carousels.

11. Site Speed And Responsive Design

Those two factors are part of the overall user experience, and Google takes them into consideration. As you know, slow-loading and unresponsive pages increase bounce rates. You certainly don’t want that, do you? So, use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to test the speed of your website. Depending on the results, you may need to act quickly. A few of the most common issues with websites are large images, too many redirects, excessive Flash content, code density, and inadequate caching. Once you optimize all these, you will see a massive difference.

Regarding responsiveness, Google is now taking into consideration how well your domain is optimized for mobile view. While it’s not impossible to rank without a mobile-friendly website, we highly recommend that you proceed with the necessary on-page SEO process.

12. Freshen Up Old Content

And we’re back talking about content. If you review your content library, you might find wonderful pieces that are not ranking well anymore, even though they are still relevant. Instead of writing new articles from scratch, you can work on them to improve on-page SEO. Check whether the keyword you chose years ago needs changing, and if so, change it accordingly. Maybe you’ll also need to add fresh perspectives and data. Something you wrote five years ago might be inaccurate now. If your articles aren’t long enough, expand the subject to compete with other websites. Remember that the past, present, and future of digital marketing will always be your content.

5 Tips To Recover Your Lost Google Traffic

Before you go deep into your content, we advise that you check for any technical errors. Sometimes even a small code error from a website update can send you the wrong tracking information. Also, check Google Analytics to see whether Google has penalized you. Or, look into whether you’ve turned off the indexing and crawling settings for your website. If everything appears in place, then you can make a few on-page content improvements.

1. Lost Backlinks

Link-building dofollow backlinks are instrumental to your website’s ranking and a crucial on-page SEO factor. Authoritative backlinks help you associate with credible sources and borrow some of that trust. Yet, backlinks may get lost for a couple of reasons unrelated to Google updates. For starters, the other website may have deleted the article linking back to you or updated it and accidentally used the wrong URL. On the first occasion, you can’t do much to fix the issue.

However, in the second, you can contact them and ask them to use the right link. Also, you might have changed the URL of your article and thus broken the backlink. You can go back and fix this issue. The importance of on-page SEO is so huge that you can’t let any backlinks go to waste. Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush help you locate backlink issues. Buying backlinks isn’t a viable option, so resist the temptation to try and fix the issue by purchasing links.

2. Website Changes

Remember how we said that Google uses over 200 different ranking factors? Sometimes even the smallest changes can trigger traffic dips. For example, slight design alterations like colors can actually create technical modifications. Changing on-page SEO elements like image alt texts, metadata, custom CSS, and HTML structures can impact your ranking significantly. Maybe one of those factors was instrumental to your success, and now that you’ve changed it, you’ve experienced a drop in organic traffic. So, you have two options. For starters, you can revert all the changes and wait for a few weeks to see if things go back to normal. If, however, you want to keep the updates, you have to perform an SEO audit to check what mistakes you have to fix. You may also discover new untapped opportunities.

3. New Content

Content marketing for B2B requires fresh and relevant articles people want to read right now. Chances are you have loads of old content on your website that offers no value to readers. As a page optimization tip, you can do research to identify keywords and topics people in your niche are searching for. Identify old articles on these topics and refresh them. Maybe you need to add new keywords to help them rank and fix parts of the text. If you want to keep the same main keyword as it is, you can add a secondary long-tail keyword to boost your SEO. Additionally, you may notice that similar articles are longer than yours. In this case, increase the length of your texts, as this is another on-page SEO factor. Alternatively, write brand-new articles and include an FAQ section at the bottom.

4. External Links

We have already explained how important backlinks are for any website to rank highly in Google. On-page SEO optimization also benefits from external contextual links. These are links to other authoritative websites you are not related to in any way. Usually, you want to mark those as “nofollow” since you are not endorsing these sites. You are simply using them to add more value and credibility to your articles. It’s a gesture toward Google and your audience that you did your research while writing your content. The best external links are official studies, surveys, and statistics from authoritative figures and institutions. Still, don’t overdo it; only add external links when absolutely necessary. You don’t want every sentence to have one.

5. Internal Links

All link-building strategies employ internal links to increase a website’s authority and Google ranking. It’s the easiest and safest way to promote your own content and improve your Search Engine Optimization. Make sure to use the right anchor texts when linking to your own URLs. You want to use the keywords every article is ranking for, not random words. Moreover, share your articles on social media and encourage your audience to engage with them. When you receive many social media shares, you also increase your backlinks. You may do the same through your emails.

Key Takeaway

Google changes its algorithm so often that it can be hard to keep up with the updates. Nevertheless, you should never abandon your Search Engine Optimization efforts, as it’s the only medicine for treating lost organic traffic. Valuable content that promotes your expertise and thought leadership generates clicks and new leads and proves to Google why you are an authoritative figure. Elements like meta descriptions and titles, keywords, URLs, and citations sweeten the pot even further. But SEO optimization isn’t complete without proper link building. eLearning Industry has the knowledge, experience, and credibility to help you improve your backlink profile with pre-approved high DA websites.

If you were a victim of Google’s latest updates and lost a major chunk of your organic traffic, don’t worry. There are many things you can try out. Our dedicated experts will thoroughly analyze your profile to identify lost backlinks, revert website changes if needed, and guide you in enriching your content with new internal and external links.