Having worked out our keywords let’s now take a look at on page SEO.
On page SEO is stuff that we are going to do to our website. Where and how you do this depends on which platform you are using. Each platform is getting really good at allowing you to make the changes that you need to. If you are not sure where to make the changes you need you can always search for help eg WIX meta titles or Squarespace alt tags.
WordPress users I advise installing an SEO plugin to make these changes. There’s lots out there including All in One SEO, Yoast, SEO Press and RankMath to name a few.
Our optimisation to do list includes:
H1 Headers
Alt tags
Text
Meta titles and descriptions
H1 headers
Headers on a page start at H1 all the way down to H6, they are used for separating sections and sub sections.
We are going to concentrate on H1 headers.
These are usually at the top of a page and can often be identified by being in a bigger font.
Some of the DIY platforms use the page title as their H1.
If you use the more advanced page builders or themes to build your website on WordPress you will be able to choose which title to attach the H1 tag to.
The key is to identify which is your H1 title and make sure that it naturally includes your keyword for that page. This is a good place to include a service or product title.
The spider bots are going to read the H1 as the main subject of your page – so let’s tell them exactly what it’s about!
Text on the page
Your copy should always include your keywords in various places, but should be written naturally so it’s easy to read for your website visitor.
Remember – Google always tries to give the best possible experience by showing the search user the greatest content it has in the Index. So it’s our job to produce really great content!
Never spam your content with a list of words – Google can tell what you are up to and doesn’t like it.
Alt tags
The main use of alt tags is for accessibility by people using screen readers with visual impairments.
Alt tags are descriptions of pictures that are read by the screen readers and all website platforms allow you to add alt tags.
An added bonus of alt tags is that the spider bots can also read them – yay, another chance to tell them about our business!
Correct use of alt tags also gets you shown in the Google image search – another bonus 🙂
Alt tags should be filled in honestly for our accessibility users, but also descriptively for the spider bots.
For example:
Bad – ‘dog’
Fair – ‘dog on grass’
Better – ‘chocolate labrador dog walking on Tooting Common’
Meta Titles and Descriptions
Meta titles and descriptions are the words that people see when they search on Google.
Meta titles and descriptions should be what your website page is about. They give search users, and Google, a better idea of what the content of the page is all about.
Some website platforms like Shopify, WIX and Squarespace will add in default meta titles and description but you can still change them and optimise them.
In WordPress you will need to add them using a plugin.
Everyone should make sure (and edit them if needs be) that they properly describe your website or page.
The home page meta title and description are especially important. Bonus points if you edit all the other page’s meta titles and descriptions as well.
Meta titles should be approximately 57 characters and should contain your most important keywords.
Meta descriptions should be approximately 163 characters. The description should contain your supporting keywords and be written more like a two line sales ad for your page, product or post. Make it naturally written, engaging and clickable!
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If you are DIYing your SEO and trying to implement all of the above please do not get stressed or overwhelmed by it.
The key to making SEO changes is to do it in small amounts, one thing at a time.
Take your time over it, concentrate, slowly slowly!
Next – Part 5, which covers off page SEO and lighting up the internet with our business.
