Looking for Effective On-Page SEO?
SEO is everywhere around us when we use the internet. Whether you want to buy new shoes, find new job candidates for your company, or order takeout, SEO will affect your online findings.
According to recently published data, 93% of all online experience begins with search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Only 21% of people access more than one website in their search result pages, however, making proper on-page optimization crucial for businesses around the world.
On-page SEO is a valuable tool that can change the online game in your favor if handled properly. To do that, you’ll need to rethink SEO and how you create and subsequently optimize the content on your WordPress website. Let’s talk about the intricacies of on-page SEO, its benefits, and how to make use of it to improve your ranking in 2022.
Differentiating On-Page and Off-Page SEO
To understand on-page SEO, we need to address off-page SEO as well. Let’s start with on-page SEO as we will also cover its ins and outs in the following paragraphs. On-page SEO represents all activities on your WordPress website with the explicit intent to improve its Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ranking. The most important elements of on-page SEO include but are not limited to:
- H tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.)
- Written content
- Alt-text (for multimedia)
- Internal and external links
- User engagement content (comments, likes, etc.)
- Responsiveness (how mobile-friendly it is)
- Loading speed
As you can see, most of what on-page SEO is about concerns writing quality content for your WordPress website. It doesn’t matter if you run a healthcare clinic, a pet store, or a retail accessories shop – on-page SEO rules are the same for everyone.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have off-page SEO. Off-page SEO concerns any activities you partake in away from your website but which are still directed toward your website. What goes into off-page SEO?
- Social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Link-building (how trustworthy your website is in SEO algorithm’s eyes)
- Online mentions (how many times other brands mention yours and in what manner)
Off-page SEO revolves around redirecting traffic from other pages and platforms to your website. The best way to promote healthy off-page SEO is by focusing your efforts on creating great content for on-page SEO. That way, other brands, and B2C users will notice just how professional and reliable your website is for them and decide to convert.
Focusing solely on off-page SEO without sprucing up your WordPress website will lead to poor performance and nigh nonexistent lead generation. Combining on-page and off-page SEO will help your website grow and attract leads more efficiently than if you focused on one or the other.
Perks of Effective On-Page SEO for Your WordPress Website
We’ve taken a look at “what is on-page SEO” but we should also answer the question of “why is on-page SEO” so valuable? Web crawlers from popular search engines parse through new web pages daily to differentiate original content from spam.
Regardless of which platform, OS, or web browser your target audience is using, your on-page SEO will come into play. There is a multitude of benefits you stand to gain by working on your on-page SEO without having to invest resources into paid advertisements. Here’s what you stand to gain from it:
- Higher organic ranking in global and local search queries
- Improved organic traffic toward your landing pages
- Improved long-term value of your published content
- Improved lead generation and conversion rates
- Lowered bounce rate and improved click-through rates (CTR)
- Faster, more lightweight pages for mobile devices
- Improved long-term return on investment (ROI) from page optimization
Tips for Effective On-Page SEO
- Create Original Content and Organize it Around a Content Calendar
The best way to attract and subsequently retain visitors to your WordPress website is through original content written on a keyboard or with the help of a dictation app. Whether you run a digital marketing agency, an eCommerce storefront, or outsource legal services, on-page SEO can be improved through original content. Articles, opinion pieces, tutorials, and other types of blog posts can incrementally improve your site’s authority.
This is what makes working with professional writers through a reliable writing service valuable in long term. Reaching out to thesis writers who will treat each of your pages and blog posts as a writing assignment will ensure your content’s quality. With original content in hand, you will be able to create a tangible content calendar to use as a reference for future publishing efforts.
Spacing out your content publishing will let both search engines and visitors know that you’re a systematic, organized website worth keeping an eye on. This is a more lucrative path to take rather than publish several pages at once and hope for the best for your on-page SEO.
- Make Good Use of H Tags in All Website Pages
Web crawlers and SEO algorithms which parse through web pages are not sentient and cannot use human logic to understand the content they come across. This is where H tags come into the forefront in on-page SEO. H tags or “Heading” tags are used to structure on-page content so that search engines can understand it better. Here’s a breakdown of the H tags hierarchy as seen by web crawlers and SEO algorithms:
- H1
- H2
- H3
- H4
- H5
- H4
- H3
- H2
Each page on your website should have a single H1 tag, followed by multiple H2, H3, H4 tags respectively. H1 tags should always describe the role of your page, or, the title of the blog posts the pages contain. H2 tags should be used on subheadings that break up that page, with H3 tags being used for numbered lists, bullet points, etc.
By logic, H1 tags are the most important, with H5, H6, and subsequent tags being less relevant. Use H tags in all of your pages to structure their content properly and your on-page SEO will be far healthier as a result. Failing to use H tags will not only confuse web crawlers but actual visitors as well due to a general lack of flow to your pages.
- Mix Internal Links (On-Page SEO) with External Links (Off-Page SEO)
There is a big difference between internal and external links in your website and you need to use both to boost your brand authority online. Internal links refer to links that originate from your domain. Think of interlinking related blog posts to one another to direct users from one resource to another. This is considered on-page SEO and it is very valuable.
External links on the other hand redirect your visitors to other resources and platforms on the web. Useful YouTube videos, Wikipedia entries, and other resources add value to your pages. Combining internal (on-page) and external (off-page) links is what will bring the most users to your website and keep them there.
Moreover, other brands and authority websites will be more inclined to include your original writing and links in their pages. This will add to your domain authority and make your website appear far more trustworthy and professional in whichever industry you operate in.
- Optimize your Multimedia to Improve Page Loading Times
Focusing solely on written content won’t help you attract the audience you want. SEO algorithms won’t look toward your content favorably if it consists exclusively of written content either. Instead, you need to add value in the form of images, infographic material, animation, video, and even audio.
This will diversify your content and contribute greatly to your on-page SEO efforts. However, adding multimedia to your website will considerably affect its loading time and bandwidth requirements. It is pivotal that you optimize your multimedia as best as possible to streamline load times.
This can be done either by compressing content (at the cost of visual quality) OR by relying on external hosting platforms like YouTube or ImageShack. Avoid directly uploading multimedia to your website as much as possible and work on cutting down your load times to improve your overall SEO ranking.
- Shorten and Streamline your URLs
URLs are a major part of on-page SEO and SEO as a whole as they represent addresses to various pages on your website. If your URLs are cobbled together, too long, and consist of special characters and gibberish, SEO algorithms won’t look favorably toward it.
You can optimize your URLs by writing them by hand and developing an internal naming scheme for your pages. Instead of having a blog post be titled “blog/59922”, rewrite it into “blog/SEO_trends_2022” or a similar title dependent on the content of that page.
Shorten your URLs as much as you can without sacrificing their meaning or keywords. Including trending keywords and phrases in URLs will improve your SEO even more. Avoid having your URLs look like strings of computer code and use human logic instead to affect both your search ranking and UX appeal.
Tools for Effective On-Page SEO
Now that we have a better idea of “what” we can do to improve on-page SEO, let’s also take a look at several valuable tools to do so. Thankfully, WordPress is a globally-renown CMS with thousands of plugins and widgets specifically designed for SEO.
With them, you will be able to easily optimize your pages and improve their ranking without having to manually write code or optimize keywords. Combining official WordPress plugins with other external SEO tools will put your site a step ahead of the competition. Let’s take a look at some of the best tools for effective on-page SEO for your WordPress website in 2022:
- RankMath
RankMath is a plugin created with the intent to make optimizing pages for SEO as simple as possible. It features in-depth options for keyword density, keyword suggestion, and analytics among others.
RankMath features both a free and a professional version but you can make do without purchasing the premium license at least for starters. Whether you’re an SEO specialist, copywriter, or casual blogger, RankMath will help you make the most out of your content and improve its on-page SEO performance.
- Google Search Console
Google is the de facto trendsetter when it comes to SEO and using its toolset will dramatically improve your on-page SEO efforts. Google Search Console features search traffic reports and analytics which will give you valuable insight into who is looking at your content and how.
You can then optimize and steer your content in the right direction to shape it to your exact target audience’s expectations. Crawling your pages and setting up custom alerts within Google Search Console will bring additional value and higher SEO performance for your website. All you have to do is connect your website to Google Search Console and get started on deep on-page analytics.
- KWFinder
Keywords are at the heart of SEO optimization and using the right tool to discover trending words and phrases can help you elevate your website. As its name suggests, KW Finder is a tool designed to do just that for your site, regardless of what language you use or where you operate from.
KW Finder will help you find the best words to integrate into your pages and then track them based on different metrics. Your website on-page SEO will benefit greatly from KW Finder as its database is constantly updated with the latest long-tail keywords with lower-than-average competition.
- WooRank
WooRank is an SEO analysis tool designed to help parse through existing on-page data and deliver you the best possible optimization solutions. Using WooRank constantly will allow you to understand your website and existing content with much deeper insight.
This will ensure that no keyword stuffing ever occurs on accident or that any malicious links appear on your website. WooRank is great both for content creators and SEO analysts thanks to its robust toolset, allowing for both better content writing and site security.
- SERPstat
Combining on-page and off-page SEO is difficult without the right tool to back your marketing efforts up – which is where SERPstat comes into play. This is a platform designed with site growth in mind, allowing you to manage your content marketing and SEO from one toolset.
One of the most valuable features of SERPstat is its Missing Keywords, which will help identify the keywords and phrases used by your competitors. With it, you won’t be excluded from high-ranking SERP whenever someone looks for content related to your website. SERPstat is a comprehensive platform with plenty of options for both on-page and off-page SEO – do consider checking it out.
On-Page SEO Mistakes to Avoid for your WordPress Website
We’ve taken a look at several tips on how to make on-page SEO work for you, as well as the tools you can use to do that. But, there’s also the other side of the coin to consider. Site optimization mistakes can happen seemingly in an instant and tank your pages’ performance in global search engines.
You can do just as much harm to your WordPress website with excessive on-page SEO as you can do good. Too much of a good thing will eventually become a bad thing – the same rule applies to online content. Try to mitigate or otherwise avoid the following mistakes in your on-page SEO to maximize your site’s performance in 2022:
- Accidentally (or deliberately) duplicated content – avoid having copies of content on your website
- Broken internal or external links and multimedia – audit your website periodically to check links
- Linking to sites and platforms with a poor reputation or malicious content – be very selective
- Keyword stuffing in hopes of improving SEO ranking – aim for 1.0>1.2 keyword density instead
- Grammar, spelling, and formatting errors – structure and proofread each page on your website
- Regurgitated, uninspired, and stale content – try to be as original as possible in the topics you write
- Ignoring off-page SEO outright – on-page SEO won’t help attract leads by itself, diversify your marketing
- Publishing and subsequently neglecting on-site pages – constant on-page SEO is needed for performance
Closing Thoughts
Combined with marketing your brand and content on social media, via email, and PPC, your site’s online performance will skyrocket with on-page SEO. Start your optimization efforts by creating tangible value for your visitors through original content and optimizing it with the right keywords.
It will take some time for your content to bear fruit and rank higher compared to before but it is an effort worth your time. Don’t give up on your WordPress website prematurely and put in the time to optimize it properly. Once web crawlers go over your content and detect how organized and meaningful it is to its audience, the rest will be history.
Keep in mind that on-page SEO is an ongoing effort that will require your constant attention and monitoring. With time, however, maintaining your on-page SEO will become more manageable so focus your attention on the initial setup first and foremost.