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On-Page Optimisation

Selecting the right keyword phrases for each page of your web site is the first step towards ranking high in the Search Engines. However, it is only the first step. Once you have selected your targeted keyword phrases, you must then implement them into your pages.

Taking the time to optimise your web pages the right way will pay off in high rankings, driving more quality traffic to your web site. Heres a quick overview of some on page SEO factors:

Title Tags

The title tag is one of your biggest weapons, use it wisely. Include your keywords for that page, but don't keyword stuff - about 12 words is a good amount. If you want to put your business name in there that's fine, just put your keywords first and your business name last.

Use a different title tag for each page of your site, including the keywords for each page in it's title. This way each page will be optimised for its own keywords. Too many sites make the mistake of using 'Welcome to X business name's website' as their title and use it for every page on their site. They will also use the same description on each page - they can say goodbye to rankings.

META Descriptions

The META description tag is used to describe your site. Some search engines use this description in their results pages, therefore your desctiption should contain your keywords for that page. Do not just repeat or stuff the description with keywords though, people are less likely to continue on to your site if they see your listing stuffed with keywords. You want an informative description for human eyes that also contains your keywords.

Use a different description for each page on your site - each page is different, so why would you describe them all the same?

Heading Tags

Heading tags are used to seperate topics. Some search engines put extra weight on words placed within heading tags as they help determine what the page is about. <H1> is the largest font and gives the most advantage. It's appearance is the largest and is bold which can look out of place on most sites, (although you can get around this using cascading styling sheets.) Headings should be followed with contentent sprinkled with your keywords.

Body Text

The body text or the actual content on your page should also contain your keywords. The keywords should be repeated to a certain extent, known as keyword density. You want to optimise your content to include your keywords while making sure it reads well and makes sense. There is no point in overdoing it if it makes your site sound silly and turns visitors away.

Alt Text

The alt image tag can be used with images. It is used to describe the image if a visitor is using a browser that reads web pages for the blind or if they have graphics turned of. You will also see the alt text if you hover your mouse over an image. This presents an oppurtunity to describe your images including your keywords.

Anchor Text

Anchor text is the text you use to describe a link.

Here is an example of what not to do:
For Keyword Product X click here.

Instead you should use: Keyword Product X as the link text. Using the first example tells the search engines that the page you are linking to is about 'click here' which does nothing for you. By using the second example you are telling the search engine the linked to page is about Keyword Product X.

Anchor text will give your pages a boost in search engine relevancy. This especially applies when other sites link to yours. The importance of inbound links and anchor text is explained further in our article: Back Link Building, Link Baiting and Page Rank

File Names

Having relevant file names can also help in search engine results. Keywords in your file name seperated by '-' will tell the search engines what the page is about. For example keyword-product-x.html. Don't over do it with extremely long file names though.

If your page is already ranking well with decent PR, I would not reccommend renaming all your file names. You will lose your existing page rank for the chance of a very slight boost. This tip is useful for new websites or pages with no or little existing PR. This also applies to your domain name, again most helpful for new sites.

Site Maps

A Site Maps is a page detailing your site, listing all the pages within and how they link to each other. It is a map for search engine robots to see all of your pages for indexing.

Lastly, take the time to run your site through a broken link checker and a html/css validator.

Does all this sound too complicated or like too much work?
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