On-site SEO includes any code, data, or content that sits on your website or other digital assets. It is an important part of your search engine optimization strategy as it accounts for 33% of Google’s algorithm.
There are 5 key ways to build your onsite SEO.
1. < Title > Tag
– The title tag does not appear on the page but in the Chrome tab on the user’s computer. Thus it is important to be smart about how you use them and what you name them. If it is taking a user to your website Blog you do not want it to say Website-home.
– The title tag is also the title of the search result that will appear for users, Which is another reason that it needs to be descriptive enough to encourage clicks.
– A good title includes a Keyword. If you have a Digital Marketing website that helps small businesses it should include a word that small business owners will search when looking for help with their digital marketing strategy.
2. < Meta > Tag
– A Meta description is the description that appears under the title tag when a user searches it. It is not something that a user will find on the page but instead a description of what the user can find on the page. If you are a retailer you may list seasonal deals, or describe the aesthetic of your store in this description.
– It is usually very basic because all the details and fine print are located on your website you do not need to include it here.
– Inserting Keywords here will not influence your page rank, however, it can increase your click-through rate.
3. < IMG > tags
– Images are ranked based on alt-text descriptors or image tags. Images tags describe an image to Google. for example, if you had a photo of someone handing someone else flowers you may have an image tag that says Flower shop owner handing customer roses and tulips that he just bought. You may even get more descriptive than that.
– By describing your images they rank higher in image search and can create more traffic (Backlinks) to your website and or links if someone references it.
– Videos do not necessarily need image tags because Google can understand them.
4. Link Anchor Text or Alt < Tags >
– This links your web pages together throughout your website. Creating internal links that support each other and increase user time on your site.
5. Keyword Inclusion in Body < B > and Headings < H1 >
– By Inserting Keywords throughout your text Google will acknowledge your site’s relatability to user searches when it crawls through your content.
Things to Note
Positive: These things can explain to Google that your site, page, and/or asset is related to a specific keyword. It can also create a natural footprint that doesn’t look spammy.
Negative: If these things are not implemented right it may cause Google to flag your site, and thus decrease your ranking. This can be caused if you over insert Keywords or only use Keywords in your alt text.