On-Page SEO

On-page SEO can mean drastically different things to different SEO consultants and web designers.  We are all opinionated and we all have our own set of proven techniques. Some SEO tactics are backed by actual data or direct advice from the major search engines, some are based on studies and extensive testing, and some can be attribuetd to a  gut-feelings based on years of SEO experience.

If you are selecting an SEO consultant or firm, make sure you understand their on-page SEO tactics.  The more you know, the more you can validate your SEO consulting team is on par with the industry and with your expectations.

Sample On-Page SEO Tactics

• Review Marketing Goals and Objectives
• Identify Target Market
• Focus Marketing Messaging and Branding
• Review the Existing Website’s Architecture
• Review Existing Website’s Available Content
• Perform a Competitive Analysis
• Perform Keyword Discovery
• Prioritize Keywords and Phrases Based on Relevance and Search Volumes
• Map Target Keywords to Individual Web Pages
• Optimize Website Architecture for URL Usage and URL Length
• Optimize Existing Content and/or Write New Content
• Optimize Each Page and Blog Post for Keyword Usage, Headers, and Alt Tags
• Create Unique and Optimize Title Tags
• Create Unique and Optimize Description Meta Tags
• Set up Rel=”Canonical”
• Build Deep Links Between Blog Posts and Pages
• Create an XML Sitemap
• Submit XML Sitemap to Major Search Engines

The Key to Good On-page SEO is Not Being Able to Actually See the SEO

If you can readily see it, then it’s bad SEO and most likely in violation of one of the search engines guidelines.  Your visitors won’t like it and neither will the search engines.  You page rank and your ability to appear in search will be degraded.