5 Quick Tips For On-Page Search Engine Optimization

In the quest for higher rankings many (especially beginning) SEOs tend to focus mostly on off page optimization efforts building links for their sites and running viral social media campaigns. But before you jump into doing all these things you need to make sure the page you're promoting is properly optimized. Follow these simple Search Engine Optimization guidelines and you'll gain some extra leverage in the rankings.

5 Do's of Onpage Optimization:

1. Create Search Engine Friendly URLs

I bet you've seen tons of these strange looking URLs resembling secret Pentagon rocket launch codes. These are the best examples of what is *not* an SEO friendly URL. It's always better to have a meaningful URL with your targeted keywords in it because it makes it easier for the search engines to understand what your page is about. Use the title of your post or article as the URL name using dashes (not underscores) as word separators. This alone will help you jump up a few positions in the search results.

2. Optimize Page Titles

Page title is the most significant element on your webpage. Obviously you should use your targeted keywords in the title, but do it rationally. Keep in mind that you're writing the title (and all of the content in that respect) for your visitors in the first place. Make sure that the keywords flow naturally and the title is easily understandable and compelling.

3. Employ H1-H6 tags

Use header tags to emphasize the most important points made on your webpage. Search engines place more weight to the information you put in the h1-h6 tags (h1 being the most important one). Again don't forget about the people who'll be reading your content and only use the header tags where appropriate with the keywords that naturally fit into them.

4. Use Internal Links

Internal linking is another important but often overlooked aspect on the page. When linking from one page of your website to another try to use meaningful keyword-rich anchor texts instead of the standard 'read more' or 'click here' ones. Internal links are still links and they do affect your search engine rankings.

5. Use Alt Tags

Adding pictures to your content is a great way to make it more compelling and engaging for the visitors. Keep in mind though that search engine spiders cannot read images. Using Alt tags with your keywords will not only do you good in search results. Alt tags will also be shown instead of images to users who use text-only browsers or have images disabled. Plus you get a chance to rank in Google image search results.

These are the basic guidelines you need to follow when optimizing your content. Of course there's much more to onpage search engine optimization. Use special SEO software to analyze your web pages and compare them to the top ranked pages of your competition. In-depth content analysis allows you to spot all the areas where your content is not up to scratch in terms of SEO and improve it.

Jon_Sparks

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