Hey guys,

 

My first post on this forum, it is an absolute god send honestly! so many things have been clarified on here for me!

 

I just wondered if everyone had an on page optimisation strategy that they all stick to? I think I have an idea of one and I am implementing it at the minute with a few sites but wanted to know anyones experiences with this task?

 

Thanks in advance guys

 

Liam

Write great content. That is it.

Write great content, sure. But think about keyword placement and keyword proximity. People tend to think that if you put keywords in your content then it automatically equals spam. It doesn't.

 

Great content, that is well structured, along with good placement of your primary and secondary keywords will do wonders. Don't just dont use the same key phrase over and over and over. It gets annoying to read.

 

Add links into your content where you can to other resources on your website, if you deem it fits. If you're talking about another product, or comparing products then link to them. If you mention something about contacting you, then add a link there. Linking out to authority sites can be good. Again, if it fits. If you have an information site and mention another topic, add a link out to a good resource. Dont hog link juice.

 

Use the abbreviation tag if you're using abbreviations.

 

Use tags wisely. Do't spam the h1 tag but use it to describe the content of the page

Write great rich content that is useful.

Use correct structures, so dont put your logo image in the h1 tag - use the h1 tag as the main page title etc.

Inform your visitors what that particular page is about as early as possible.

Include Images (and relevant alt/title text).

Try and include at least one outbound link.

If possible try and have the focus keyword in the url (about dog bowls? then name the page Dog Bowls (domain.com/dog-bowls/)

I could go on...

 

edit:

Of course, it should go with out saying - it should be relative to your sites subject.

Edited August 8, 201214 yr by jamesosix

Great content is of vital importance but I would also add that lean html is important as is selecting the most appropriate tag for the content (h1 tag for a pages headline for example) and element positioning - for example - you are better to have all of your rich content come first in your code and things like nav bars and pictures further down and then position back up the page with css. This means that the search engines will see all the good stuff first.

Thanks for the replies, all of it is quality advice and I am putting in a lot of effort in writing good, quality content.

 

What are peoples views on page titles? URL's? H1 tags etc?

 

I have heard that each page should rank for a different keyword otherwise the pages with the same keywords on them will compete in the SERP's, I try to keep the page title, URL and the h1 tag all the same keyterm so that it flows? I am new to this so not sure if its the right or most effective way!

 

Also h2 tags? are they of any use? I have been including them in sites as a variation of the primary keyword I am targeting, for example if my primary keyword was 'dog training' I would put that in the page title, URL and then in h1 tag, then i would have an area pinpointed as the secondary keyterm 'dog training newcastle' this would be piped in the page title and also I would try and sit it in an h2 tag!

 

Is this right or am I just wasting my time by working like this? I am reading new things all the time and my head feels like its going to explode haha!

Thanks for the replies, all of it is quality advice and I am putting in a lot of effort in writing good, quality content.

 

What are peoples views on page titles? URL's? H1 tags etc?

 

I have heard that each page should rank for a different keyword otherwise the pages with the same keywords on them will compete in the SERP's, I try to keep the page title, URL and the h1 tag all the same keyterm so that it flows? I am new to this so not sure if its the right or most effective way!

 

Also h2 tags? are they of any use? I have been including them in sites as a variation of the primary keyword I am targeting, for example if my primary keyword was 'dog training' I would put that in the page title, URL and then in h1 tag, then i would have an area pinpointed as the secondary keyterm 'dog training newcastle' this would be piped in the page title and also I would try and sit it in an h2 tag!

 

Is this right or am I just wasting my time by working like this? I am reading new things all the time and my head feels like its going to explode haha!

 

Each page of the site should feature different content, therefor each page will be targeting a different keyword/key phrase.

 

Having your pages main keyword in the title and URL does help. It isn't the magic answer, but it does add more weight to the page.

 

Same goes for the H1. Although not as powerful as it once was, it is still sensible to include your main keyword in there as, essentially, the H1 should be describing the page. Things get a bit trickier if dealing with HTML 5 as it is quite normal to see multiple H1 tags on the same page.

 

H2 and beyond are still useful, just don't overthink them. Write the content naturally and it will be fine.

Ok each page should have a different title tag, otherwise your get duplicate tags flagged up in Web Master Tools.

 

Basically look at it like this, say you sell football boots.

 

Homepage would be targeting Football Boots.

Categories would be targeting Adidas Football Boots, Nike Football Boots etc

Sub categories would be targeting Mens Adidas Football Boots, Womens Adidas Football Boots, Junior Adidas Football Boots etc.

Product Pages would be targeting Mens Adidas 'boot type' Football Boots etc

 

Everything is relevant to each other, when you build links to 'Adidas Football Boots' and internal link your be passing link juice from relevant anchor text links, internal and external.

 

If you work backwards focusing on ranking the long tail first this will help when trying to rank the more generic terms.

 

Each page would focus around its target term in the title tag.

 

title tag, meta desc, url, image names, image alt text, keyword density, keyword positioning, navigation, h1 tag etc.

 

Also try and get your pages loading within 1-2 seconds use Google Page Speed Test, if you need to, optimise images, gzip files on server, minify css/jquery, link to jquery file online rather then storing on host, use image sprites etc.

 

Optimise everything you can, get it to load QUICK and optimise for your target keywords WITHOUT over doing it, if it looks like you go to far its most likely because you have.

 

If I said to remember one word when doing the above then it would be 'Natural'

Have the right keyword proximity and keyword prominence. Also make sure that you maintain the right keyword density. On page optimization also includes image optimization in which images are rightly named and right description is given to them. Avoid using heavy widgets on site as this may disturb your On page optimization.

What is a 'heavy' widget, one that falls to the bottom of the page?

Ok each page should have a different title tag, otherwise your get duplicate tags flagged up in Web Master Tools.

 

Basically look at it like this, say you sell football boots.

 

Homepage would be targeting Football Boots.

Categories would be targeting Adidas Football Boots, Nike Football Boots etc

Sub categories would be targeting Mens Adidas Football Boots, Womens Adidas Football Boots, Junior Adidas Football Boots etc.

Product Pages would be targeting Mens Adidas 'boot type' Football Boots etc

 

Everything is relevant to each other, when you build links to 'Adidas Football Boots' and internal link your be passing link juice from relevant anchor text links, internal and external.

 

If you work backwards focusing on ranking the long tail first this will help when trying to rank the more generic terms.

 

Each page would focus around its target term in the title tag.

 

title tag, meta desc, url, image names, image alt text, keyword density, keyword positioning, navigation, h1 tag etc.

 

Also try and get your pages loading within 1-2 seconds use Google Page Speed Test, if you need to, optimise images, gzip files on server, minify css/jquery, link to jquery file online rather then storing on host, use image sprites etc.

 

Optimise everything you can, get it to load QUICK and optimise for your target keywords WITHOUT over doing it, if it looks like you go to far its most likely because you have.

 

If I said to remember one word when doing the above then it would be 'Natural'

 

Pretty much covers it.

WOW the response from this thread is amazing thanks everyone, I feel that I am gaining a better understanding of the on-page optimisation sequence, thanks opensesame aswell, a full breakdown of everything is what I needed really, it's hard being a trainee and no-one else really understanding SEO in the company (sounds weird I know!)

 

You touched on keyword density and keyword positioning, is there a model to follow or is it just how the content reads and making sure that it isn't overloaded with the same keywords?

 

I would say a mixture of keywords and phrases and maybe throw some brand in there! is this a correct method?

 

Also when you say work backwards in terms of ranking do you mean ranking for specific terms first and then the generic terms become easier?

 

Sorry for asking more questions, I just want to make sure what I am doing is correct for the clients and will improve their ranking over time!

 

Thanks again to everyone who is involved in this thread, means a lot.

 

Hands down the best design forum out there at the minute this one!

Ignore any keyword density ideas that are out there. People band about a specific number of keywords in relation to the number words on a page. Completely ignore them.

 

Obviously you want your keywords there on the page, it makes sense. But just make sure it reads right. Your brand name will appear naturally in the text anyway, but if it doesn't, try and fit it in somewhere.

 

What he meant was aim for long tail keywords first. So look for ranking for "buy dog bowls in leeds". How Google works, it understands that you're in Leeds and selling dogbowls so that when you concentrate your efforts on the keyphrase "buy dog bowls" you would've done 80% of the work.

 

Also, it takes more time to rank for dog bowls then it does for buy dog bowls in leeds so you obvisouly want to start to get some traffic in. It's better to get traffic over 3 months for a long tail keyword then it is not getting traffic for three months while you go for a tough keyword.

 

To cause any real dent in the rankings, you'll need to pair this with your offsite SEO but the advice on this thread is a pretty good start