Of course, a ton has changed since 2013. The tactics needed to increase organic traffic, driving leads and improving position in search engine rankings are very different. As a result, we’ve updated our on-page SEO checklist for 2020 – and beyond.
Competing for top rankings in the search engines involves three elements:
In this post, I’ll focus on No. 1 above – on-page optimization. It’s a huge factor in Google’s search algorithm, so it’s critical to any SEO 101 discussion.
The content on your site and the HTML behind your website pages are among the most accessible and controllable search engine optimization elements. That means they are a great starting point for your SEO efforts.
Your goal is to make every page on your site search-engine-friendly, with content and tools ready to further your business goals. (This SEO checklist breaks down everything you need to know.)
The biggest thing to keep in mind is that perfectly optimized pages are also perfect for users. By all means, don’t “do SEO.” That’s really just trying to trick Google.
Instead, focus on a topic and create the best possible page or post about it. That’s the content that wins in the end.
The best page in the world about one topic can’t also be about another topic.
For optimization purposes, you should have one, or at most, two target keywords or phrases in mind per page. If you are trying to rank well for three or four keywords on a single page, it’s time to step back and consider breaking up the content onto several different pages so you can create page focus.
The best page in the world about one topic can’t also be about another topic.
Now is the time to get a good idea for where your site ranks on your desired terms. You can do this using tools like SpyFu and Google Search Console.
If a page or post is already on Page 1 of Google search for your chosen term(s), leave it alone. Of course, you should make occasional updates to keep its content and/or resources updated and relevant to site visitors.
Once you know the pages you want to optimize, it’s time to run through this on-page SEO checklist.
No single factor on the checklist is make-or-break for getting your page to rank well, but they work in combination to raise your overall score. Google looks at more than 200 factors when ranks a page. But the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Again, the key to a perfectly optimized page is that it provides the best possible content on a topic.
Think about a topic. Any topic.
If you wanted to learn more about something, what would you want?
Well, you’d want website content that is comprehensive, and obviously written by an expert.
You’d want it to be obvious that you’re in the right place.
Illustrations or graphics would help.
The content would be relevant to your geography and culture.
And it would be free of grammar mistakes and typos. In other words, it would be trustworthy.
Here, we’re hitting on the concept of E-A-T. That stands for:
E-A-T is the core of what Google looks for in 2020. In fact, it’s the main topic of the 168-page guidelines that Google distributes to its search quality raters.
Basically, prove your expertise on a topic, your authority to talk about it and your trustworthiness. Sure, keyword density and that stuff matters. A little. But if you answer a question perfectly, you’ll rank first.
Keep that in mind when you go through this on-page SEO checklist.
Following this on-page SEO checklist will result in a page that’s optimized for ranking well in search. It provides a foundation for other organic search improvement efforts. Back it with solid E-A-T and you can’t lose.
Additional major factors, such as the authority of your site’s domain, and the number and authority of links coming into your page and your site will also play a big role in search ranking, which I address in other articles.
While you can tackle many elements of the perfectly optimized page on your own (they should become part of your team’s SOPs), you will find that professional help with keyword research, competitive research, content creation, page design, setup, and coding will dramatically accelerate the process.
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