On-Page SEO checklist: How to optimize individual web pages for search engines?

on page seo checklist

On-Page Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the key SEO techniques to optimize your web pages for search engines. The search engine analyses your website and content to rank them on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) based on various On-Page SEO ranking factors. The higher you rank on search engines for relevant keywords, the better your chance of driving more relevant audiences. You may consult an SEO expert in Singapore to ensure all your web pages are optimised for search engines. This blog will discuss the On-Page SEO checklist which includes elements to help you optimise your web pages for search engines.

On-Page SEO checklist

Always check your content with the following On-Page SEO checklist before publishing them on your website. Moreover, you can use this checklist to reference your future blog posts or web content.

Keyword Research

While creating content for a specific page, you need to identify relevant keywords. You may hire SEO services in Singapore to perform keyword research for your business. 

Next, you have to select one primary keyword and dedicate it to a specific page. In this regard, you may create a content calendar to dedicate each targeted keyword for individual pages. In addition, you should avoid dedicating the same primary keyword for different web pages as it can cause a keyword cannibalization. Such issues might confuse the search engines as they cannot identify which is more significant. It will lead to none of the pages being ranked on search engines.

In the next step of your keyword research, identify at least three to five keywords related to your primary keyword. They are also called Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords.

Create a content plan

After selecting a primary keyword, you have to develop a content plan to use it. It can be a blog post or a website landing page. It would also help to create a piece of content that matches your keyword intent. Furthermore, it will help your readers find the information that they are looking for when searching with the same keyword.

Headline

Write an appealing title and place your primary keyword nearer to the beginning. It would help search engines, and your audience understand the content better. In addition, for on-page optimisation, place your headline in a H1tag. It is a HTML code that signals to the search engine that it is the title and a crucial aspect of the content.

Create your content

Based on the topic you have chosen for your page, the length of the content will vary. Though the minimum requirement for individual web pages is 300 words, you should include more details in your content to achieve more than 700 words as it improves the chances of a higher search ranking.

Furthermore, you should write unique content as search engines, such as Google, might penalise your site for publishing plagiarised content. After creating content, you must ensure that it has a high readability score. You must write shorter paragraphs and use common terminologies that most people can understand. You may use various free tools to check the readability score of your content.

Add primary keyword in the content

Search engines, such as Google, recommend maintaining 2-3% of keyword density. Hence, to help search engines understand the topic of your content, use the primary keyword throughout the copy of your content. You must also include the other related keywords you have selected earlier at least once in your content.

Make your content scannable

You need to format your content to help search engines and readers to scan and understand it easily. One of the best On-Page SEO practices you can perform is breaking your content into smaller sections. For example, you can use a descriptive subheading for each paragraph or bullet points to highlight a key list of information.

Like headlines, you can add H2, H3, H4, etc., tags to sub-headings. In addition, it is best to include your primary keyword in at least one subheading. SEO experts also recommend using the primary keyword in your content’s first and last paragraphs.

Add relevant internal links

If you think that any other page on your website is relevant to your content, you should create an internal link to that page.

Add images

Another effective On-Page SEO technique is to include a relevant image on your page. It breaks the monotony of text in your content and improves the value of your content to search engines. You also need to optimize the image for SEO purposes. Before uploading the image, include the primary keyword in the file name. Next, after uploading the image, add the primary keyword to the image title and alt tag. It will help search engines understand the relevance between your content and image. However, avoid uploading large image files that may slow down your pages.

Create SEO-friendly URL

While creating a URL for your page, ensure to include the primary keyword. You should also avoid using special characters or making your URL unnecessarily lengthy.

Metadata

Metadata is another critical On-Page SEO element that you need to optimise for search engines. Therefore, you should include the primary keyword in your Meta title and description. Your description should also support the title and help search engines understand the content. It is also better to include a call-to-action in your Meta description.

Add a structured data markup

Adding the schema markup to your page help search engines crawl your site better and understand your content.

Takeaway

Hiring an SEO agency in Singapore can help you optimise your content as per this checklist. In addition, you should always proofread your content for spelling and grammatical errors before publishing them. You may even use paid or free tools to scan your content and ensure it has ticked every item mentioned in this checklist.

Elevan August Media is a digital marketing agency that offers its clients a wide range of SEO services. They can help optimise individual pages of your website to improve search rankings. You can hire them to develop effective SEO strategies for your business.

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Lee Yan Ting
Lee Yan Ting

Founder of Elevan August Media | Featured on several local and regional media: Home & Décor, Straits Times, REGISTRYE Singapore, Hive Life, Queer Majority (USA) and more.