How to do on-page SEO: optimise every page of your site

You can have the best content on the web in your industry, but if your pages aren't optimised correctly Google struggles to understand, index and rank them. On-page SEO is the systematic work you do within each page to tell Google (and users) clearly what it's about, why it's relevant and why it deserves to appear on the first page. This guide covers every element in the order you should tackle it.

Keyword research: the foundation of everything

Before you optimise a page you need to know which keyword you want it to rank for. Keyword research isn't about finding the most-searched words — it's about finding the words your potential customers use to search for exactly what you offer.

How to choose a page's main keyword

Every page should target one main keyword (or a tight semantic group). Choose it on three criteria: search volume (how many people search for it each month — use Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest), search intent (what the person searching that query wants to find — information, a product, a professional?) and ranking difficulty (how competitive it is — there's no point aiming at impossible keywords with a new site). The balance between these three factors determines which keywords are realistically within reach.

Search intent: the most underrated factor

Google doesn't optimise for keywords — it optimises for intent. If someone searches for "running shoes" they want to see products to buy, not an article on the history of running shoes. If they search for "how to choose running shoes" they want a guide. Creating content with the wrong type of intent means not ranking even with perfect technical optimisation. Before writing or optimising a page, analyse the top 10 Google results for your target keyword: what's the dominant format? Articles? Product pages? Videos? That format is your answer about intent.

Title tag: the most important on-page factor

The title tag is the title that appears in Google's search results (SERPs) and in the browser tab. It's the first thing users see, before they even visit the site — and one of the most influential on-page ranking factors.

How to write an effective title tag

The concrete rules: a length of 50 to 60 characters (beyond 60 Google truncates the title with an ellipsis), the main keyword in the first few words (more relevance for Google and for users scanning the results), a unique title tag for every page (duplicate titles confuse Google and dilute relevance), and a differentiating element that encourages the click — a number, a year, a specific benefit. Example: "How to do on-page SEO: a complete practical guide" beats a bare "on-page SEO".

What not to do with title tags

Common mistakes: stuffing the title with keywords (keyword stuffing — Google penalises it and users don't click), using the same title for several pages, not writing the title and letting the CMS generate one automatically from the page title (often not optimal), and writing titles for Google while forgetting they have to convince a human being to click.

Meta description: the text that earns the click

The meta description isn't a direct ranking factor — Google has confirmed it doesn't use it to decide rankings. But it influences rankings indirectly through CTR (click-through rate): a persuasive meta description brings more clicks, and more clicks can improve rankings over time.

How to write an effective meta description

Ideal length: 150–160 characters. It should include the main keyword (Google shows it in bold in the results), clearly communicate the page's benefit and include an implicit or explicit call to action ("discover", "learn", "read the guide"). The meta description is essentially a mini-ad: who should click, and why? Answering that question in 155 characters is the goal.

Google can rewrite the meta description

Google reserves the right to ignore the meta description and generate its own from extracts of the page content, especially when it thinks that snippet better represents relevance to a specific query. That doesn't make writing the meta description pointless — Google uses the one you provide as a starting point and is more likely to keep it if it's relevant and well written.

H1, H2, H3 headings: a structure Google understands

The heading structure (H1, H2, H3) tells Google the content's hierarchy — what the main topic is, what the subtopics are and what the details are. A clear structure helps Google understand the page's subject and can influence rankings for semantically related keywords.

H1: one per page, with the main keyword

The H1 is the page's main heading (different from the title tag, though often similar). The rules: only one per page (several H1s confuse the hierarchy), it includes the main keyword (ideally in the first few words) and it clearly describes the page's content. The H1 can be slightly different from the title tag — often the title is optimised for CTR in the search results and the H1 for readability once people land on the page.

H2 and H3: the content's structure

H2s are the main chapters of the article or page — they should cover the main subtopics of the target keyword. H3s are the sections within a chapter. Include secondary and semantically related keywords in the headings — not artificially, but so they naturally reflect the depth of the content. An article on "on-page SEO" with H2s such as "Title tag", "Meta description" and "Headings" communicates structure and depth.

Content: depth, quality and intent

Content is the heart of on-page SEO. Google uses systems such as E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) to assess content quality — especially for topics that affect people's lives (finance, health, safety).

How long should SEO content be?

The honest answer: as long as it needs to be to fully answer the search intent — no more, no less. There's no magic length. Guides and tutorials on complex topics typically rank better at 1,500–3,000 words, because depth is the natural way to cover the topic exhaustively. Service or product pages with commercial intent can rank well at 500–800 words if the quality is high. Adding words just to hit a magic number doesn't improve SEO.

Keywords in the text: density and natural placement

The main keyword should appear in the first paragraph (ideally in the first 100 words), be distributed naturally through the text and appear in at least one or two headings (H2/H3). Secondary keywords and synonyms should appear naturally — Google uses NLP (Natural Language Processing) to understand a text's semantics, not just to count exact repetitions of a word. Writing for people, using your industry's natural vocabulary, produces content that's optimised for Google too.

URLs: a readable, keyword-friendly structure

A page's URL is a minor SEO signal, but it matters for readability and for the consistency of the site's structure.

How to structure an SEO-friendly URL

The rules: short and descriptive (e.g. /on-page-seo-guide instead of /blog/2025/11/17/article-123-complete-guide-to-seo), the main keyword in the URL, lowercase letters only, words separated by hyphens (not underscores), and no dynamic parameters where possible. URLs should stay stable over time — changing them requires 301 redirects and can cause a temporary loss of rankings.

Images: the visual SEO people overlook

Images are SEO opportunities that most sites waste completely. Google doesn't "see" images the way it reads text — it needs textual signals to understand what they show.

Alt text: mandatory, not optional

The alt attribute describes the image's content for Google and for screen readers (accessibility). It should be descriptive and natural — not a list of comma-separated keywords. Good alt text: "Google Search Console dashboard with ranking data" rather than "seo google searches optimisation seo web". Images with relevant alt text can rank in Google Images, bringing extra traffic.

File name and compression

The image's file name is a minor SEO signal — on-page-seo-optimisation.webp is better than IMG_2847.jpg. Compression is essential for performance (which affects rankings through Core Web Vitals). Convert to WebP, compress under 200KB and use dimensions appropriate to the context in which the image is used.

Internal linking: connecting pages strategically

Internal linking — links between pages on your own site — is one of the most powerful and most often overlooked on-page tools. It distributes authority between pages, tells Google about the structure and hierarchy of the content and guides users to the pages most relevant to them.

How to create effective internal links

Practical rules: use descriptive anchor text that includes relevant keywords (avoid "click here" or "read more"), link new pages from pages on the site that already have authority to pass on link equity, create two-way links between related pages and make sure every important page is reachable within three clicks of the homepage. Pillar pages (in-depth guides on core topics) should receive more internal links than secondary pages.

Structured data (Schema markup): helping Google understand the content

Structured data is a standardised language (Schema.org) that lets you tell Google precisely what type of content a page contains: is it an article? A product? An FAQ? An event? A recipe? Google uses this information to create rich snippets in the search results — visually enhanced elements that increase CTR.

Which schema markup to implement

The most useful for most sites: Article for blog posts, FAQPage for pages with questions and answers (these can appear directly in the results with the answers expanded), LocalBusiness for local businesses (essential for local SEO), Product for e-commerce product pages and BreadcrumbList to show the navigation path in the results. On WordPress, plugins such as Yoast SEO or RankMath handle the main structured data automatically.

Mobile optimisation and Core Web Vitals

On-page SEO also includes optimising the user experience — and Google measures it through Core Web Vitals. Optimised content on a page that's slow or whose layout shifts while it loads loses the advantage of the text optimisation.

Mobile usability: Google Search Console as your monitor

Google Search Console has a section dedicated to "Mobile usability" that flags specific problems: clickable elements too close together, an incorrectly configured viewport, text too small to read on mobile. Check this report regularly — mobile usability problems directly affect rankings.

Optimising a page is the starting point. Building a system that maintains that optimisation over time, and applies it to every new page you create, is what separates a site that grows from one that stands still.

The on-page optimisation process for every page

E-E-A-T: content quality in Google's eyes

Google uses the E-E-A-T framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) to assess content quality and decide how much it deserves to rank. It isn't a direct algorithm with measurable factors — it's a set of signals Google uses to judge whether content is produced by someone with real experience and expertise in the subject.

How to demonstrate Experience and Expertise in your content

Experience (first-hand experience) is shown through concrete examples, real cases, specific numbers and details that only someone who has actually done the thing would know. Expertise is shown through technical depth, accurate handling of nuances, citations of authoritative sources and up-to-date information. In practice: write like someone who has solved the problem, not like someone who has read other articles about it. The difference shows — and Google picks it up through users' behavioural signals (time on page, bounce rate, shares).

Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness: reliability signals

Authoritativeness is built over time: backlinks from authoritative sites in your industry, brand mentions in relevant contexts, author profiles with verifiable credentials. Trustworthiness is the most immediate dimension to implement on-page: HTTPS enabled, clear contact information, an identifiable author with a bio and credentials, visible publication and update dates, sources cited for the data reported and no intrusive advertising that compromises the user experience. For YMYL sectors (Your Money or Your Life — health, finance, safety, legal), these signals are particularly critical.

The author page: why it matters for SEO

The author page is an underrated E-E-A-T tool. An author bio with a photo, credentials, links to professional social profiles and other published articles tells Google (and users) that the content is produced by a real person with verifiable expertise. On WordPress, every article should have its author linked to their bio page — not a generic "Staff" or no attribution at all. Google also uses author data to generate knowledge panels and to appear in searches for the person's name.

Updating content: when and how to do it

Google rewards fresh content for queries where freshness matters — but not indiscriminately. Understanding when content benefits from an update (and when it's better left alone) avoids wasted work and focuses your energy where it has a real impact.

Identifying the content to update

The signs that content needs updating: falling impressions in Google Search Console over the last 12 weeks, a deteriorating average position for the target keywords, outdated information in the text (old statistics, broken links, references to tools that are no longer maintained) and recently updated competitor content climbing the rankings. Updating doesn't mean rewriting everything — often it's enough to refresh the data, add sections that are missing given developments in the industry and update the visible "last modified" date on the page.

How to signal the update to Google

After significantly updating a piece of content: change the publication date shown on the page (or add an "updated on…" line), update the dateModified field in the article's Schema markup, and use Google Search Console → URL Inspection → Request indexing to speed up the recrawl of the updated page. For minor updates (typo fixes, small additions), the automatic recrawl happens anyway in the following days without any manual intervention.