Having your business listed on the first page of the search results pages is a major accomplishment for everyone who has a business website. And for those who are on the coveted pages, they know it can take months or years of search engine optimization (SEO) work to get there. This is why it is important that you optimize every single page on your website to help you achieve SEO success.

For business owners who are looking to increase their SEO ranking through on-page SEO, there are a few steps you must take to effectively optimize your web pages like a pro. Thankfully, you have this handy five-step list to help you on the quest.

Step 1: Correct Page Errors

First things first, correct any page errors you may have on your website. This includes checking your pages for any 404’s or 302’s.

404’s are shown when a link is broken or not available. 302’s tell you that a link is being temporarily redirected to another URL. The best way to check for these types of errors is with a tool like Screaming Frog. The free version allows the software to check your website and display errors so you can easily fix them. Once you have your list of broken links and redirects, you’ll need to go into your website’s control panel and re-link those showing as 404’s of 302’s to the corrected or updated URLs.

This step helps make your website easier to navigate for online visitors and for search engines to crawl and access.

Step 2: Add Relevant Keywords

If you have words on your website – fingers crossed that you do– then keywords are a must! Keywords are the words that help search engine bots recognize that your website is relevant to a person’s online search. Keywords are also one of the most important pieces of SEO.

If you own a roof repair company, “roof repair” should definitely be included on your website as a relevant keyword. You can even get more in-depth and include other keywords like “roof repair in Dallas” or “roof replacement cost”.

If you need help nailing down the optimal keywords for your business, try Google’s Keyword Planner tool. It’s free and beneficial in finding different variations of relevant keywords for your business.

Step 3: Link Internally and Externally

Search engines find web pages by following links. Therefore, linking internally and externally on your website is imperative. If you mention a specific product on your blog, add a link to its product page. If you’re asking someone to contact you, make sure you link back to your contact form. Making this a habit helps your visitors and helps your website get indexed by search engines.

Step 4: Implement Metadata

Up next: adding metadata to each page.  

Metadata consists of title tags, meta descriptions, H1’s and & ALT tags.

• Title Tags – Title tags are displayed in the search engines results pages (SERPSs) and appear as a clickable headline.

Much like a book title, title tags need to be interesting to entice an online visitor to click. They are also the largest set of words on SERPSs, so they need to also be descriptive for the best conversion.

• Meta Description – Found directly below the title tag, meta descriptions help explain what your web page is about. The meta description is also another way to help persuade visitors to click on your website instead of the others.  

When creating a meta description, keep it under 160 characters and include a call to action and a keyword.

• H1 –  If you have a business blog on your website, you know all about H1s or header tags. That is because H1s are usually the title of the post or article you’re publishing.

Similar to title tags, H1s are also large and are meant to stand out. If you want your page to rank in search engine results, be sure to include a relevant keyword in your H1s, but only when it’s relevant and makes sense.

• ALT Tags –  As of lately, images are just as important as written content, and they can make an impact on your website’s SEO, too. The last step in adding metadata are the ALT tags which help you optimize your website’s images.

ALT tags should also be descriptive and include relevant keywords when applicable.

Step 5: Include Contact Information

Since you’re making it easier for people to find your website, don’t forget to add your contact information as the final step of on-page SEO.

Contact information not only makes your website more trustworthy for online visitors but also for the search engines. Information like your e-mail address and phone number are essential whether your business is local or national so don’t forget it.

Going through and completing these five steps on every web page may seem like a daunting task, but your visitors and search engines will appreciate it. And in the long run, so will you!

Does this on-page SEO guide have you in a dizzy? If you need help with your website’s SEO, we got your back! Contact Belo Media Group to learn more about our SEO and digital services.