Search Engine Optimization (SEO) &

Marketing

Module 2
On-Page SEO

Dr. Chithambar Gupta V

Presidency University
Bengaluru
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On Page SEO / Optimization
On Page SEO refers to settings you can apply on your website so that it
is optimized for search engines.
The most important On-Page SEO tips are:
▪ Having optimized titles and descriptions
▪ Proper URL Structures
▪ User friendly navigation
▪ Text Formatting
▪ Image optimization (image size, proper image names, use of ALT tag)
▪ User friendly 404 pages
▪ Fast loading pages
▪ Mobile Friendly pages
On-Page SEO
On-Page Optimization Process

• If you have a page-one listing that is difficult to read, your customers will
bounce faster.
• Bouncing is the term used to describe the activity of users who enter a
website, don’t interact with it, and exit back out to the SERP or close the
window entirely.
• Google considers bounce rates in determining your ranking.
On-Page Optimization Process
When you’ve decided upon the hierarchy and structure of your site, you then need
to optimize your page and insert the keywords into them:

1. URL (Uniform Resource Locator):

• Insert your chosen keywords into the URLs of each web page on your site. This is
an indicator that search engines look for.
• Eliminate the string of numbers and the &=%? symbols from the URLs and replace
them with easily readable keywords, to assist both your users and search
engines.
• Hyphens or dashes are the only symbols that should be used as word separators.
• Google does not recommend underscores as it makes it more difficult for
algorithms to identify what the page is about.

1 digitalmarketinginstitute.ie/courses/type/postgraduate-diploma-in-digital-marketing/

2 http://www.dmi.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=43
Optimize URL for SEO – URL Best Practices
▪ Describe a Page Relevance
▪ Contain important Key Words
▪ Place important key words at the beginning of URL
▪ Sub folders and sub directories are separated with a /
▪ Search engines cut out sub folders and makes URL easier to read
▪ Search engines may include sub directories if they are key words too
▪ Use keywords in sub directories
▪ Keep URLs short
▪ Optimize URL from the start. (Difficult to change later using 301 redirects)
On-Page Optimization Process

2. Page Names / Sub Directories:

• You must name your web pages appropriately to ensure they’re

relevant to the page content. Page names act as labels that help us
distinguish content and create meaning.

• They usually have one or two words, and for that reason it’s not
always possible to optimize them in terms of keywords.

• As users and search engines go deeper into the website, pages

should get more specific to the keywords you’re targeting.
On-Page Optimization Process
Meta Tags
• A web page is made up of hypertext markup language (HTML). Within
the HTML are special tags, known as Meta tags.

• Meta tags don’t affect the web page layout, but rather provide important
information about the page’s content, which is used by search engines to
index your site.

• By right-clicking on a page and selecting ‘View Page Source’, you can

see the HTML and Meta tags of that particular page.
Meta Data
▪ Individual Meta Tags
▪ Small snippets of Text
▪ Identify important information about the Page
▪ Found in Source Code
▪ See only if you view the Code
▪ Each page has a Head element
▪ Contains the Meta Data
▪ Located at the top of the Page
Anatomy of Search Result
▪ Google recognizes the Plural too
▪ Recognizes semantically related words (eg. Courses, Classes,
Programs etc..)
Title Tag
▪ Content is the most important element but the Title Tag is important as
well
▪ Title Tag – Describe your page using key words
▪ Place Key words at the front of Title Tag and at the end of the Title Tag
▪ Emphasizes keywords at the beginning of a Title Tag
▪ Helps in Site Rankings
▪ Keep Brand Names at the end of the Title Tag
▪ Use individual Key Words rather than a Descriptive Phrase
▪ Separate your Key Words with Hyphens
Title Tag – SEO Best Practices
▪ Title Tag no longer than 55 – 60 Characters
▪ Additional characters will be cut off
▪ Could impact future visits (click through) to your site
▪ Only use important Key Words
▪ Use only two key words for Tight Focus
▪ Beginning of the Title Tag has more weight
▪ End Title Tag with Brand Name
▪ Differentiate page and brand name with pipe symbol (|)
▪ Multiple key words are separated with hyphens
▪ Avoid using any special characters
Assignment

▪ Craft an optimized Title Tag following SEO Best Practices:

▪ Create your own Title tag
▪ Title Tag Length
▪ Does it include brand name?
▪ Is the brand name separated using a Pipe Symbol?
▪ Does the Title Tag contain a phrase or Keyword?
▪ If more than one key words are used, are these key words
separated by hyphens?
Meta Description Tag

▪ Block of Text under the Title and URL

▪ Describes what the Page is about
▪ Key words within Meta description do not help in ranking the site
▪ Meta description does help SEO Strategy
▪ Can increase click-through to website
▪ Meta description key words bring attention to the page
▪ More words are bolded with meta description and keywords will attract the
user to click
▪ Use the keywords from Search and describe the content of the page
Meta Description Tag
▪ Use no more than 150 – 160 characters
▪ Limit characters to less than 160 characters
▪ Google will truncate (cut-off) the description, if it is too long
▪ Looks better if the end is not cut off
Meta Description Tag
▪ If no description found, Google will choose the appropriate content from the page content
▪ Take control and write your own
▪ Provide a better description about the content - Use words that entice people to click
▪ Include a Call to Action (CTA) – Ask user to perform an action
▪ CTA increases click through to site
▪ Calls to Action (CTA) Examples:
▪ Learn More …..
▪ Read our article to discover …
▪ Find out….
▪ Download here ….
▪ Watch our Video …
▪ Avail the Discount now ….
Assignment

▪ Craft an optimized Meta Description following SEO Best

Practices:
▪ Create your own Meta Description for a Web Page
▪ Between 150 – 190 characters in length
▪ Include key words
▪ Include a call-to-action
▪ Contain words people are likely to use to search for
Heading Tags
On-Page Headings

• Your pages should be divided into

headings to facilitate structure and
guide both the users and search
engines reading your content.
• Headings range from H1 to H6.
• They should indicate the most
important parts of your page’s
content
• They should indicate how the
content is interconnected.
Heading Tags
▪ Break up the content into divisions
▪ Search Engines look at Headings
▪ Optimize Heading Tags with Keywords
▪ Focus on H1s and H2s
▪ H1: One per page
▪ H2: As needed
▪ Multiple heading tags can be spammy
▪ Use Moz add-on (MozBar) to view Tags
Assignment

▪ Craft an optimized Heading Tags following SEO Best

Practices:
▪ Select two different sites
▪ Look at Homepage
▪ Find H1 and H2 Tags
▪ List Tags
▪ Make Recommendations based on SEO Best practices
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) Optimization
▪ Describe a Page (Relevance)
▪ Contain important Key Words
▪ Place important key words at the beginning of URL
▪ URL serves as its own Anchor Text
▪ Search engines may include sub directories, if they have key words
 URL Optimization

• Insert your chosen keywords into the URLs of each web page on your site. This is an
indicator that search engines look for.
• Eliminate the string of numbers and the &=%? symbols from the URLs and replace them
with easily readable keywords, to assist both your users and search engines.
• Hyphens or dashes are the only symbols that should be used as word separators.
• Google does not recommend underscores as it makes it more difficult for algorithms to
identify what the page is about.
▪ Correct:

digitalmarketinginstitute.ie/courses/type/postgraduate-diploma-in-digital-marketing/
▪ Wrong: http://www.dmi.ie/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=43
Changing URLs
▪ URLs are set in Design stage
▪ Can change URL later
▪ Page is already ranked under existing URL
▪ Page may lose authority
▪ Changing URL for SEO is not always best option
▪ Better to optimize page and leave URL as is
▪ Consider the decision carefully
URL Best Practices
▪ Define URL
▪ Optimize URL for SEO
▪ Don’t change URLs (as far as possible)
▪ Use 301 redirects
▪ Optimize URL from the start
▪ Use Keywords in URL
▪ Use Key words in sub directories
▪ Keep URLs short
Technical aspects of SEO
Error Pages
• Changing the URL of a page or removing it from your site entirely will leave users and
search engines with something called a 404 error page.
• This indicates the page clicked has been moved or no longer exists—ie a broken link.
• Avoid 404 errors on your site.
• Try to reduce user annoyance by making light of the situation

A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from one URL to another.

• It is another method of limiting the negative impact that 404 errors create, should you wish
to change the URL of a page that has already been indexed,
• Redirects can be carried out in two ways:
 Domain Level
 Individual Level
Creating and Optimizing Unique Content
▪ Make Key words fit naturally
▪ Every site is different
▪ Make content relevant to the theme and topics
▪ Organize within sub directories
▪ Easy to locate by topic
▪ Create your own unique content
▪ Copied content does not help Ranking
▪ Google gives rant to site that first published content
Creating and Optimizing Unique Content
▪ Do not duplicate content within your own site
▪ Make page unique and offer value
▪ Copying and changing words does not make it unique
▪ Add unique content that adds value
▪ Include new information
▪ Add Video or images
▪ Google likes Results that are useful
▪ Link to other relevant pages on the site
▪ Help search engines to crawl the site
Content – Best Practices
▪ Link to other content using Anchor text
▪ Relevant – well organized and Unique
▪ Use synonyms as well as key words
▪ Make content user friendly and appropriate reading level
▪ Add other resources such as links, images or video
On-Page Optimization Process
Breadcrumb Navigation
This allows the user to return to previous sections on the website without having
to use the main navigation bar to do so.
As users go through each page, they leave a breadcrumb that is displayed on the
top of each page—allowing them find their way home!
On-Page Optimization Process
First Paragraph
• Under H1 lies your first paragraph, and ideally your chosen keywords should be
within the first line of text.
• Users scan the first few words on every page, which determine whether or not
they will bounce.

Body of Text
• The recommendation for general web pages related to the product or service
you provide is at least 300 words.
• Articles, white papers, and case studies should have 1,000 words minimum.
• Blogs should be aiming for between 1,500 and 2,500 words.
• Research has shown that articles containing 2,500 words garner higher
rankings than articles with fewer words.
On-Page Optimization Process
Anchor Text
• Interlinked content should be present throughout your site, allowing users and search
engines to advance to the next page of your site with ease.
• This can be done with anchor text.
• Anchor text is a hyperlink shown as clickable text within your content.
• It’s important that all pages are accessible via a link somewhere on your site, so ensure
your links are built into the content that navigates people through your site.

Images and Alt Text

• Alt text stands for alternative text, and it acts as an alternative to the image it describes.
• Its purpose is to describe the image both for users with accessibility difficulties and
search engines.
• Search engines also use alt text to determine what the image is about, which can
improve your ranking and also helps with images being found in image SERPs.
• Be clear and descriptive with your alt text; the maximum should be four to six words.
On-Page Optimization Process
Social Sharing
• Build your page to be easily shareable by your website visitors. This helps with
building a digital footprint.
• By providing easily shareable links you’re bringing people back into your website.
• Search engines are taking social sharing into account too.

Site Map
• The final element you must have on your site is an HTML site map.
• A site map is a page on a website that provides a map of the website’s structure.
• The site map is in the form of text links to all the other pages on the site.
Site Maps
A sitemap is a list of every page on a website; it provides a map of the site’s structure.
Types of site maps:

HTML Sitemap XML Sitemap

Summary - Ranking Factors

▪ On-Page Factors (Code & Content)

#3 - Title tags <title>
#5 - Header tags <h1>
#4 - ALT image tags
#1 - Content, Content, Content (Body text) <body>
#6 - Hyperlink text
#2 - Keyword frequency & density