Here’s what you’ll learn:

• What is on-page SEO?
• What’s the difference between technical SEO and content optimization?
• How to properly optimize your website and its content for search engines?

Want to get more organic search traffic?

Continue reading…

What Is On-Page SEO?

All search engine optimization strategies and tactics can be divided into these two categories:

1. On-page SEO, also known as on-site SEO, is the practice of optimizing your website and its content for search engines. As the name suggests, it’s about what you do on your
2. Off-page SEO, also known as off-site SEO, is the practice of optimizing for external ranking signals, the most important of them being backlinks. As the name suggests, it’s about what is happening on other

Both your on-page and off-page SEO need to be on point if you want to stand a chance of ranking on the first page of Google’s search results for your target keywords.

Technical SEO vs. Content Optimization

On-page SEO can be further divided into:

1. Technical SEO, which is the practice of optimizing your website for search engines. It deals with site speed, site structure, URLs, meta descriptions, etc.
2. Content optimization, which is the practice of optimizing your content for search engines. It deals with article titles, keyword frequency, related keywords, etc.

How To Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

Technical SEO often gets overlooked because the connection between it and search engine rankings isn’t as intuitive as that between content and search engine rankings.

However, it is nevertheless extremely important, so make sure that it’s taken care of before you proceed with other SEO efforts such as content creation and link building.

Use Flat Website Architecture

Website architecture refers to the way pages on your site are linked with one another.

You want to optimize it in a way that helps search engine crawlers index your entire website.

Ideally, all pages on your website should be only a few clicks away from your homepage, which is known as “flat” architecture.

Here’s how flat website architecture looks like:

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Make Sure That Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly

Google started using mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal back in 2015 and continues to do so to this day.

It’s probably safe to assume that the importance of this ranking signal will continue increasing in the foreseeable future as mobile devices become even more ubiquitous.

You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see whether your website meets this standard.

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Increase Your Page Speed

Page speed is another ranking factor that you should optimize for.

Here’s how you can increase it:

• Use dedicated hosting. Shared hosting means sharing the server with other websites, dedicated hosting means having the server all to yourself. Switching from the former to the latter can help you make your website load faster.
• Pick a fast content management system (CMS). When you are evaluating different content management systems, you should take page speed into consideration.

Say, WordPress is the most popular blogging platform out there, but it’s also notoriously slow, while its less known competitor Ghost has been shown to be up to 1,900% faster.

You might still decide to go with WordPress, but you should be aware of the trade-off you are making in terms of page speed.

• Compress the images that you use on your website. Adding images to your content can help you make it more readable, but it also increases the size of that web page and therefore slows it down. Use TinyJPG to compress WebP, PNG, and JPEG files before uploading them to your website.

Google offers a free tool called PageSpeed Insights that you can use to optimize your website for speed.

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Optimize the URLs of Your Web Pages

Every web page on your website has its own address.

These addresses are called URLs and should include the primary keyword that you are targeting with that piece of content.

They should follow this pattern:

http://www.yourbrandname.com/your-target-keyword

Let’s say that you have a health and fitness blog and you wrote an article that targets the keyword “carnivore diet”.

The URL of that blog post should look like this:

https:///www.yourhealthandfitnessblog.com/carnivore-diet

Optimize the Meta Descriptions of Your Web Pages

HTML tag <meta> allows you to provide a brief summary of your web page that is then displayed on Google’s search results pages.

You can either add meta descriptions to your pages manually or use the meta description feature if your CMS provides one.

Your meta description can be as long as you want but it’s advisable to limit it to 155-160 characters because Google will cut it off after that.

While meta descriptions themselves aren’t a ranking factor, they can help you increase your click-through rate (CTR).

How To Optimize Your Content for Search Engines

Okay, now that you understand the basics of technical SEO, let’s take a closer look at content optimization.

Make Sure That Your Content Meets Search Intent

Search intent refers to the goal behind that particular search query. Why are people using this keyword?

Google’s search algorithm optimizes for meeting search intent because the primary function of a search engine is to deliver the most relevant search results.

So when you are targeting a particular keyword, you need to make sure that your content meets its search intent.

Make each post as long as it needs to be to cover the subject in a comprehensive manner but don’t pad the word count just to make the article longer.

Use the Target Keyword in Your Title

Including your target keyword in your title sends a signal to Google that the content in question revolves around that keyword.

Plus, it helps Google users understand what your content is about, which is important for its CTR.

Use the Target Keyword Within the First 100 Words

This is another way to send a signal to Google that your content revolves around your target keyword.

Don’t try to be clever with your introductions – it’s better to get straight to the point. What is this article about?

Use the Target Keyword Multiple Times Throughout Your Article

You also want to use the target keyword multiple times throughout your article, as this is yet another signal that your content is relevant to the search query.

However, you should make sure that it looks natural.

Avoid using the target keyword so many times that the content becomes impossible to read.

Google provides this keyword stuffing example:

“We sell custom cigar humidors. Our custom cigar humidors are handmade. If you’re thinking of buying a custom cigar humidor, please contact our custom cigar humidor specialists at custom.cigar.humidors@example.com.”

Atrocities like that won’t help you rank for your target keyword because Google penalizes keyword stuffing.

Include Related Terms in Your Article

Initially, Google would evaluate the relevance of its search results simply by looking at the frequency at which the target keyword appeared in them.

However, over time, its search algorithm evolved to also take related terms into consideration, as that provides Google with a better idea of whether the content in question meets the search intent.

That’s why you want to think about what terms might be related to your target keyword and then include them in your article.

Say, if your target keyword is “how to lose weight”, you might want to also include terms like:

• Diet.
• Exercise.
• Calories.
• Caloric deficit.
• Body fat percentage.
• Intermittent fasting.
• Ketogenic diet.
• Carnivore diet.

…and so on, as that would signal to Google that you are indeed discussing weight loss.

Link To Other Articles on Your Website

Interlinking, which is the practice of linking to other related articles on your website, is believed to help with SEO.

Make sure that you use keyword-rich anchor text as opposed to generic “click here” anchor text.

Say, if you want to link to your article about the carnivore diet from your article about weight loss, place the link on the phrase “carnivore diet”.

Link to Authority Websites

Linking to other websites is also believed to help with SEO provided that those websites are considered to be trustworthy.

You want to link to authority websites in your niche, websites of prominent educational institutions (e.g. Harvard), and trusted media outlets (e.g. The New York Times).

Conversely, you should avoid linking to questionable websites, so if a site looks dodgy then don’t link to it even if it has decent content relevant to the topic of your article.

The reasoning behind this is that links to trustworthy websites send a signal to Google that your website is a reliable source of information, while links to dodgy websites send a signal that your own website is dodgy.

Use Content Optimization Software

There are various apps out there that can help you optimize your content for search engines.

Clearscope is one of the most popular solutions for that.

It shows you:

• Related keywords that you should include.
• Target word count that you should aim for.
• Target readability level that you should keep in mind.

It also provides a content grade on the scale of F to A++.

This makes it easy to understand how your content measures up against what’s currently ranking for that keyword on the first page of Google’s search results.

Other solutions that you might want to check out include SurferSEO and Topic, both of which are more affordable than Clearscope.

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Conclusion

It probably seems obvious to you that you need to optimize your content for your target keywords if you want to rank for those keywords. Duh, right?

But it’s important to understand that all the seemingly minor things that aren’t as self-evident, such as compressing images or interlinking articles, can also have a massive impact on your rankings, especially as they add up over time.

And if you choose to overlook them, you will be outcompeted by people who have optimized everything they could, no matter how inconsequential it seemed.

That’s why you can’t afford a lax approach to on-page SEO – you need to do everything in your power to optimize both your website and your content for search engines.

Otherwise, you won’t stand a chance of ranking on the first page of Google’s search results, much less reaching one of the top 3 spots that get 75.1% of all clicks.

If your content doesn’t show up on the first page of search results, then it might as well not exist at all as far as Google users are concerned.

Moreover, Backlinko’s research has shown that the top three organic search results on Google get 75% of all clicks.

That’s why you should not only aim to rank on page one on Google, but also do your best to get to the top of it.

Here’s a three-step process for doing that:

Step #1: Pick the Right Keyword

You need to choose a target keyword that is:

• Relevant. Is this something that your potential customers are searching for?
• Popular. Is the search volume high enough to justify investing time, energy, and money in trying to rank for this keyword?
• Realistic. Can you outrank at least one of the pieces of content that are currently ranking on page one of Google?

You need to take into account the domain authority of competing websites, the number of backlinks to competing content, and whether or not that content meets the search intent of your target keyword.

The lower the domain authority, the fewer the backlinks, and the greater the misalignment between the content and the search intent, the better your chances of outranking that page.

There are plenty of free keyword research tools out there that can help you figure all this out, but we recommend going with Ahrefs if you can afford it.

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Step #2: Create Top-Quality Content

Once you have picked a target keyword, it’s time to create a piece of content designed to rank for it on page one of Google.

Make sure that your content is:

Relevant

Google’s search algorithm optimizes for delivering search results that best meet the search intent for that keyword.

This means that the more your content matches the search intent, the easier it will be for you to rank on page one of Google.

This should be your guiding principle when it comes to search engine optimization.

Comprehensive

Your content should be as long as it needs to be to meet the search intent.

Say, if you want to rank for “history of French cuisine”, then you might be looking at 5,000+ words.

But if you want to rank for “how to boil an egg”, then you can probably cover the whole process + share tips and tricks in 500 words.

That being said, the average word count of a page one search result is 1,447 words, so it does seem that longer content tends to outperform shorter content.

You might also need to reach a certain word count to get to page one of Google.

Consider using software like Clearscope to get a target word count estimate based on the word counts of the pieces that are currently ranking for that keyword.

Unique

Why should Google give you a spot on the first page of search results if your content is just a rewrite of what’s already ranking?

You need to bring something unique to the table if you want to stand a chance of getting to page one.

You can do that by discussing personal experiences, providing real-life examples, sharing relevant data and screenshots, etc.

Skimmable

Typically, people don’t read online content in its totality, they quickly skim it and then read the parts that they feel are the most relevant to them.

You should cater to this pattern by formatting your content in a way that makes it easy to skim:

• Create a clear content structure with subheadlines (H2) and sub-subheadlines (H3).
• Keep your paragraphs short. They should be 1-3 lines each. Avoid paragraphs longer than that.
• Keep your sentences short. Avoid compound sentences.
• Use numbered lists, bulleted lists, and checklists to break up the text.
• Use images to break up the text. Have at least one image for every 500 words.

Keep in mind that the easier it is to skim your content, the more likely people will be to actually read it.

Better Than What’s Currently Ranking on Page One of Google!

Most importantly:

Your content should be better than anything that is currently ranking on the first page of search results.

So read everything on page one, figure out how you can improve on that, and make sure that your content blows the competition out of the water in terms of quality.

Consider Using Content Optimization Software

Content optimization software can help you make sure that your content measures up to what’s already ranking.

Here are some options that you might want to consider:

• Clearscope.
• SurferSEO.
• Topic.

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Step #3: Build Backlinks

The days when you could rank on page one of Google by simply creating outstanding content are long gone.

Nowadays, the number of backlinks your content has is just as important as its quality, if not more.

That’s why you need to be proactive when it comes to link building.

Here are the three most popular ways to get backlinks:

Guest Posting

Guest posting is the practice of writing articles for other websites in exchange for a backlink to your own website.

Here’s a quick overview of the process:

1. Pick a popular website in your niche or one of the related niches.
2. Figure out who is the decision maker that you should reach out to. This information might be available on the website itself. Alternatively, use LinkedIn to find that company’s employee list, then look for someone with a title that includes the words “editor”, “content”, or “marketing”.
3. Find the contact details for that person. Again, this information might be available on the website itself. Alternatively, either use LinkedIn to reach out to them or use io to find their email address.
4. Do your research and come up with a guest post idea. It should be a topic that is relevant to the audience of that website. You want to either target a promising keyword or share your personal experiences.
5. Pitch your guest post idea to the decision maker. Only start writing the post once your idea has been accepted.
6. Submit your guest post. Do your best to create top-quality content. Make sure that it includes 1-3 links to relevant articles on your website. Also, expect to go through several rounds of revisions.
7. Get published!

Ideally, you want to build relationships with the editors so that you’d have regular guest posting slots as opposed to only writing one-off guest posts.

Broken Link Building

Broken link building is the practice of building backlinks by replacing broken links on popular websites in your niche or related niches with links to your website.

Here’s a quick overview of the process:

1. Pick a target website.
2. Use the Check My Links Chrome extension to identify broken links.
3. Figure out which links could be replaced with links to your content.
4. Reach out to the person who runs the website and notify them about broken links.
5. Offer your content as a replacement for those broken links.

Here’s a sample email that Brian Dean from Backlinko used in his broken link building outreach:

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Link-Magnet Content

Finally, you can get backlinks by creating content that naturally attracts them, known as link-magnet or link-bait content.

Here are the three most popular types of link-magnet content:

• Original research. Conducting your own research, then publishing the results on your website can be a great way to attract backlinks. Say, in this very article, we shared two data points from Backlinko’s research.
• Case studies. You can also attract backlinks by publishing case studies.

Share what you did + the results that you got + the lessons that you’ve learned.

Content like that is unique and therefore more likely to get attention than run-off-the-mill rewrites.

• Custom images. Finally, if you can produce custom images that illustrate concepts that are often discussed in your niche, that can help you attract backlinks as well.

Alternatively, if you have screenshots that might be of benefit to other people, that can also generate some backlinks (e.g. Brian Dean’s email screenshot above).

We don’t recommend this link building strategy for new websites because the effectiveness of link-magnet content is heavily dependent on the popularity of your website.

Say, whenever Ahrefs or Backlinko publish original research, it inevitably gets a bunch of backlinks because these websites already have massive audiences.

Meanwhile, if a brand new SEO blog were to publish the exact same research, it would likely only get a few backlinks, if any.

That’s why it’s best to wait until your website starts gaining traction before you begin investing in link-magnet content.

Conclusion

Ranking on the first page of Google is simple.

Pick the right keyword, create top-quality content, and build backlinks to it. It’s not rocket science!

That being said, just because something is simple, doesn’t mean that it’s easy.

That’s why most people fail to reach the first page of Google’s search results – they simply aren’t willing to put in the effort required to get there.

But, as we discussed in the introduction, SEO is a winner-takes-all game. So if you want to succeed in it, you need to give it your best.

Anything less than that is a waste of time.

Back in 2019, Ahrefs CEO, Dmytro Gerasymenko, announced the company’s plan to build a search engine that would share 90% of their profits with content creators (the ones who actually make search engines a possibility).

Yep.com confirmed they will have a 90/10 profit share business model. This means that 90% of advertising profits will be paid directly to creators.

Dmytro goes into extensive detail about why Ahref’s decided to launch this search engine and who they intend to serve. You can read more about the mission behind the Yep search engine launch here.

Ahrefs has been crawling the web since 2010 and they have created one of the world’s leading SEO toolsets to date.

According to the team who built Yep, the search engine is designed to offer ‘an unbiased, private search experience that rewards and compensates the makers behind the content.’

Once the launch has completely rolled out, the Yep search engine by Ahrefs will be available in all countries and in most languages.

Ahrefs CEO announced June 4th 2022 that the search engine has not yet been released.

Follow along with our SEO updates on our Facebook page for more details!