On Page Optimisation – tips to rocket your online rankings

Let’s face it. The online space is crowded, competitive and super busy. 

And if you want to have any chance of ranking online, your web pages must be squeaky clean.

Google is forever changing and evolving its algorithms. Still, the one constant is that your website must be informative and easy to navigate, and all the content must be unique and written to the highest standards. Known as On-Page Optimisation, Google now places a massive emphasis on this, and it is one of the most critical ranking factors. Ignore it at your peril!

Knowing how to implement best practices on-page optimisation could be the difference between you winning clients over your competition. And we all know how much we hate it when our competitors start growing a bigger slice of the market. It sucks, but there are things you can do and do it now!

What is on-page optimisation?

On-page optimisation is the art of ensuring each website page satisfies the search intent. Basically, it’s everything visible to the eye on your website, including graphics, content, call-to-actions, and images. While -page optimisation involves external variables such as link building, On-page optimisation focuses on whether the copy answers a user’s search query. The more relevant your web page is to the query, the higher it will rank on Google organically. With On Page Optimisation, you must fine-tune your content by updating it to keep it relevant, labelling images correctly, changing title tags and descriptions to make them more unique, tweaking URL structures and creating more internal backlinks so Google efficiently indexes your site.

The Role of Content Marketing

I cannot emphasise how important content is right now, especially with the latest Google update in March ’24, which puts content front and centre where low-quality, uninformative, same-as, spammy web content will be penalised. Quality content is not a new phenomenon and has been part of Google’s ranking criteria. Still, over time, it has refined its algorithm to weed out imposter websites that offer no value. If you are writing content for your website, there are two factors to consider. First, you have to keep the content relevant to the search intent, and second, your copy must inform the search engines what the page is about, which is simply adjusting titles and descriptions and ensuring the copy stays on topic.

 There are a few vital considerations when optimising website content that you should consider for the best Google results. Follow these, and you’ll be fine, and you should start to see your rankings climb. But here’s a valuable tip: it’s not set and forget. On-page optimisation is an ongoing process where you need to always look at how to improve your pages. If you’re not doing it, your competition will be, which is why they are probably above you in the Google rankings.

Know the important keywords.

Know what your audience is searching for and create pages that address these queries. There are online keyword research tools, like Google Keyword Planner. For example, if you’re a family lawyer in Sydney, you would want to target keywords people are searching for regarding family lawyers, like wills and estates, family mediation, or child custody lawyers. All these keywords have lots of traffic, and it’s essential that you target these.

Topic Relevance & Quality

Writing for Google and stuffing keywords into the content just doesn’t work any longer. Known as keyword spamming, Google outlawed this practice many years ago. People still practice this, hoping to cheat Google’s algorithm, but it never works. To be relevant, you have to answer people’s questions and search inquiries and be very specific with key headings and points. There are some great websites online that address people’s questions about keywords related to your business called, Answer the Public, and it’s a potent marketing tool that I suggest you use.

Clever formatting

Structure your web page so that it’s easy to read, digest and take action. Use clear headings, short paragraphs and bullet points so it’s easy to scan a page, find what you’re looking for and take action. Whether it’s a sign-up form, downloading a webinar, buying a product or making a call, everything about the formatting of the page must be designed to channel you into doing something.

Include eye-catching visuals

Not only do you have to optimise images and file names but it’s a good idea to keep people on your website and encourage them to do something on it. Adding videos, and photos are a great way to keep people engaged especially in the age of social media where people are addicted to reels and videos that are short, snappy and engaging. 

Keep updating your website.

People want updated news, information, and the latest product information, so your website has to reflect the public’s demands by continually refreshing with new, more relevant copy, videos, and photos. Google likes nothing more than relevant new copy to index. Go over old blogs and update them with new information. Audit every page of your website, check for outdated copy, and fix this as soon as possible!

Be creative with Title Tags.

Title tags are the blue headings and what people click on when they land on Google search results. Since it’s the first thing they see, it has to be catchy, sales-focused, and enticing. Play around with these, and you’ll find one that works over time. Include your main service in this title at the beginning so people and the search engines know your page’s intent. The ideal title tag length is between 50 and 60 characters. This range means your title tag will appear on both desktop and mobile. Remember, you’ll have higher click-through rates with well-thought-out titles. Add some personality to the title so you stand out from everyone else. You might even get away with adding an emoji to really make it pop off the page. Google has been dropping off the business name in the title recently, so there’s no point in adding that. See what Google says about this in their helpful article: How to Write Effective Google Ads.

I suggest some serious, regular A/B testing to see what title tags are working. If you have recently changed the titles and noticed inquiry rates rise, this is a sign that you’re on the right track.

Final thoughts

If you want to stay ahead of the competition and be as Google-compliant as possible, then on-page optimisation should be part of your weekly or monthly marketing strategy. We can help you with all your on-page optimisation at SEO Sydney Experts; we can help you with our SEO Sydney service if all this seems overwhelming. Call us anytime at 02 9360 8514