Pre-click On-Page Optimization

Digital Marketing - Study Notes:

What is on-page optimization?

We will now turn our attention to on-page optimization, which is the process of ensuring the content served is both relevant and provides a great user experience. This includes targeting the right keywords within your content and plays a leading role in search engine rankings.

In the past, many businesses approached this process as simply keyword stuffing, but as we have already discussed, this made for a poor user experience. 

Smart keyword targeting

These days, on-page optimization includes smart keyword targeting, where keywords are mentioned in key elements while still providing a good user experience. This means that your content reads well and satisfies what the user is looking for. The research you have already conducted on keywords will now play a key role in determining which keywords you will use.

The role of the Content Management System

On-page optimization changes are made through a Content Management System, or CMS. This is a piece of software that controls the pages and content on your website, which means a non-technical person should be able to update your website without using any coding. Basically, a CMS is the back end of a website. If you have a modern CMS like WordPress, it should be easy to target keywords in key elements. This includes optimizing images, headings, main body copy, meta description tags, and title tags, all of which we’ll look at in detail later on. The required time investment for this process is split between up-front work and ongoing maintenance. 

Categories of on-page optimization

There are two categories of on-page optimization. 

First, pre-click on-page optimization is what is visible to the user before they click on a result on the search engine results page. It includes the title tag, the meta description, and the URL. The goal of pre-click optimization is to encourage the user to click on your listing. 

The second type, post-click on-page optimization, is visible to the user after they click on your listing and land on your web page. It includes the main copy, the main heading and sub-headings, the hyperlinks, and the images on the page. 

Pre-click optimization

So, let’s look at pre-click optimization.

Title tags

After the main body copy, title tags are the single most important on-page element to get right. That’s because title tags are a heavy weight on-page SEO signal, which means search engines take note of them above many other page elements so it’s essential that they include keywords to help you rank effectively. And finally, title tags are displayed as a blue clickable link on a SERP, or search engine results page, and are the first thing a searcher sees. So, it’s really important to get this right. 

In Chrome, you can view the title tag in the source code by right-clicking on the web page and selecting View page source. The title for this web page will appear as <title>Digital Marketing Training Online | DMI</title>.

When optimizing title tags, there several things to consider. First, you must correctly use the space provided. The maximum length allowed is currently 550 pixels, which usually translates to around 62 characters for desktop and mobile. This number does change so it is always good to use an up-to-date Google SERP Preview Tool, like Tribe SEO’s Google SERP Generator.

Next, you need to work in keywords into the title tags. This is really the most important part to get right, and one of the reasons the keyword research is prioritized – to optimize title tags. If a title tag looks like one long keyword list, you may be considered a spammer. But if it includes your main keywords, and is written in natural, compelling language, then it should work well. 

To optimize title tags for keywords, you should include primary and secondary keywords. You should also position your main keywords nearer the beginning of the tag and avoid keyword stuffing.

Finally, be descriptive and engaging with your tags. Describe the page in natural language and make it enticing for the searcher to click through.

Other ways to optimize your title tags include using sentence separators like vertical lines, called pipes, or dashes, and including your brand’s name in the title tag though this is optional. Note, if you choose to add your brand in the title tag, it is commonly placed at the end. Also note that, at times, Google will write its own title tag for its SERPs.

Let’s look at an example. In this sample title tag for a fictional website, you can see that the title tag highlights what the web page is about, and that the brand has been included at the end. 

The title is engaging and targets the prioritized keywords. 

If we review our previous keyword research example, “best family dogs” is the P1 keyword and the singular version of the phrase is included at the beginning of the title tag

The two P2 keywords are “best breed of family dog” and “best dogs for kids”. While they are not included exactly in same word order, I’m sure you’ll agree they are well represented, and it will be clear to both search engines and the searcher, that the page is relevant such terms. 

Meta description tags 

A meta description tag is the short piece of descriptive text that you see under the title tag in a SERP. They are only visible in the SERPs and the source code. You cannot see them when you are viewing the main content of a page. 

Meta description tags are important for on-page optimization, but in a different way to what you might think at first. Including keywords in your meta description will not have a direct impact on rankings like title tags do, but it will influence whether someone is going to click on your listing. 

Meta description tags are medium weight on-page SEO signals. If the meta description tag contains a searched term, it will be bolded, encouraging the searcher to click through.

Occasionally, Google will write its own meta description tag for a web page if it has been left blank or deemed not relevant enough. But there are ways that you can optimize your meta description and keep control of what search engines display.

As with your tags, it is important to be descriptive and engaging. If your page has any unique selling points, list them here to encourage clickthroughs. Try to describe the page in natural language that is enticing. 

For example, if you have a page about family dogs, your meta description could be something like: 
Looking for the best family dog? We've handpicked a list of dog breeds that remain affectionate even around unpredictable and boisterous children. 

Next, make sure your meta description is two short sentences, at most. The maximum is 156 characters, though this may vary, for both desktop and mobile. Again, you can use the SERP Preview tool listed on screen to test length (https://www.tribeseo.com/tools/google-serp-generator).

Finally, be careful with your keywords. You will find that you’ve probably mentioned quite a few keywords in your title tag already. So, to avoid keyword stuffing! Don’t include them all again in your meta description. And since keywords do not help with rankings, it is best to include only your P1 keyword, as it is likely to be bolded when searched for.   

URLs

URL stands for ‘Uniform Resource Locator’, which is another term for a web address. URLs sit above both title and the meta description tags in Google’s results. 

Over time, a page will build up trust and authority, which is assigned to its URL. Changing a URL without redirecting it appropriately can lose trust. Because of this, it is best not to change a URL where possible, especially if the relevancy gain is quite small. Instead, try to get them right from the start. 

URLs are light weight on-page SEO signals. They attract clickthroughs from search results and are seen and used by search engines to index and retrieve pages. They are often generated from the main heading of the page, and this is good as a default because relevancy is added. But the downside is that they often become long and repetitive and need to be shortened. 

When creating a URL for your web page:

• Include your P1 keyword, or a close variation.
• Keep it short and concise – one to three words is ideal.
• Set the URL right at the beginning.
• Stick to conventions, such as using dashes and lowercase characters instead of underscores to separate words.
• And finally, use a SERP preview tool to test URL length.

In this example, there are two different URL styles for the same web page. 

Both are perfectly acceptable for SEO and would score about the same for relevancy. The first one (‘/best-family-dog-breed) is the simplest to do. The second one (‘/family-dog/breeds’) would be better for larger sites with lots of different types of products, because it gives an idea of the relationship of products to their parent categories.