Starting any SEO campaign with anything other than keyword research is a waste of time. To be truly successful with SEO you must begin with a well researched keyword strategy. Once you’ve identified the most important keywords for your campaign, the next step is to optimize web pages for top rankings. I’ve discovered a number of techniques that work especially well for on page optimization.

When contemplating how to optimize your web site pages, there are a number of things to consider. The most important aspects of on page optimization are meta tags, the speed at which your page loads, and the URLs you’re using. Even though this short list of factors may seem obvious to some, they are the most powerful aspects of on page optimization.

The concept of meta tags has been around for a very long time. At first, this was the primary vehicle by which search engines evaluated web sites. Over time their importance diminished in terms of the number of factors being considered on an entire web page. However, as algorithms go more complex, the purpose of meta tags have changed. Once the sole criterion, meta tags are now a way of validating site content. If your meta tags are consistent with on page content, the credibility of your page increases.

Meta tags should have a title tag which has your most important keywords and contains no more than 60 characters. This is the number of characters that can be displayed on Google search results. Your description tag which is also displayed in search results after a user does a search engine query, should be no more than 150 characters. This tag is most effective when mentioning your keywords two times.

Another meta tag is your keyword tag. This tag should include your most important keywords. I choose to keep my list concise, usually around 12 keywords. This shows Google and other search engines that your web page is both focused and relevant. Sites that engage in keyword stuffing are only hurting themselves. Consider doing to keyword research to determine which keywords get the most search engine traffic and use them.

When users search the web, they are not only looking for valuable content related to their query, they are also looking for well performing web sites. The second factor we need to look at for on page optimization is load time. Be aware of how quickly your web site pages load and continually work to make the faster. When sites load quickly, major search engines take notice and improve rankings. Focus on user experience in addition to a properly formatted web page and success happens more quickly

The third and certainly one of the most important factors is URL structure. It is true that having your keyword in the URL helps but it is not the only or the most heavily weighed optimization factor by Google. There are plenty of examples of sites that include the keyword in the URL but don’t rank as well as their competitors. If you can purchase a URL that has your keyword in it though, consider it advantageous. If you are unable to do so, consider adding a folder to your main directory or page to your site that includes the keyword you want to optimize your site for. A good example would be www.sample.com/keyword. By doing so you are placing your keyword close to the root and giving it more value. Also consider a sub domain strategy.

When thinking about SEO and embarking on your first optimization campaign, start with on page optimization. Focus your efforts on developing a web site that is easily searched and ranked with the help of the on page optimization factors we discussed. The topics we discussed including Meta tags, website load times and URL are among the most important on page optimization factors you can apply to improve your rankings.

Looking for help with your SEO? Check out our SEO training program. Also, if you’re looking to improve search engine rankings check out our Webmaster Training Guide.

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