Discover the exact on-page SEO checklist for ranking your content on the #1 spot of Google search results. The truth about On-page SEO is that most bloggers don’t know the proper On-site technique that generates the best result.
From my years of experience. I can testify that On-page SEO is not hard. All you need is to fix the right puzzles together. And you will start seeing good results.
Ranking on the first page of Google requires implementing all the on-page technical SEO requirements. The reason some website owners see big media sites with crappy articles outrank them is that they are doing the wrong SEO work on their web pages.
After reading this article. You are going to find out all the technical SEO implementations. Needed for ranking on the search engine result pages (SERP). This On-page SEO checklist covers all the advanced SEO tactics.
What you will learn:
Here are the major things you will learn from this on-page SEO guide:
- Keyword
- Semantic keywords
- Headings
- Content UX
- How to optimize and update your post
If you read to the end. You will see the exact framework and content assembly method to rank for more keywords. And master SEO.
On-Page SEO checklist: Keyword
On-page or On-site SEO involves properly adding targeted keyword on a single page to help it rank in search results.
When you are writing a blog post. It’s important for the article to focus on one keyword. Make sure to add the keyword inside the post.
This specific target keyword is what will make search engines understand the main topic of the article. Where you place the keyword will determine the ranking of the article.
Google is a smart search engine. So it uses machine learning to know the best article to rank first. Google checks the structure, uniqueness, and variations of keywords.
All of the above is what goes on in Google machine learning. But the best part is that there is a specific way to optimize your post. For example, you can change the post title at any time. But don’t change the post URL because of internal linking and backlinks done for the post. Basically, you should also place the target keyword on the post URL.
On-page SEO post formating
Like I said before where you place the keyword will determine your ranking. So here are the best spot for keyword placement.
- Post URL
- Title of the post
- Inside the first paragraph
- The first H2 heading
- Secondary headings
When you think about On-page SEO know that you have to optimize your keyword properly by placing it in the spots listed above. Also, put it in some specific areas of the article.
I know you will be asking how many times you will put the keyword on a single post without over-optimizing the content. The best way to know how many times to use the keyword is to use Semantic keyword tools
What are Semantic keyword tools
Google machine learning is getting smarter day by day. And we cannot actually figure out how many times a keyword must be found on a post. So using Semantic keyword tools will help solve the problem.
Semantic keyword tools will show you the words that need to be found inside the article. You can use these tools to trick the search engine to better understand your article.
You can use a tool like Surfer SEO to optimize your article to get the best On-page SEO result. So you can put your article inside Surfer SEO. Then the tool will analyze your content. And show you the parts that need to be improved to boost your ranking.
Features of Surfer SEO
- Content score.
- Show the number of words in the article.
- Count the number of headings.
- Show the number of images.
- suggest the exact semantic keyword that needs to be in the article.
- Reveal how many times to use the semantic keywords
Surfer SEO is an AI based tool that scans top-ranking sites for the keywords that are helping them to generate organic traffics. So the tool will check how many times these keywords are found in the article.
Basically, Surfer SEO shows how your competitors optimize their articles to rank higher in search results. Without these AI SEO tools, it will be hard for you to figure out all the Semantic keywords you need to include in the article.
After getting all these keywords ready. You also need to structure the heading properly.
The heading structure
How to format and structure the titles and the headings. First, the main title of the article is known as H1. As a blogger, they are two main types of posts you should publish on your site.
1. Transaction list post:
This type of post is best for generating affiliate revenue from your blog. There is a standard way to write this kind of post.
The length of the title should not go above 600-pixel width. So you can use Moz title tag to check the length of your post title.
Copy your title, then paste it inside the Moz tool to check if you are above the limit. Going above the limit will reduce your click-through rate. Blog titles and meta description help to increase the CTR.
People like to see numbers in transactional posts. for example “10 best web hosting”. The number in the title will attract more people to click on the post in search results. So number + best + keyword is the proper title format for transactional posts.
Transactional posts start with the H1 which is the main title, then H2 which is the second header. And H3 which is headings under the H2. This type of structure makes it easy for Google to access the article. It is the standard format for on-page SEO.
The second main type of post is How-to articles.
How-to article
How-to or informational articles are primarily for educating people on how to do something. They are best for generating display ads revenue.
So when creating a blog on your target niche. You need to focus on these two types of posts which are Transactional posts and Informational posts.
A transactional post is for writing product reviews in your niche. While the informational post is for showing people how to do things in your niche.
After optimizing your post with the right heading and keywords. You can also use a tool like Grammarly to correct your spelling errors.
Correct your writing errors with Grammarly
Grammarly is a free tool that helps with your grammar and punctuation. It helps you write better and error-free articles.
It can correct spelling errors, inconsistent punctuation, grammar issues, and more. You can use Grammarly directly on your WordPress blog by installing the chrome extension. Or you can copy your article and post it on the Grammarly website for analysis.
Using Surfer SEO and Grammarly will help give your article a better score. Always have it in mind that you are writing for human beings and search engines.
So if there are too many errors in your article Google will notice the article will be difficult for the readers. Though some crappy content might rank higher in search results. But the readers may quickly leave the site and visit another site with more easy-to-understand content.
This will increase the bounce rate of sites with crappy content. And Google will decrease its ranking and focus on sites with low bounce rates.
After you have finally published your article. There are some other things you need to do and one of them is FAQ Schema.
FAQ schema
WordPress plug-ins like Yoast SEO and Rankmath are the best SEO tool you can use to create faq blocks within the Gutenberg text editor.
The faq block will help place your article on the additional content sections that display in Google search results. having your article appear In the Google faq section will help increase your click-through rate.
You can use Yoast to add the faq block in your article. And it will be wrapped in schema markup in WordPress. And it will start showing in search results.
using Faq schema in on-page SEO will help you get those little snippets in the search result. So you have published your well on-page optimized article without errors. And added the right semantic keywords but in reality, this content may not start generating income for your blog. There are more works to be done to get a better result.
Content assembly line method
When you publish your article for the first time. You are not going to rank on page one. And this means you will not get organic traffic.
But when you start doing link building your ranking position will start increasing. On-page SEO helps to put your article in the right format. But your website needs authority to rank higher in search engines.
Content assembly will help you know how to source for blog content because not all your blog posts will rank in Google.
So how do you create more content and rank for some specific keyword? And then make more money from them. The best way to get the best result is to use the MVP Format.
MVP format
MVP is basically a minimum-viable product. So in blogging, you can define it as a minimum viable post. You can create a post with 800 to 1000 words then keep updating the article by adding more words later.
So the first time you publish the post, it might rank in the 10th position. But the more you update it and build more backlinks it might rank in the #1 position.
In the content assembly line method version-one of your articles is primarily written for search engines. On-page SEO done on the page is to ask Google to index your content.
The more links you build and the more authoritative your domain becomes, your ranking will increase. But you might not be in the number one spot.
So how do you get to the #1 spot?
You need to have a clear timeline process for all of this to work well. So in my content assembly line method. My first approach is to publish the MVP version of the article.
So at this stage I know it will not generate any traffic. I just publish it to get indexed in the search engines. And also to see the initial ranking.
After a month I will check my analytics to see if it has started getting small traffic. Then I will start planning how to update the article.
So when you check your analytics and see how many impressions and how the content is performing. You now know if you have to update the article, or build backlinks. Or you can do both.
If you see that the keyword is very competitive and other sites that are ranking have more backlinks. Then you have to start building links for the blog post.
You need to maintain your content updating schedule because Google likes fresh content. So you can be updating your article every 3 months.
Content assembly line method steps:
- Do keyword research: find out the keyword you want to rank.
- Assemble the article: Structure the article in proper format like the H1, H2, and paragraph
- Optimize the post: you can use SEO tools like surfer SEO to get semantic keywords. Also, use Grammarly to correct errors
Content update
Updating your content is very important. After you have published the first version of the article, you will see the initial performance.
Then you can create a content updating schedule. Maybe every 3 months you go back to the article and add 500 words, improve the Surfer score. Or make it more readable.
The more you update check your analytics to know if it’s going up or going down. When you have the best article people will not quickly leave your blog. And this will send a signal to Google that your blog has quality content on it.
Final thought on the On-page SEO checklist
If you are doing on-page SEO right, doing search intent, and future-proofing the site by creating the best article. You will see that your ranking will increase.
When you future-proof your site and do the right on-page SEO. You will see that your site will not be hit by any Google algorithm update.
If you are writing articles like product reviews. You need to make sure you are sharing your actual experience of using the product.
As you can see from all the sections of this on-page SEO checklist. You will find out that creating an article, getting keywords, and optimizing your content are not hard. But understanding the search intent and providing the best answer in your article is the hardest.
So when you are targeting any specific keyword make sure to provide the best solution in your article. So that the searchers will visit your site and leave immediately because your content was not able to help them.
