On Page SEO

I start with search intent before I write a line. I pull up the SERP and note the dominant format: guides, product pages, listicles, or videos. If the top ten results are all e-commerce product pages and I am writing a blog post, I back away. That sounds obvious, but I wasted months doing the opposite.

Once I confirm intent, I write content that answers the searcher's question better than the current top result. Not longer — better. I use a single H1 that matches the topic, not the keyword verbatim if it sounds forced. Then I break the body into H2s that cover each subtopic the searcher cares about. I find those subtopics by scanning the People Also Ask box and the top-ranked pages.

After the content is solid, I optimise the [SEO title](/title-tag/) and [meta description](/meta-description/). I write a title that promises what the page delivers and puts the key phrase near the front. The meta description is a complete sentence summarising the value, sometimes with a natural call to action. No keyword stuffing.

Next come internal links. I connect the page to related content where it adds context, not just for the sake of linking. I use descriptive anchor text. [Internal links](/internal-links-seo/) help users navigate and help crawlers understand the site structure.

I compress every image, rename the file to something descriptive, and write [alt text](/alt-text/) that describes the image for accessibility. If the image is a chart of last year's traffic, the alt text says 'Traffic chart showing 20% growth in organic sessions'. Not 'chart'. Then I run Lighthouse. If the page loads over three seconds on mobile, I fix that first. Mobile responsiveness is non-negotiable.

Every step is a check, not a one-time setup. I revisit high-traffic pages quarterly. For example, I recently reviewed a guide on [landing page optimisation](/what-is-a-landing-page/) and found two broken internal links and an outdated stat. They are fixed now.

First watch-out: ignoring search intent. Many people optimise for a keyword without checking what Google already shows. If the SERP has recipe results and you write a history lesson, you lose. I have seen this kill traffic for months.

Second: keyword stuffing in headings and alt text. Search engines are good at understanding context. You do not need the keyword in every H2. Use variations and synonyms. Write for a human.

Third: neglecting mobile. Over sixty percent of searches happen on mobile. If your page has tiny text, slow load, or unclickable links, you rank poorly regardless of content. I test every page on a real phone before publishing.

Fourth: duplicate title tags. If multiple pages share similar titles, search engines get confused. Every page needs a unique, descriptive SEO title. I use a [title checker](/title-checker/) to spot overlaps.

Fifth: ignoring indexation. I once spent two weeks optimising a page that had a noindex tag in the meta robots. Check that the page is allowed to be indexed.

Sixth: over-optimising anchor text. If all your internal links say 'best SEO tools', it looks spammy. Vary the phrasing. Use natural phrases like 'check out my guide on SEO tools'.

Seventh: writing for yourself, not the user. Long paragraphs, no subheadings, no whitespace. People scan. Use bullet points, bold for emphasis, short paragraphs. I aim for a fourth-grade reading level.

Eighth: forgetting to update. On-page SEO is not set-and-forget. Content ages, competitors improve, search patterns shift. Schedule a [content audit](/content-audit/) every six months.

Ninth: ignoring image SEO. A large uncompressed image can add three seconds to load time. Optimise file size and use WebP where possible.

Tenth: not testing. I run A/B tests on titles and meta descriptions. A small change to a headline can lift click-through rate by thirty percent.

I used to think on-page SEO was about matching keywords to headings and hitting the right density. I wrote pages that ranked but nobody finished reading. The bounce rate was terrible. I learned the hard way that Google measures user engagement signals.

I once used two H1 tags on one page because the design had a subtitle. That confused the crawler. Now I use exactly one H1 per page.

I ignored alt text for years. I thought it was optional. Then I realised it helps with image search and accessibility. Now I write descriptive alt text for every meaningful image. It is not just for SEO; it is for users with screen readers.

I also over-optimised internal links. I forced the exact keyword into anchor text every time. That made my linking look unnatural. I now vary the phrasing and link only when it adds value.

I wasted time on the meta keywords tag. That has been useless for a decade. I removed it from all pages.

I believed longer content always ranked better. Not true. I have 800-word articles outranking 3,000-word ones because they answered the query directly. Length is a side effect of completeness, not a goal.

I neglected mobile-first indexing. I had a desktop site that looked perfect, but on mobile the text overlapped and buttons were too small. I fixed that after losing traffic for a month.

I thought on-page SEO was a checklist you do once. It is not. The page's performance changes over time. Competitors add new sections. Your old internal links go stale. You need to revisit.

The biggest lesson: write for the person who has the question, not for the algorithm. The algorithm learns what people like. If you satisfy the searcher, you satisfy Google.