What is Onsite SEO?
Onsite SEO comprises all the work that is done on the websites itself. Search engines such as Google require fresh content in order to rank your website and as such, onsite work is crucial to achieve the rankings you want. The primary components of onsite search engine optimisation include content and web page optimisation. Both of these components work to provide the search engines with a website that is easier to trawl, with optimised content, deep links, Meta data and other elements used according to best SEO practices. We cover all the bases off onsite SEO as part of our diverse packages! When you take one of our monthly seo packages, an SEO audit will reveal your onsite shortfalls and we will make suggestions as to which changes need to be made on your site so that you can start ranking better.
Why Do You Need Onsite SEO?
You could think of onsite SEO as the basis of your battle strategies - an SEO audit would reveal your shortcomings so that you are better prepared for battle! Without an SEO friendly website, you should not begin to start offsite work. There are many ways that you can improve your rankings with the help of website optimisation – even a few simple changes can make all the difference between a website that is barely making it onto page 3 and a website that is close to the top of page 1. To better understand the importance of onsite strategies, the following breakdown shows you how websites are optimised for search engines.
Copywriting
The old saying 'content is king' is one that certainly applies to copywriting. If you think about the content on your current webpages, how many of these pages have well-written, keyword rich content that appeals to both search engines and readers? Perhaps you have some basic product pages, or even a company blog. You may however have a website that has plenty of images, but not nearly enough content. SEO copy includes the following:
- Website content – these are the various pages on your site, from the home page to service pages, sub-pages and every other page. Copy for these pages needs to be relevant to the topic, with primary and secondary keywords placed within the content to allow your customers to find you online.
- Blog content – regular blog posts are excellent for SEO, but are also good for conversion and readership rates too. Primary and longtail keywords allow blog pages to be found in the search engines, while relevant topics that apply to your industry ensure interest for your readers.
- Article writing – article writing is another powerful tool that aids your SEO strategies. Using primary keywords and an author bio that links back to your website ensures that articles are found online, while helpful and well-written articles also help to establish your company as an industry expert.
If you think that your sites copy needs a makeover, check out our Copywriting Services page for more details.
Code Optimisation
Code optimisation includes keyword research that helps you find the best keywords for each web page, as well as optimisation of the entire website and even the Meta data that is placed within your website code. Search engines need a well-organised, clear hierarchy of pages in order to trawl your website. By optimising the code and presenting the various pages in an easy to search way, you will be able to improve your rankings considerably. Optimisation for web pages includes the following:
- Keyword research – guessing which phrases potential customers use to find your website is not the way to target those who are actively searching for your business. Comprehensive keyword research is done to determine high ranking terms that are relevant to your pages, so that these terms can be used within your content and code.
- Optimisation of site structure – think of your website pages as a network of links and sub-pages. Your primary pages such as category pages are on the top level, while underneath each primary page are additional pages. The sub-pages could include specific products or services found within each category for example, with both primary and sub-pages containing links to their appropriate pages. By optimising your site structure, you are helping the search engines find all of these links and pages simply and quickly.
- Meta tag optimisation – Meta data includes your page title, description and keywords. These tags are placed within the website code, making them invisible to readers but visible to search engines. The search engines are then able to use these tags along with the structure and content to rank each page properly.
Now that you understand the importance of onsite SEO, click here to get started on one of our SEO packages.