On-page SEO covers everything you control on the page itself: what it says, how it’s structured and how quickly it loads. It works alongside links and site authority, and it’s where most pages have the easiest gains.
This guide assumes you’ve already picked a target keyword. If you haven’t, start with my guide to keyword research for beginners.
Match search intent
Before writing, search your keyword and study what ranks. Google rewards pages that give searchers what they came for, and the top results show you what that is.
Say you sell supplements and want to rank for “best protein powder.” The top results are list-style articles that group powders by type, like “best whey protein” and “best-tasting protein powder,” then describe each product with pros and cons. A product or category page would struggle to rank there. A comparison article that follows the same pattern has a real chance.
Open the top three to five results and note their format, their structure and what they cover. Your page should match the format and do the job better.
Cover the topic fully
Strong pages answer the main question and the follow-up questions that come with it. To find those subtopics:
- Top-ranking pages Note the terms and sections they share. For protein powder, that includes whey, isolate, concentrate, grams of protein and calories.
- Autocomplete Type your keyword into Google and note the suggestions, like “for women,” “for weight loss” and “for smoothies.”
- People Also Ask These questions often make good subheadings.
- Keyword tools Ahrefs and Semrush show the keywords that top pages rank for, which points to subtopics worth covering.
Check that each subtopic belongs on the same page. Search it on its own: if the results look very different from your main keyword’s, it likely deserves a separate page.
Write a strong title and meta description
- Title tag Include your keyword, ideally near the start, and make it specific enough to earn the click. Keep the most important words early, since Google may cut off long titles.
- Meta description Its job is to earn the click. Summarize the page in a sentence or two and start with an action where it fits. Google sometimes rewrites descriptions, and a clear one is more likely to be kept.
- H1 Use one per page, matching the title’s topic.
Write for the reader first. A title stuffed with keywords looks less trustworthy than a clear one.
Structure the page for readers
- Headings Use H2s for main sections and H3s beneath them, in order. Clear headings help readers skim and help search engines understand the page.
- Short paragraphs and sentences Walls of text push people away.
- Plain words “Near” beats “proximity.”
- Lists and tables Use them for steps, comparisons and options.
Tip
A free tool like Hemingway Editor flags long sentences and hard words. Aim for writing that a busy reader can follow on a phone.
Keep URLs short and descriptive
Content management systems often build the URL from the full title. A post called “11 best solar-powered lawnmowers in 2026” would end up with a long slug that includes a number and a date that goes stale.
Trim it to the keyword: /best-solar-powered-lawnmowers. Short, descriptive URLs are easier to read in search results, easier to share, and stay accurate when you update the post.
Link to and from related pages
Internal links help search engines find your pages and understand how they connect. Link from this page to related pages using descriptive anchor text, and link to it from relevant older pages so it gets found faster. My guide to anchor text and internal linking covers this in detail.
Optimize images
- Alt text Describe what the image shows. It helps screen reader users, shows when an image fails to load, and helps images appear in Google Images.
- File size Compress images and use modern formats like WebP or AVIF.
- Dimensions Set a width and height so the page doesn’t shift as images load.
- Lazy loading Load below-the-fold images only when needed.
Add structured data
Structured data, usually written in JSON-LD, tells search engines exactly what a page contains: an article, a product, a recipe, a local business. It can make a page eligible for rich results like review stars. Its value comes from that eligibility and from giving search engines and AI systems a clearer picture of the page. Any ranking effect is indirect.
Use the most specific type that fits, fill in the required properties from your own content, and test it with Google’s Rich Results Test. On WordPress, a plugin can handle common types; for anything custom, write it by hand.
Make the page fast and easy to use
Google measures page experience with Core Web Vitals:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) How quickly the main content loads. Aim for 2.5 seconds or less.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP) How quickly the page responds to taps and clicks. Aim for 200 milliseconds or less.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) How much the layout jumps while loading. Aim for 0.1 or less.
Check your pages with PageSpeed Insights, and see sitewide results in Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report. Common fixes include compressing images, removing unused scripts and plugins, deferring non-essential JavaScript, using browser caching and improving server response time.
Beyond speed, make sure the page works on every screen size, uses HTTPS, meets accessibility basics, and avoids intrusive popups and confusing calls to action.
On-page checklist
- Format matches what ranks for the keyword
- Covers the main question and its follow-ups
- Clear title tag, meta description and a single H1
- Logical H2 and H3 structure, short paragraphs
- Short, descriptive URL
- Internal links to and from related pages
- Compressed images with alt text and set dimensions
- Structured data that validates
- Core Web Vitals in the good range on mobile