On-page SEO ranking factors are the aspects of a given web page that influence search engine ranking: title tag, meta description, on-page content, image alt text, URL, etc.
On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. On-page SEO refers to both the web page content and HTML source code of a page that can be optimized, as opposed to off-page SEO which refers to inbound links and other external ranking signals.
On-Site SEO Ranking Factors:
Title Tag
Your <title> tag should include your main keyword that describes the page. Title tags also often include your brand name. Title tags should be under 60 characters, as Google only shows the first 50-60 characters. This is what is displayed in the search results as the page title when someone finds your website.
Meta Description
Each key page of your website needs a unique keyword focused meta description that tells Google what your page/site is about. This is what is displayed in the search results text body when someone finds your website and should be around 273 characters long.
Header Tags
Each page on your website should include one (1), <h1> header tag that includes your main keyword. In addition, you should utilize other header tags <h2>, <h3>, etc. to create organizational structure your site and include natural keyword variations. Google reads these in order to understand the flow and validity of the page content.
Keywords Targeting
Your homepage needs to include keywords that describe what you do. This helps you to not only rank in Google for things potential customers are searching, but including keywords and describing your services in depth helps consumers see your experience, knowledge and builds trust.
Mobile Friendly
Mobile friendly websites are now required by Google to be competitive online as more and more users are viewing on mobile devices.
Content Above Fold
Above the fold refer to content visible when a user visits the website. Specifically content positioned in the upper half of a web page and visible without scrolling down the page. If possible, text above the fold that includes your main keyword is strongly recommended.
Link to Main Pages From Home Page
You will want to make sure you are linking to your main landing pages from the homepage and navigation of your site.
URL’s SEO Friendly
SEO Friendly URLs use the <h1> header tag or title of the page as part of the URL. – example: Site.com/title-of-post-goes-here
Visual SiteMap or Mega Menu
A sitemap or mega menu allows Google to easily crawl and index all the pages on your website.
Targeted Landing/Content Pages
Creating these key landing pages (see ‘Link to Main Pages From Home Page’ section) helps users know better what you do or provide and efficiently helps Google rank you for these types of focused keyword searches.
XML Sitemap
An XML Sitemap needs to be submitted to Google. This is a code based file that defines structure and each page you want Google to include in their Index of searchable pages.
Google Pages Indexed
This is a count of the amount of actual pages Google has indexed of your site. Often times the larger the site the more likely you will have content covering your most important keywords.
Blog on root domain or subdomain
It is highly recommended to be blogging and creating content consistently. It is helpful to create a place for Google to visit regularly where you publish local content around appropriate keywords. This is vital to ranking for a variety of search results. (If you have a blog on a subdomain it is viewed by Google as a completely separate site, essentially not helping your website as a whole.