On-page SEO covers everything you change on the page itself to help it rank: the words, the headings, the title shown in Google, the images and the links. It is the area of search engine optimisation you control completely, which makes it the best place to start.
Where technical SEO makes a page reachable, on-page work makes it the best answer. This guide covers each element and links to a deeper entry for each.
Start with search intent
Before touching a title tag, search your keyword and look at what ranks. Are the results guides, product pages, comparison lists or local businesses? Matching search intent matters more than any single tag, because Google has already shown you what searchers want.
Title tags and meta descriptions
The title tag is the clickable headline in the results and one of the strongest on-page signals. Put the main keyword near the start, keep it under about 60 characters and make it worth clicking.
A meta description does not affect rankings directly, but it is your advert in the results. A clear benefit and a reason to click can lift click-through rate noticeably.
Headings and structure
Use one H1 that states the topic, then H2s for the main questions and H3s for detail. Well-planned header tags help readers scan and help Google pull passages into featured snippets and AI answers.
Writing content that ranks
Cover the topic completely, answer the obvious follow-up questions and add something the current results lack: data, examples, photos, a template or real experience. Our guide to SEO content writing explains how to brief and structure articles.
Show who wrote the page and why they know the subject. Google’s quality guidelines put weight on E-E-A-T, especially for health, money and legal topics.
Use related terms naturally rather than repeating one phrase. Semantic SEO is about covering the entities and sub-topics a searcher expects, not hitting a keyword density.
URLs and images
Short, readable addresses such as /blue-running-shoes/ beat /p?id=3842. Our URL structure entry covers hyphens, folders and when not to change a URL.
Every meaningful image needs descriptive alt text for accessibility and image search. Compress images and use modern formats like WebP to keep pages fast.
Internal links and anchors
Links between your own pages spread authority and show Google how topics connect. A deliberate internal linking plan is one of the most underused ranking levers on small sites.
The clickable words matter too. Descriptive anchor text tells search engines what the target page is about.
Avoid competing with yourself
If two of your pages target the same query, Google may rotate between them and rank neither well. Learn to spot keyword cannibalisation and merge or differentiate the pages.
Winning extra visibility
A concise answer under a question heading can win featured snippets, the boxed answer at the top of some results. The same formatting helps you appear in AI Overviews.
On-page SEO checklist
- One clear primary keyword per page, matched to intent.
- Keyword near the start of the title tag and in the H1.
- A compelling meta description of around 150 characters.
- Logical H2 and H3 structure with question headings.
- Original, complete content with author details.
- Descriptive URL, compressed images with alt text.
- Three to ten relevant internal links with descriptive anchors.
- Schema markup where it fits.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a page be?
As long as it needs to be to answer the query better than the competition. Some queries need 300 words, others 3,000.
Does keyword density still matter?
No. Use the main phrase in the title, H1 and early text, then write naturally.
Related terms
See also technical SEO, keyword research and the full SEO encyclopedia.
Mr. SEO
Mr. SEO is the webmaster at SEO TT - SEO tips and tricks, a publication about all things SEO related.