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On-Page SEO: The Work You Control Completely

On-page SEO is everything on the page itself, which makes it the one pillar where nothing is outside your control and the feedback loop is fastest.

What's included

  • Title tags and meta descriptions written for the search result, not just the page. These are the advert most businesses never write.
  • Heading structure that reflects what the page covers, which is also what AI answer engines quote from.
  • Content matched to search intent, checked against what is already ranking rather than against a word count.
  • Internal linking with descriptive anchor text, which tells Google which of your pages you consider important.
  • Image handling: correct sizing, compression and alt text. The most common Core Web Vitals failure on small sites starts here.
  • Structured data so machines can read what the page is about without inferring it.

Who this is for

Sites that are technically healthy but not converting search interest into visits, and anyone who wants the highest-return work they can do without touching the server or buying links.

Frequently asked

What is on-page SEO?

Everything you control on the page itself: the title, headings, body content, internal links, images and structured data. It sits between technical SEO, which is about whether Google can reach and load your site, and off-page SEO, which is about what the rest of the web says about you. Our complete guide covers how the three fit together.

What are the most important on-page factors?

Content that matches what the searcher wanted, a title tag that says what the page is, a single clear H1, and internal links pointing at the page from elsewhere on your site. The rest is refinement on top of those four.

How long should a title tag be?

Under about 60 characters so it does not truncate in the results. Lead with the topic, add your location if you serve one, and put the brand last. Titles that start with the company name waste the first and most-read words.

Do meta descriptions affect rankings?

Not directly. They affect whether people click, which is why they are worth writing anyway. Leave one blank and Google writes its own from your page text, usually badly.

How many H1 tags should a page have?

One. More than one dilutes the signal about what the page is primarily about, and it is a common accidental side effect of page builders.

What is keyword density and does it matter?

It is the proportion of a page made up of a target phrase, and no, it does not matter. It was a crude proxy that got mistaken for a rule and then heavily abused. Write for the reader and cover the subject properly.

How do I optimise images for SEO?

Resize before uploading instead of relying on the browser to scale down, compress, use a modern format, and write alt text that describes the image. Oversized images are the single most common speed failure we find.

What is internal linking and why does it matter?

Linking between your own pages with descriptive anchor text. It spreads ranking value around your site, helps Google discover pages, and tells it which ones you treat as important. It costs nothing and is consistently underused.

Should every page target a different keyword?

Every page should target a different intent, which is the more useful version of that rule. Two pages chasing the same search compete with each other and usually both underperform.

How often should I update existing pages?

When there is something to change. Updating a date to look fresh fools nobody. Rewriting a page that ranks on page two but converts badly is often the highest-return hour available on a mature site.

Does structured data help on-page SEO?

It does not lift rankings on its own, but it makes pages eligible for rich results and materially improves how reliably AI systems can read them. Every page on this site carries it, which is the least we can do while recommending it.

Can I do on-page SEO myself?

Yes, more easily than the other two pillars. Titles, headings and internal links need no developer. Start with your five most commercially important pages and give them a proper hour each.