On-page SEO is the foundation of every ranking strategy. Yet many websites still don't get the basics right. Go through these 10 points and you'll know exactly where your opportunities are.
On-page SEO covers everything you can optimize on your own website to rank better in Google. Think of the copy, titles, structure and technical elements of every page. It's the foundation that link building and other off-page activities build on.
Without solid on-page SEO, the rest makes little sense. Google has to understand what your page is about before it can rank it. Go through the checklist below for every important page on your website.
The title tag is the blue clickable part of the search results. Put your most important keyword at the front, keep it between 50 and 60 characters and write something you would click on yourself. Every page needs a unique title tag. Check this with your browser's inspector or a tool like Screaming Frog.
The meta description is the gray text below the title in the search results. Google doesn't use it directly as a ranking factor, but a good description increases your click-through rate. Write actively, include a call to action and work in the keyword. Keep it between 120 and 155 characters.
Every page has exactly one H1 heading. This is the main title of the page. Work your primary keyword into it in a natural way. Avoid generic H1s like "Welcome" or "Homepage". Look at the source code of your pages and search for h1 tags.
After the H1, use H2 and H3 for subheadings. This helps Google understand the structure of your page and makes the text easier to read for visitors. Work related keywords into your H2 headings. Don't skip levels: jumping straight from H1 to H3 is not a good idea.
A good URL looks like this: hendriksdigital.com/on-page-seo-checklist. No long strings of numbers or dates, no stop words like "the", "a" or "of". Use hyphens as separators, not underscores. Only change the URLs of existing pages that already rank if it's truly necessary, and set up a redirect when you do.
This is the most underestimated factor. Google ranks the pages that best match what the searcher wants. Someone searching for "link building tips" wants a practical article, not a sales page. Look at the top 5 search results for your keyword and analyze what type of content Google shows. That tells you what the search intent is.
Does your blog post link to relevant service pages? And do your service pages link to case studies or the contact form? Internal links help Google understand your website and spread authority across pages. Use descriptive anchor text, not "click here".
Every image needs an alt attribute that describes what's in the image. Google can't "see" images the way people do. Good alt text helps with accessibility and gives Google extra context. Keep it descriptive and concise, no keyword stuffing.
Google uses page speed as a ranking factor, especially on mobile. Measure your speed with Google PageSpeed Insights. The biggest gains usually come from compressing images, removing unnecessary scripts and using caching. A slow page loses visitors and rankings.
Sometimes the same content can be reached through multiple URLs, for example with and without www, with and without .html, or via HTTP and HTTPS. The canonical tag tells Google which URL is the "real" one. Check that every page has a canonical pointing to the correct URL. This prevents your PageRank from being split across duplicates.
Tip: use Google Search Console to see which pages Google already indexes and where the problems are. It's free and gives you immediate insight into how Google sees your site.
Start with your most important pages: the homepage and your top 3 service pages. Check points 1 through 4 (title, meta, H1 and structure), because those have the most direct impact. Once those are in order, work through the rest step by step.
On-page SEO is not a one-off project. Every new page you publish deserves the same attention. Make it a fixed part of your workflow.
I carry out SEO audits in which I go through all on-page factors, map out technical issues and give you concrete action points. Afterwards you'll know exactly what can be improved and in which order to tackle it.
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