For SEO and ranking, here are the must-have elements for on-page optimization:
1. Essential Meta Tags
✅ Title Tag (<title>) – Primary ranking factor, should be under 60 characters and include the main keyword.
✅ Meta Description (<meta name="description">) – Influences CTR, should be under 160 characters and compelling.
✅ Meta Robots Tag (<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">) – Controls indexing and crawling.
2. URL Structure
✅ SEO-friendly URLs – Short, readable, and include a primary keyword. Example:
❌ example.com/p=123
✅ example.com/best-seo-practices
3. Open Graph & Twitter Cards (For social sharing)
✅ OG tags (og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url)
✅ Twitter Cards (twitter:title, twitter:description, twitter:image)
4. Header Tags (H1-H6)
✅ H1 Tag – Only one per page, should match the page’s topic.
✅ H2-H6 Tags – Used for subheadings, helping with readability and keyword distribution.
5. Image SEO
✅ Alt Text (alt="") – Describes images for search engines and accessibility.
✅ Image Compression – Optimized images reduce load time.
6. Structured Data (Schema Markup)
✅ Schema.org Markup – Helps search engines understand content (e.g., articles, products, FAQs, reviews).
Example for an article:
<script type=”application/ld+json”> { “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “Article”, “headline”: “Best SEO Practices for 2024”, “author”: “John Doe”, “datePublished”: “2024-02-06” } </script>
7. Internal & External Linking
✅ Internal Links – Link to relevant pages on your site to improve navigation.
✅ External Links – Link to authoritative sources when necessary.
8. Mobile-Friendliness & Core Web Vitals
✅ Responsive Design – Ensure the site works well on mobile devices.
✅ Page Speed Optimization – Use Google PageSpeed Insights to improve load times.
9. XML Sitemap & Robots.txt
✅ Sitemap (sitemap.xml) – Helps search engines crawl all important pages.
✅ Robots.txt – Guides search engine bots on which pages to index or ignore.
10. HTTPS (SSL Certificate)
✅ Secure Site (HTTPS) – Google prefers secure websites. Ensure your site uses an SSL certificate.
Bonus: User Engagement Signals
✅ Low Bounce Rate – Optimize content to keep users engaged.
✅ Dwell Time – The longer users stay, the better for SEO.
Final Thoughts
Implementing all these elements ensures better rankings, higher CTR, and improved user experience.
Also Read : How to start a blog in 2025
