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What is onpage optimization

Written by Joshua | 3/9/15 4:04 PM

Onpage optimization is one of the most important parts of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and it encompasses the changes that be done directly on your website. Onpage optimization should always come before you start working on offpage optimization in order to create a stable foundation for a good website. There is a distinction between optimizing the pages themselves, the domain, and working at the server level. The complexity of optimization and the options to change and customize your site depends if you are working on the pages, domain, or the server itself. The different optimization methods can be technical and in-depth. 

Onpage optimization: the technical aspect 

The technical aspects refer to any measures taken that directly affect the source code of a page or any changes at the domain or server level. Some examples are: 

  • Optimizing individual meta elements (e.g. meta description
  • Optimizing the site title 
  • Optimizing alt-tags for pictures 
  • Optimizing URLs to be search engine-friendly 
  • Using search engine-friendly mark-ups 
  • Making your website load faster 
  • Plus many others 

Onpage optimization: the content aspect 

Content optimization measures refer to the content of a website, whether it be the text or various forms of media like images or videos. Optimizing the text entails using related keywords throughout the text, but you have to be sure that it is not used too much or too little, it's readable, and that the text is unique. 

Writing unique text is important because you avoid the issue of having duplicate content which is something that search engines use to rank your website. 

Onpage optimization: the structural aspect 

The biggest part about structuring your text is done via the use of subheadings (H1 to H6) to highlight individual keywords in order to make the text more easily readable. A special part of onpage optimization is the optimization of pictures. It is important to not only consider the reading experience but to take additional SEO possibilities into account such as the name of the pictures, the alt-text, and the title text. 

Internal and external links are a part of onpage optimization 

The use of links within the text also has a special function. There can be internal links (links that go to another page on your website) and external links (links that go to a different website). Internal links are particularly special, and we will talk more about that in a different article later. 

We hope that we have given you a good overview of the different possibilities of onpage optimization with this article.