The Ultimate Guide to On-Page SEO in 2022
By adecker@hubspot.com (Allie Decker)
On-page SEO has the power to bring countless new visitors — and customers — right to your website.
Additionally, on-page SEO is also completely up to you: You get to establish what the topic and/or goal of each page will be. You get to decide on the target audience for that page. And you get to choose the target keywords and phrases you want to focus on.
This can be intimidating and empowering at the same time. If you’re unsure how to get started, we’ve built this on-page SEO checklist to help guide you.
Jump To:
What is On-Page SEO?
Why On-Page SEO is Important
On-Page SEO Elements
On-Page SEO Checklist
Google’s algorithm ranks your website on three main factors: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO:
- We’ll cover on-page SEO elements below.
- Off-page SEO refers to social sharing, external linking, and more.
- Technical SEO refers to all the SEO elements not included in on-page and off-page practices, such as structured data, site speed, and mobile readiness — the more technical parts of SEO.
Note: This SEO “trilogy” isn’t always divided into three clean sections; some of these SEO elements will overlap. You’ll see how and why throughout this piece.
Why is on-page SEO important?
On-page SEO is important because it tells Google all about your website and how you provide value to visitors and customers. It helps your site be optimized for both human eyes and search engine bots.
Merely creating and publishing your website isn’t enough — you must optimize it for Google and other search engines in order to rank and attract new traffic.
On-page SEO is called “on-page” because the tweaks and changes you make to optimize your website can be seen by visitors on your page (whereas off-page and technical SEO elements aren’t always visible).
Every part of on-page SEO is completely up to you; that’s why it’s critical that you do it correctly. Now, let’s discuss the elements of on-page SEO.
All on-page SEO elements fall into three main categories:
You’ll see these elements divided into sections below.
Content Elements
Content elements refer to the elements within your site copy and content. In this section, we’ll focus mostly on crafting high-quality page content that benefits your visitors and tells Google that your website provides value.
1. High-Quality Page Content
Page content is the heart of on-page SEO. It tells both search engines and readers what your website and business are all about.
The first step to creating high-quality content is choosing relevant keywords and topics. Conduct keyword research by searching Google for terms and seeing what surfaces for competitors and other websites. You can also use tools like Ahrefs, AnswerthePublic, and UberSuggest.