There is a lot of information out there on search engine optimization. There are many self-proclaimed experts out there who are good at creating enormous lists. Unfortunately, their SEO skills aren’t as good as their list building skills. But that doesn’t stop them from sharing with their list bad, outdated tips that are supposed to help improve rankings. Then those people on the list share these incorrect tips on social media sites and different forums all across the web. Pretty soon, thousands of people start following advice that is actually going to harm their rankings, not help.
So how can you sift through all of the garbage out their and find the treasures, the stuff that actually works. Well, you’re in the right place. Why listen to us? Because our SEO services have been ranking our sites and our clients’ sites at the top of the search engines for more than fifteen years. Our services work, plain and simple. The exact things we are doing today to dominate the rankings are the same things we were doing 15 years ago, and will continue to work as long as search engines are around.
The purpose of this article is to share with you 3 of the most important on-page ranking factors in SEO. The order of these factors is intentional, in the order of most to least important – least important relative to this list. They are all very important. We will also uncover exactly how we use these factors to optimize our websites and improve their rankings.
Domain/URL
The most important on page ranking factor is the URL. It is the first and most powerful thing that lets search engine bots know what your site is about. If you want to make your life a whole heck of a lot easier, put the keyword you are trying to rank in the URL of the page you are trying to rank. Ideally, the keyword is in the domain. Obviously, this isn’t always possible. Always, though, put the keyword in the URL (slug). And if you do have the keyword in the domain, there’s no reason to repeat it in the slug. Use another keyword or a keyword variation instead. Visit tidalwavesearch.com to learn more.
Title
The site title is the second most powerful thing that lets search spiders know what your site is about. Put your main keyword or a variation of your main keyword in the site title, and if you can make it look natural, add a secondary keyword as well. Again, it’s not imperative that your main keyword be in the page title. Just make sure at the very least you have a close variation of your main keyword in there.
H Tags
Each page on your site should have exactly one H1 tag. Don’t have 2 H1 tags, don’t have 0 H1 tags, have exactly one. If your main keyword is in the URL and the page title, don’t use the keyword again in the H1 tag. Instead, use a variation of the main keyword. If you used a variation of the keyword rather than the main keyword in the page title, make sure the H1 tag has the main keyword. In other words, between the URL, title, and H1 tag, make sure two and only two of these elements contain your main keyword, and that the third element contains a variation of your main keyword.
Conclusion
Remember, we are using the SEO advice laid out above on our sites and our clients’ sites, and have been for 15+ years, to rank in the top of the SERPs. If you write a solid meta description, make sure to not over-optimize the content, and develop a sound and powerful backlinking campaign, your site will soar to the top of the search results. We use these tips in all of our SEO services, because they get results. This strategy worked well fifteen years ago for us, works extremely well now for us, and will continue to work well as long as those pesky search engine bots are scouring our sites.