The goal of this guide is to describe as many On Page SEO Factors as possible. If you have ever look for SEO related information, you probably found a lot articles dealing with particular topics. I will try to put these particular topics together and write complete guide which will help you to achieve top positions in search engines like Google, Yahoo!, MSN and others.
What are On Page Factors and Off Page Factors?
On page optimization is the basic part of SEO. In a nutshell, on page factors include all improvements of your website which will lead to better search engine ranking. Off page factors include everything what is not present on your website - backlinks, their anchor texts, how quickly new links pointing to your website appear etc. Continue reading to discover how to improve your on page factors and move your website to the top of SERP.
Keywords in URL
If possible, your URL should contain your main keywords. Let's say that you are a web hosting company and you decided to optimize your website for phrase "Web Hosting Company". Then the best domain name will be "web-hosting-company.com". Maybe you ask now why not "webhostingcompany.com" or "web_hosting_company.com". That's because from the point of search engines the version with hyphens (web-hosting-company) are three words. If you will use the version without hyphens (webhostingcompany) or with underscore character (web_hosting_company), search engines will index this like one word. If you need to separate words, always use hyphens.
But don't forget that the goal of your website is not only to be #1 in Google, Yahoo! etc.! Always try to make your URLs not only SEO friendly but also user friendly. I highly recommend not to use too many hyphens in your domain name. Or do you like to write URLs like "web-hosting-php-mysql-perl-website-builder-free-domain.com"?
Keywords can be included in the names of directories and files too. The highest weight has keyword in domain name, than in the directory name and then in the file name. While domain name should contain the most general keywords, the directory name may be more specific and file name should be the same as the main keyword(s) of given page. I will use the example with web hosting company again -- this is the URL example of page which contain information about domain name transfer: web-hosting-company.com/domain-name/transfer.php.
Another solution how to operate with keywords in URLs are subdomains. Keyword in subdomain has higher weight then in file name. Creating subdomain(s) with keyword can be very good idea for companies which has domain name like "my-company-name.com".
This was the basic info regarding on page SEO factors. These information can be useful if you are in process of website building or if you plan to add some fresh content to your website. In the part 2 I will show you how to improve your current website using smart texts in title and meta tag description.
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