Everyone wants to talk about backlinks and algorithm updates because they sound exciting. Meanwhile, most websites would double their traffic by fixing about six on-page things they've been ignoring for two years. On-page SEO is the meat and two veg of search. It's not a flashy course, but it's what fills you up.
What On-Page SEO Actually Means
Everything you control directly on your own website. Titles, headings, content, images, internal links, URLs, schema, page speed. If it's on your page, it's on-page. If it's someone else linking to you, it isn't. Simple distinction, wildly important.
Title Tags: Still the Single Biggest Lever
Your page title is the bit that shows up in the Google results. It's also one of the most heavily weighted on-page ranking factors. If your homepage title is "Home | My Business" then, respectfully, you've given up before you started. Put your main keyword in, put your location in, and make it vaguely interesting.
Meta Descriptions Don't Rank You, But They Win Clicks
Google doesn't use meta descriptions as a direct ranking signal. They do, however, decide whether a human clicks your result or your competitor's. Write them like tiny adverts. Because that's what they are.
Heading Structure Matters More Than You Think
- One H1 per page: Tells the search engine what the page is about.
- Logical H2s and H3s: Give the content a skeleton, not a rubble pile.
- Keywords in headings: Without stuffing. Read it aloud. If it sounds weird, it is.
Content Depth Beats Keyword Density
Nobody's counting keywords anymore except amateurs. Google wants comprehensive, useful, genuinely authoritative content. A 2,000 word article that actually answers the question will beat ten 300 word stubs every time. Quality, always, over quantity. Our content team has a running joke that the best SEO copywriting is just good writing with a plan.
Image Optimisation: The Easiest Free Win
Compress them. Give them descriptive file names. Add alt text that describes the image for someone who can't see it. That's the entire job. Takes five minutes. Most sites haven't done it in a decade.
Internal Links: Your Secret Weapon
Linking from one page to another on your site distributes authority, guides users, and tells Google which pages matter. Most sites have maybe three internal links per page. We usually push that up to eight or ten, and watch rankings improve without writing a single new word.
Page Experience and Core Web Vitals
Google's Core Web Vitals measure loading, interactivity and visual stability. Layman's version: does the page load fast, is it responsive to clicks, and does stuff stop jumping around? If all three are yes, you're ahead of most of the internet. If not, we fix them as part of our SEO retainer.
Curious What Your On-Page Score Looks Like?
Our free SEO audit includes a full on-page breakdown for your top pages. You might be surprised what is going on.
Get a Free On-Page AuditOn-page SEO isn't sexy, but it's the foundation everything else is built on. Sort this out first, then worry about links, PR and campaigns. Trying to build authority on a shaky on-page setup is like putting new wallpaper over a damp wall. It looks fine for a fortnight, then everything goes soggy.
