10 On-Page SEO Best Practices for Higher Search Engine Rankings

Search engine optimisation can feel overwhelming — algorithm updates, technical audits, backlink strategies, and a constant stream of conflicting advice. But before any of that matters, you need to get the basics right on the page itself. On-page SEO is the foundation everything else is built on, and it’s entirely within your control.

This guide covers ten proven on-page SEO practices that consistently help pages rank higher, attract the right traffic, and keep visitors engaged once they arrive.

1. Start With the Right Keyword (and Understand the Intent Behind It)

Everything in on-page SEO flows from your keyword — but choosing a keyword is only half the job. Understanding why someone searches for that term is what separates pages that rank from pages that don’t.

Search intent falls into four main categories: informational (the user wants to learn something), navigational (they’re looking for a specific site), commercial (they’re researching before buying), and transactional (they’re ready to act). Google has become exceptionally good at identifying which type of intent a query represents — and it rewards pages that match that intent precisely.

Before writing a single word, search your target keyword and study the top-ranking pages. What format do they use — listicles, how-to guides, product pages, comparison articles? What questions do they answer? What do they have in common? That pattern is Google telling you what satisfies the searcher. Your job is to satisfy it better.

Practical tip: Use one primary keyword per page. Target secondary keywords and related terms naturally throughout the content — don’t cram multiple competing keywords into the same page, as this dilutes focus and confuses search engines about what the page is actually about.

2. Craft a Title Tag That Earns the Click

Your title tag is the single most important on-page SEO element. It tells search engines what the page is about and tells users why they should click. Both matter.

A well-optimised title tag should include your primary keyword — ideally near the beginning — be written to entice clicks, and stay within approximately 50–60 characters to avoid being truncated in search results. That said, readability and click appeal should always win over rigid keyword placement. A title that no one clicks on helps no one, regardless of how well it’s optimised.

Avoid keyword stuffing in your title. “Best SEO Tips | SEO Best Practices | SEO Guide 2024” is not a title tag — it’s a red flag. Write for humans first, search engines second.

Practical tip: Every page on your site should have a unique title tag. Duplicate titles are a missed opportunity at best and a source of confusion for search engines at worst.

3. Write a Meta Description That Drives Clicks

Meta descriptions don’t directly influence rankings — Google has said as much. But they absolutely influence click-through rate, which does affect your long-term visibility. A compelling meta description can be the difference between a searcher choosing your result and the one above or below it.

A strong meta description summarises the page’s content accurately, includes the primary keyword (Google bolds it in results when it matches the query), creates a reason to click, and stays within 150–160 characters. Think of it as a two-sentence advertisement for your page.

Avoid writing generic descriptions like “Learn more about our services” or leaving the field blank and letting Google pull its own excerpt. You’ll almost always write something more compelling than an auto-generated snippet.

Practical tip: Write your meta description after your content is complete — not before. Once you know exactly what the page delivers, you’ll write a more accurate and persuasive description.

4. Use Header Tags to Structure Your Content Logically

Header tags (H1, H2, H3, and so on) serve two purposes: they help search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your content, and they help readers navigate it. Both are important.

Your H1 is your page title — there should be only one per page, and it should contain your primary keyword. H2s are your main section headings; H3s are subsections within those. Think of the structure like an outline: the H1 is the chapter title, H2s are the main sections, H3s are the subsections within each section.

From an SEO perspective, headers give Google clear signals about what each section covers, which helps the page appear in relevant searches beyond the primary keyword. From a UX perspective, a well-structured page with clear headers is far easier to scan — and users who can quickly find what they need stay longer and engage more.

Practical tip: Include keywords naturally in your H2s and H3s where it makes sense, but don’t force it. A heading like “Why Keyword Matters for Your Strategy” is worse than a clear, direct heading that simply says what the section covers.

5. Optimise Your URL Structure

URLs are a small but meaningful ranking signal — and a well-structured URL improves user experience and click-through rates from search results at the same time.

A good URL is short, descriptive, and readable. It uses hyphens to separate words (not underscores), includes the primary keyword, and doesn’t include unnecessary parameters, dates, or auto-generated strings of numbers. Compare these two URLs:

• yoursite.com.au/?p=4827
• yoursite.com.au/on-page-seo-best-practices

The second tells both Google and the user exactly what the page is about before they’ve even clicked. It’s also far more likely to be shared and linked to naturally.

Practical tip: Keep URLs as short as possible while remaining descriptive. Remove stop words (and, the, a, of) unless their absence makes the URL confusing. Once a URL is live and indexed, avoid changing it without setting up a proper 301 redirect — broken links and lost link equity are costly.

6. Create Content That Genuinely Satisfies Search Intent

This is where rankings are won or lost. Technical SEO can put you in contention, but the quality and depth of your content determines whether you stay there.

Google’s core mission is to return the most useful, relevant result for every query. Its algorithms — including helpful content updates and E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) signals — are increasingly sophisticated at assessing whether a page genuinely helps the person who landed on it. Thin content, recycled information, and AI-generated padding that adds word count without adding value are actively penalised.

Useful content is comprehensive without being bloated. It answers the question the searcher actually asked. It goes deeper than the competition on points that matter. It’s accurate, well-sourced, and up to date. And it’s written with a specific reader in mind — not a keyword density target.

Practical tip: After writing your content, ask yourself: “If I were searching for this topic and landed on this page, would I need to go anywhere else to get my question answered?” If the answer is yes, the content needs more work.

7. Optimise Images With Alt Text, File Names, and Compression

Images are often an afterthought in on-page SEO, but they represent a genuine opportunity — and a common source of performance problems that hurt rankings indirectly.

Alt text is the written description of an image that appears when the image can’t load, and is used by screen readers for accessibility. It’s also how search engines understand what an image depicts. Write descriptive, specific alt text for every image — include your keyword where it’s natural, but don’t stuff it in where it doesn’t make sense.

File names matter too. An image named IMG_4827.jpg tells Google nothing. on-page-seo-checklist.jpg tells it exactly what the image shows.

Compression affects page speed, which is a confirmed ranking factor. Large, uncompressed images are one of the most common causes of slow page load times. Use tools like TinyPNG, Squoosh, or a WordPress plugin to compress images before uploading without visible quality loss.

Practical tip: Use modern image formats like WebP where possible — they deliver significantly smaller file sizes than JPEG or PNG at equivalent quality, which improves load time without sacrificing visual fidelity.

8. Improve Page Speed and Core Web Vitals

Page speed has been a Google ranking factor since 2010, and the introduction of Core Web Vitals in 2021 made user experience metrics even more central to how Google evaluates pages. Slow pages don’t just frustrate users — they directly impact search rankings.

Core Web Vitals consist of three metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures load performance; Interaction to Next Paint (INP), which measures responsiveness; and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which measures visual stability. Google provides free tools — PageSpeed Insights and Search Console — to assess your scores and identify specific issues.

Common culprits for poor Core Web Vitals scores include render-blocking JavaScript and CSS, unoptimised images, excessive third-party scripts, and poor server response times. Each issue has a specific fix, and addressing them incrementally makes a real difference over time.

Practical tip: Run your top landing pages through Google’s PageSpeed Insights and focus on the highest-impact recommendations first. A page scoring in the 30s can often reach 70–80 with a handful of targeted fixes — no complete rebuild required.

9. Use Internal Linking Strategically

Internal links — links from one page on your site to another — are one of the most underutilised on-page SEO tools. They serve three important functions: they help search engines discover and crawl pages that might otherwise be hard to find, they pass “link equity” (ranking power) from high-authority pages to pages that need a boost, and they keep users navigating your site longer.

The key to effective internal linking is relevance and context. Link to related pages from within the body of your content, using descriptive anchor text that tells both the reader and Google what the linked page is about. “Click here” is wasted anchor text. “Guide to technical SEO audits” is informative and keyword-rich.

Also consider the architecture: your most important pages — service pages, cornerstone content, high-converting landing pages — should receive the most internal links. If a key page is only accessible through three levels of navigation with no internal links pointing to it, search engines will treat it as low priority.

Practical tip: When you publish new content, always go back to older relevant pages and add an internal link to the new post. This builds a web of relevance across your site and ensures new content gets indexed and discovered quickly.

10. Optimise for Featured Snippets and People Also Ask

Featured snippets — the boxes that appear above the standard search results — and People Also Ask (PAA) panels represent some of the highest-visibility real estate in Google Search. Optimising for them isn’t guaranteed, but it’s consistently achievable with the right approach.

Featured snippets typically appear in three formats: paragraph snippets (a direct answer to a question), list snippets (step-by-step processes or ranked lists), and table snippets (comparative data). To target them, identify questions your content answers, then structure the answer clearly and concisely directly below a header that mirrors the question.

For paragraph snippets, aim for a direct answer of 40–60 words immediately following the question heading. For list snippets, use numbered or bulleted lists with clear, scannable items. For table snippets, use properly formatted HTML tables.

People Also Ask boxes are driven by related questions around the same topic. Including a FAQ section at the bottom of your content — answering the most common related questions in concise, well-structured answers — is one of the most reliable ways to capture PAA appearances and expand your visibility across a cluster of related queries.

Practical tip: Use tools like AlsoAsked or AnswerThePublic to discover the questions people are actually asking around your topic, then ensure your content answers them directly. Each question you answer well is another potential entry point for search.

Conclusion

On-page SEO isn’t about gaming algorithms — it’s about creating pages that clearly communicate their value to search engines and genuinely deliver that value to the people who find them. At Rank My Business, we focus on building pages that combine strategy with user experience. The ten practices above are interconnected: a page with a strong title, well-structured content, fast load time, and relevant internal links performs better than one that excels at only one of them.

The good news is that most of your competitors aren’t doing all ten consistently. Working through this list — even incrementally — creates a compounding advantage over time. Start with the pages that already receive some traffic but aren’t converting or ranking as well as they should. Apply these principles, measure the results, and build from there.

Strong on-page SEO doesn’t wear off. Every improvement you make stays working for you.