On Page SEO is the vital aspect for any content to rank on Google. There are various techniques and methods that are required to get your piece of content ranked.
This guide will share everything related to On Page SEO such as target keywords, title tags, meta descriptions, headings, subheadings, optimisation of URLs and images, internal links and also some advanced on-page SEO tactics.
What is On-Page SEO?
On-Page SEO which also means on-site SEO, is the procedure of optimising webpages and content pieces for search engines as well as users. This improves the ranking of pages on Google and gathers more organic traffic.
There are various common on-page SEO tasks, such as optimising according to search intent, rectifying title tags, using internal linking and enhancing URLs.
On-Page SEO is different from Off-page SEO. It involves optimising for signals that originate from sources other than your website.
On-Page SEO vs Off-Page SEO
On-page SEO involves tasks that are executed on a webpage for enhancing ranking. Off-page SEO includes the tasks that are executed outside your site for improving rankings.
A considerable part of an Off page SEO strategy is backlinks. Additional off-page SEO methods involve social media and PRs.
Concentrating on these components is a better spot to start.
Why Is On-Page SEO Important?
On-page SEO is a procedure for improving your rankings and traffic for a specified individual page on your website which is targeting particular keywords.
Also, this helps in driving targeted traffic, which helps in getting more subscribers or customers.
But keywords alone are not enough. It requires other things for optimizing content:
User experience
Bounce rate and dwell time
Intent of Search
loading speed of page
Click-through rate
Desktop and mobile devices
LLM-friendly framework
It can be said that On-page SEO is for making your content stand out and delivering value to users who are willing to read. Also results in rankings for traditional and AI search engines and citations as well.
Key On-Page SEO Techniques for Your Website
Here are some must to implement SEO techniques:
1. Write Unique, Helpful Content
When it comes to unique content, it's not just about avoiding duplicate content only. It is about publishing content that does not bring up the similar content that is already existing. Bringing something that delivers a fresh perspective.
That something new can be:
Fresh insights or expert tips
Handpicked, high-value resource collections
Clean, intuitive design with a focus on user experience
Real-world success story or client result
Data-backed insights or original findings
Free tools, templates, or downloads
Clear, actionable roadmap for results
Making something unique is a better starting point, but it's not all. You need to offer some value to the user also. Here are some things that make the SEO content valuable:-
Using images, screenshots and understandable steps brings simplicity for the user for bringing it into practice.
Good copywriting content brings more engagement.
Using fresh examples and new strategies that are working practically.
Bringing trust and up-to-date information is a must.
Search intent is a pillar that keeps your unique and valuable content on the first page of Google. Google always wants content that matches with the search intent.
Example
My goal was to rank for the keyword "email marketing software". A few days after publishing my article, I checked the search engine results pages (SERPs) for that term.
I quickly realised that 100% of the content on the first page was transactional. Literally, all 10 results were product pages, not a single blog post.
This meant the chance of my article hitting the first page was basically zero.
2. Use target Keyword in relevant places
Including your target keyword within your page assists Google and AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini and users in understanding what this page is for.
Now search engines are able to recognise topics and user intent better. SEO is not something about using one exact keyword plenty of times.
Writing comprehensively on topics and relating with the search intent is a must-do.
When it comes to AI visibility, AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity were trained for understanding the links among words and topics. They provide preference to the content which covers topics having thorough knowledge while generating its responses.
What is the central subject of your content?
When you find out the keyword, then confirm that you paste it in the places where search engines and LLMs will look for it.
This shows that the target keyword is required to be in key places that create topical relevance. These places are:
Page title
URL
Main header (H1)
Subheaders (a few of your H2, H3, etc.)
Introduction
Also the content is required to cover all the related concepts and solutions for common user queries.
3. Write Compelling and Keyword-Rich Title Tags
Title tags are the pieces of content that are seen by audiences before determining whether to visit your site or not.
Google rephrases title tags over 60% of the time (usually the titles which are very short or long). These are little changes, and Google still utilises your original title in the process of ranking, and that is why it becomes important for making it compelling and clickable.
Also, title tags affect how an AI perceives and cites your brand in conversations.
These are some tips for writing titles:
Write them under 70 characters to avoid truncation.
Make it according to the relevant search intent.
Utilise the curiosity gap without creating deceptive clickbait, which is not showing the elements in the content.
Use the main keyword or the close variation if it makes sense.
Use the year for topics looking for freshness.
Show some humour and reply to other articles in the SERP.
In case of lack of certainty, use the ABC formula – adjective, benefit, confidence booster.
4. Write Click-Worthy Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are used to get more clicks and traffic because Google utilises them for the descriptive excerpt in the search results around 40% of the time. The rest of the percentage goes to the other content of the page.
That is why it is suggested to create a good meta description for essential pages such as your homepage or ones that get more search traffic. Below are some writing tips for this:
Keeping them under the limit of 160 characters.
Add information that your title does not have.
Use search intent for making those meta titles.
Usage of active pass to address the searchers directly.
Include your keywords, as these are frequently bolded in Google's results.
Meta descriptions also matter when it comes to AI visibility.
AI agents like ChatGPT find the best sources to cite for their responses that depend on these below things:
URL
Title
Snippet (generally the meta description)
Ranking Position
Metadata (such as publishing date)
5. Utilizing Headings and Subheadings to Structure Your Page
HTML header tags assist Google and AI assistants in comprehending the content on your pages and crack it into logical, easy portions that are easy for readers to scan.
In your page header tags, it displays like this—<h2>Header goes here</h2>.
It is advised to:
Add one H1 tag per page.
For main points on your page, use H2 tags.
Using H3 tags for portions that support your main points, such as examples or relevant ideas.
Optimizing subheadings will increase the readability of your content, as it shows what's included in the section.6.Set SEO-friendly URLs
Using short, descriptive URL structures displays the core topic of the page. Google explains in its SEO started instructor documentation.
It explains that sections of the URL can be shown in search results as breadcrumbs. Users can also employ these URLs to know if the result that appeared is useful for them or not.
Keeping your URLs short and clean improves your chances of visibility in AI also.
Just adding your keyword in the URL does not boost the search efficacy, but it brings the confidence of the reader that the page is relevant to the search query.
7. Strategically Add Internal Links
While choosing the URL, it is better to:
1. Stay away from including dates (unless they’re important).
“/best-shampoos-2025 will be relevant for this year. If you plan to update the article annually, the year-specific slug could confuse users and hurt long-term SEO.”
2. Function words shouldn't be a concern. You can safely omit words like 'for', 'and', or 'to' from your URL.
3. Using simple and easy-to-read URLs.
“domain.com/keyword-research-guide is far more effective than domain.com/2024/03/21/article-keyword-research.”
Links to relevant pages are crucial, as visitors are able to navigate your website and improve the chances of finding the information that they are looking for. Also there are advantages for SEO as well.
Internal links assist search engines and AI crawlers in discovering all the pages of a website, getting aware of what each page is for and how they associate with one another. Highlight the pages which are essential. These links help in passing link authority among your pages.
Use these while generating internal links:
It is important to use relevant anchor text while keeping it natural. Do not add many keywords in anchors.
Use links for your important pages, such as product and service pages, or to your best blogs.
Internal links are also used by search-integrated AI assistants for getting relatable topics and information for crafting their answers.
8. Add External Links to Authoritative Sources
Google suggests that links from your site to others add value to users.
External linking helps users to land on some authoritative third-party source of information.
But external links will break with time as the linked page is redirected or deleted, which leads to a bad user experience. You can adjust them by analysing pages with broken link issues in your website crawls.
9. Include and Optimize Images
Images can be a ranking factor, as they appear in Google image search or in AI search results, ultimately leading to more traffic.
Do these things to optimise them:
Compressing images makes them easy to load. Plenty of tools exist for compressing them, such as ShortPixel.
Google suggests that descriptive filenames let them easily decide about the topic it is related to.
For example, cat.jpg is better than IMG_487897.jpg. Be descriptive and concise, and do not add a load of keywords.
Descriptive alt text is used to improve the approachability of visitors who use screen readers. Google uses alt text (alternative text) to comprehend the subject matter of an image.
In order for AI and search engine crawlers to better rank or cite your material, alt text helps them grasp what's in the images.
Below are some tips for writing better alt text:
Keep it short (under 125 characters).
Using the target keyword in natural form.
Not using alt text for complete decorative images.
Keep away from using phrases such as “image of” or “picture of”.
Advanced On-Page SEO Tactics
Make use of these advanced page optimization techniques to get ahead in On-page SEO:-
Optimize for Page Speed
Page speed is a Google ranking factor that cannot be ignored if you want to succeed On-page SEO. Use Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool, which shows the overall performance score for mobile and desktop. This tool also suggests ways to increase page speed.
PageSpeed Insights evaluates Core Web Vitals, the indicators that influence page experience:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Time taken by main content to load.
First Input Delay (FID): Time between the site response and first interactivity by the user.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures the unexpected layout shifts of visual elements on a webpage.
Optimize for Zero-Click Search
Now users have the option to get instant AI answers via featured snippets, AI overviews, and AI mode. That is why clicks and traffic are decreasing fast, and this is known as “zero-click search”.
Your site getting featured in AI responses lets you be seen by many people.
But there is no sure way to attain these features, and ranking on the first page is considered the most important factor.
It is considered that if the article includes similar text to the response curated by zero-click features, then that has a higher chance of getting shown in those features.
For instance, writing in declarative sentences and starting with key points early in the content can help better.
AI Overviews and Featured Snippets are known for delivering simple, solid answers. That is why they are looking for text that provides a simple, solid answer to cite.
Also look for competitors who have their snippets featured in AI Overviews and know what kind of content they wrote.
Add Schema Markup
Schema markup is a code that can be included in your pages for assisting search engines and AI assistants to comprehend the meaning and framework of the content.
Also ,rich results can be attained in Google. Those are the search listing which includes additional details such as ratings, step-by-step directions or FAQ’s.
Both giants like Google and Microsoft assure that structured data such as schema markup is essential for AI search, and assist LLMs precisely interpret your page content.
Below are some general schema types to consider:
1.FAQPage schema:This can be used for including a Q&A portion for providing some common answers that users are looking for.Also it is helpful for Google and AI search tools to use these answers.
2.HowTo schema:It is useful in step-by-step guidelines.Your guide becomes helpful in visual search and voice assistants.
3.Article or Organization schema:It helps users to know who wrote content and its reliability.Leads to more trust and authority.
Optimize for User Experience (UX)
Google knows how users interact with your pages in the event of ascertain rankings. That’s what we called the user experience, or UX.
Good UX is essential for getting more visible in AI search, as the system's first concern is the content that is easy to understand and well-structured while making their responses.
For ranking pages of a website, Google considers a set of “page experience signals”. These involve
Core Web Vitals (CWV), which shows whether the page is stable and loading quickly.
Whether the page is secured and linked via HTTPS.
Mobile-friendliness of your site.
Avoiding pop-ups, banners, or full-screen messages that block the main content.
Structure Content for LLMs and AI Search
When writing for AI-driven search, start with a clear heading hierarchy. Use one H1 to set the main context, then organize supporting ideas under H2s and H3s. This logical nesting helps both readers and language models understand how concepts connect. If everything is marked as an H1, nothing stands out, and the structure becomes meaningless.
Keep your paragraphs short and focused, with each one delivering a single idea. Walls of text overwhelm people and confuse AI models, making it harder for them to extract accurate answers. Instead, break content into smaller chunks, use plain language, and maintain a predictable rhythm. Lists, tables, and step-by-step formats are especially effective because they create clarity that both humans and machines can scan quickly.
Finally, frontload your key insights. Define terms, state takeaways, and highlight important points early. Support these with semantic cues like “Step 1,” “In summary,” or “Key takeaway” to guide comprehension. And avoid clutter: intrusive pop-ups, excessive CTAs, or hidden elements in the page code can dilute what an AI model reads. The cleaner your structure, the easier it is for search engines and LLMs to understand and surface your content.
Conclusion
On-page SEO is the foundation of higher rankings, better visibility, and stronger user trust. From keyword placement and compelling title tags to optimized URLs, images, and internal links—each element works together to signal relevance and value to both Google and AI-driven search tools. Beyond the basics, advanced tactics like schema mark-up, page speed improvements, and AI-friendly structuring ensure your content stays competitive in zero-click searches and LLM responses. The key is balance: optimize for algorithms, but write for people. Deliver clarity, speed, and value—and search engines will reward your pages with sustained organic growth.