Lesson 5: OnPage optimization of individual landing pages

In this lesson of my SEO course, the focus is on optimizing individual SEO landing pages for the main keyword and secondary keywords. In addition to content creation (see Lesson 4), the following steps are particularly important OnPage measures for individual landing pages.

5.1 Create meta tags

The Meta Tags consist of Meta Title and Meta Description. You can define them individually for each SEO landing page.

(Screenshots seo-kueche.de)

The most important points at a glance:

5.1.1 Integrate the main keywords of a page into the meta tags

Of course, you should integrate the main keyword of a page into the Meta Title and Meta Description. If it fits, you can also add important secondary keywords. However, this can be challenging, especially due to the limited maximum character count in the title (see the next point).

5.1.2 Optimal length of meta tags

The optimal length for the Meta Title is approximately 55 characters, and for the Meta Description, approximately 145 characters. You often need to experiment to determine which character count is still displayed by Google and which isn’t. In many cases, you will need the full space or all available characters for the title and description.

5.1.3 Add meta tags to a page

The input of meta tags is technically done in the header of a page. On a WordPress site, you can use plugins like “Yoast SEO” or “Rank Math” for this purpose. However, other systems also typically provide an easy way to add a Meta Title and Meta Description to each page of your website.

5.1.4 Increase click rate with emojis and special characters

You can also add emojis or so-called HTML special characters to your meta tags to increase the click-through rate of your entry in Google search results. Emojis are usually colorful, while special characters appear gray (Description) or blue (Title). Please note: Not all emojis are displayed by Google. However, there are special lists where you can find possible emojis for your meta tags.

5.1.5 Increase click rate with power words and numbers

There are certain words that generally resonate well with users. Numbers are also very popular and can help increase the click-through rate.

Example: Power Words

Adjectives: new, affordable, experienced, effective, free, heavily discounted, etc.
Verbs: improve, optimize, save, learn, etc.
Nouns: offer, overview, tips, help, etc.

Numbers

Years: Indicate relevance and timeliness.
Number of list elements: Informs users about the extent of products or other items available.

Google sometimes chooses its own meta tags

Unfortunately, Google often displays a different Meta Title or Meta Description than the one you intended. The reason for this is simply that Google "believes" a different title or description is more appropriate.
The only solution here is to adjust the meta tags and monitor whether Google subsequently shows the desired version in the search results.

Tool Tipp:

5.2 Generate rich results using structured data

Using structured data (also known as schema markup), additional information about your SEO landing page is made available to search engines.

There are various types of structured data, such as for events, products, recipes, job postings, and more.

Adding structured data provides two specific advantages:
1. Additional information can be displayed in your Google snippet (see 5.2.1).
2. Your website can be included in Google extensions such as Google for Jobs (see 5.2.2).

5.2.1 Examples of rich results in your own Google snippet

The Google snippet includes all elements of your listing in Google search results, such as meta tags or rich results. Ratings, price information, and cooking time details can only be added to your Google snippet using structured data.

(Screenshots google.de)

5.2.2 Example of rich results with own SERP Feature

There are some extensions (also called SERP features) of Google search results that your website can only access using structured data. These include, for example, the SERP features for jobs, recipes and events.

(Screenshots google.com)

+++New+++

Google is increasingly displaying product overviews, also known as “Popular Products”, in response to product-related queries. This is, of course, highly valuable for online shop owners.
To have your products appear in Popular Products, you absolutely need structured data for merchant listings.

You can either add the structured data for merchant listings directly to your site or receive it via the Google Merchant Center (if your online shop is registered here).

5.2.3 Generate the code for structured data

(Screenshots technicalseo.com)

To generate the code for structured data, you can use free tools. You don’t need to be a programmer.
For example, there is the Schema Markup Generator from technicalseo.com.
After generating the code, you need to add it to the corresponding SEO landing page.
Here, the common CMS usually offer the option of adding the code to the corresponding loading page. With WordPress you need your own plugin like HFCM (Header Footer Code Manager).
With the help of other plugins such as Rank Math, you can also save the detour via technicalseo.com and add the information for the structured data directly in the plugin.

Tool Tip:

5.2.4 Test the structured data code

If you want to check whether your code is correct and recognized by search engines, you can use a free Google tool. Note: “Warnings” are usually fine, as they often indicate that optional data was not provided. However, there should be no “errors” detected.

(Screenshots search.google.com/test/rich-results)

Tool Tip:

5.3 Determine the URL

The URL is extremely important for SEO. Why? Google indexes individual URLs, and each new URL can represent a new page for Google. Additionally, it is generally a good idea to include the main keyword of the respective landing page in the URL.

5.3.1 The most important things about URLs at a glance:

As already said: Using the keywords of an SEO landing page in the URL (and also in the domain name) is fundamentally an advantage.
You should use descriptive URLs (no strings of numbers or meaningless letters). For example, /tennis-shoes-men instead of /c122?vc
You should not use special characters or umlauts in the URL.
The best way to combine the words is with – (minus) in the URL.

5.3.2 The URL structure

In URL structure, a distinction is made between a flat structure (few directories or slashes in the URL) and a hierarchical structure (many directories and slashes in the URL).

In the past, it was commonly believed in SEO circles that the URLs of online shops should have a hierarchical structure, such as:

https://beispiel-tennisshop.de/herren/tennisschuhe/sandplatz

Later, it was believed that the URL structure should be particularly flat, as this signals to search engines that a category or product is especially important.

https://beispiel-tennisshop.de/herren-sandplatzschuhe/

What is better? Flat or hierarchical?

For Google, internal linking plays a more important role than URL structure when evaluating the importance of individual subpages.

I cannot provide a clear recommendation here: there are websites with both hierarchical and flat URL structures that achieve top results in search engines.

5.3.3 Be careful when changing URLs: 301 redirects almost always make sense

If you change the URL of a page permanently, you should typically set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one! You can learn more about redirects in Lesson 6.4.

5.4 Optimize headings

Optimized headings can also bring slight advantages in rankings.

5.4.1 Heading hierarchy

In the source code of your page, headings are typically marked with tags ranging from h1 (main heading) to h6 (heading on the lowest hierarchical level).

In the past, it was commonly believed in SEO circles that correct hierarchical tagging was very important. However, this doesn’t seem to be as critical. Google itself states that it primarily uses headings to determine the content.

That said, there’s certainly no harm in arranging headings hierarchically, with exactly one h1 heading as the main heading of the entire page, h2 headings as the main headings for new sections, and h3 headings as subheadings within individual sections.

Defining individual headings or marking them with h-tags is often straightforward, though it depends on the system your website uses. In the example, you can see how a heading is defined on my WordPress site using the Elementor page builder in the picture above.

5.4.2 Integrate keywords into headings

When it comes to headings in relation to SEO, the question of how often the keywords should be integrated into the headings is also interesting. I have the following rules of thumb for you.

You should integrate the main keyword into the main heading of the page. Add it to the other headings where it fits naturally.
You should also deliberately include secondary keywords in some subheadings.
Overall, you should intentionally add keywords to the headings, but don’t overdo it. The overall text, including the headings, should still be smooth and easy to read.

5.5 Optimize images

The most important points at a glance:

You can also optimize images for search engines. This is particularly important for photographers or providers of art prints etc. In principle, you can recommend that every webmaster optimize at least one image, but preferably more images, for Google & Co. per SEO-relevant page.

5.5.1 Filename

At least one image should have the main keywords in the file name. For example, it should be named “Italian Cooking Class Chicago.jpg” instead of “7.jpg”.

5.5.2 Alt Attribute and Title

You should also use the main keyword in the Alt tag (alternative description) of an image. This is the description of the image and can usually be added without any issues in most website creation systems.

Keywords can also be used in the image title. However, adding the title is not as straightforward in all systems (for example, in WordPress).

5.5.3 Secondary keywords

When optimizing multiple images on a page, you can of course also use the secondary keywords in the file names, Alt descriptions, etc.

Don’t just optimize images for search engines

The Alt tag or Alt attribute is primarily used to describe the content of an image, for example, for people with visual impairments.
Generally, you can also integrate the main keyword or a secondary keyword into such a description.
For an English course in Munich, the Alt tag could look like this: *"A group of students is sitting in a modern classroom. They are in a good mood and participating in an English course in Munich."* This way, the main keywords *"English course Munich"* are included in the Alt tag.

5.6 Optimize videos

The optimization of videos is divided into the two areas of YouTube SEO and video SEO on your own website.

5.6.1 Youtube SEO

YouTube SEO is a part of video SEO, although it is often equated with it. YouTube is sometimes referred to as the second-largest search engine in the world and can generate a significant number of clicks through its own search function.

(Screenshot youtube.com)

According to a study by briggsby.com, the most important ranking factors for YouTube’s internal search include:

Views and Watch Time: The number of views improves rankings. Views can also be increased via social media, email marketing, etc. High watch time (the average duration viewers watch the video) is also beneficial.
Keywords in the title
Video length: Videos between 4-6 minutes in length tend to receive many clicks.
Using tags: Tags help generate more clicks through recommended videos.
Title length: The title should not exceed roughly 50 characters.

In addition, videos are displayed in the SERPs for numerous terms in the general search, and these are often YouTube videos.

(Screenshot google.de)

5.6.2 Video SEO for your own website

It is also possible to equip your own website with structured data (see Topic 5.2) for videos so that they appear in the SERPs. However, for many topics, almost exclusively YouTube videos are displayed in the SERPs.

(Screenshot google.de)

Creating a dedicated video sitemap can also help search engines identify pages with video content. How to do this depends on the system you are using. For example, in WordPress, you can use Rank Math Pro to generate a video sitemap.

Tool Tip:

5.7 Internal linking

Internal links connect the pages of your website to each other and are highly beneficial for search engine optimization.

On the one hand, they can improve the rankings of individual pages that are frequently linked internally.
On the other hand, they signal to search engines which keyword is relevant for which page.

The most important pages of your website should definitely be linked in the main menu of the site.
Additionally, internal links from the content area (text section) of a page are highly beneficial.
Link boxes at the end of the page or in the footer are also fine. For example, on the “English Course Munich” page, you could add a link box labeled “Other Language Courses” at the end of the page and link to “Spanish Courses Munich,” “Italian Courses Munich,” etc.
You can always use the main keywords of another page as anchor text for internal links. For example, “English Course Munich” or “Women’s Tennis Shoes.”
Of course, you can also occasionally link important secondary keywords, such as “English Language Course Munich,” instead of the main keyword “English Course Munich.” However, I generally aim to link the main keyword of a landing page.
Nevertheless, you should avoid adding too many internal links per page (especially in the content area): First, each existing internal link loses some value with every additional link. Second, too many internal links may appear untrustworthy to users.

5.8 Keyword check of individual landing pages with SEO tool

With the Seobility Keyword Check, you can easily and clearly check how well a specific landing page is optimized for a particular keyword. Here are my tips for using the tool:

For the main keyword of a landing page, you should aim for at least 80%. This score is usually achievable if the page is well-optimized for the keyword.
Reaching 100% is often challenging because, in the final “Miscellaneous” section, you can usually achieve only a maximum of 50% if the main keyword is not in the domain name (but “only” in the URL). Example: *dein-seo-kurs.de/kostenlose-branchenbuecher/* The main keyword “Kostenlose Branchenbücher” of the blog post is not included in the domain name.
If you receive a warning stating that the main keyword appears too frequently in the headings, this is often not a major issue in my opinion. I frequently choose not to adjust it, but this is a case-by-case decision.