In this post, I am going to give you some easy-to-implement, yet very effective tips to make your On-page SEO better. You will be amazed at how some little tricks and minor adjustments are life changers when it comes to organic Google rankings for your e-commerce store.
#1 – What is On-page SEO?
Let’s first define what On-page SEO is. The name speaks for itself — it is all about optimizing web pages individually so that you rank higher and increase your organic traffic. When we talk about On-page, we are actually referring to both content and HTML source code, so when we talk about On-page SEO, we focus more on what we create rather than creating links and other external signaling stuff, which are more of an Off-page SEO method.
#2 – Why should I Care about On-Page SEO?
Well, that’s because On-page has regained its popularity back again!
If your store has some authority domain, start creating some content using low-to-medium competition keywords and get that FREE ORGANIC TRAFFIC!
Here, if you don’t know already, learn how to gain domain authority and to do keyword research. These are essential if you want to rank and get that free, passive income traffic you have always been looking for.
#3 – When to expect the results?
Just like every other SEO stuff, you must give Google some time. Think of it as an investment — you will reap what you sow eventually! Sometimes, it can take up to 90-days for Google to fully index and a new page.
It actually depends on different variables such as your content’s quality, website performance, page rank and domain authority, crawling frequency, and on your brand!
What I mean is you can go and manually submit a sitemap of your website using Google Search Console! Go Google it – the task is quite easy to do that and is necessary so that Google sees your changes. Here, the change is going to be none other than your content, that is, descriptions, reviews, and blog, etc.
As a rule of thumb for most pages, once you’ve submitted the new page your sitemap, it takes about 2 weeks. That’s completely according to my working experience and is bound to vary from business to business. But make no mistake, Google will show your content sooner or later.
#4 – Speaking of Content, What Should I Write?
This is the big deal. If you have a specific query on your mind, let’s say “Best Laptop Coolers”, search it on Google and look at the topics that the first 10 pages are covering. Make sure you cover all those topics each individual website is covering and then add five more. (the best of the bunch plus 5).
Create the most comprehensive content that you can provide to the user! Write long, write original, and interesting content for them. Pull out data pages if you can, focus on static evergreen pages/topics! For example, “best laptop coolers in 2020” is something evergreen, people search for it every day.
Another BIG Piece of Advice on Content Creating: If you have very technical stuff going on with your business, people love DIY content these days! Everybody wants to be their own expert especially after COVID19, I myself learned how to build my own furniture. So you might wanna try dumbing down the information on layman’s terms and create some content, people will find it useful and click on it! Let’s say you are running a furniture company, this strategy will work like a charm!
REMEMBER: Even if the query is low volume, one person can bring revenue to your store. There are many specific topics people search for, but relevant/similar ones rank together.
Creating Content through really researching the field and building content above and beyond what everybody else is doing on a deeper and broader level, that’s what you should be focusing on.
Prepare 50 pages of an e-book on a specific topic if you can. Create a bunch of pages, FAQs, create a good URL structure. Conquer a topic and become an expert on it. Then choose another one and become an expert on it as well. Show Google that you’ve got that depth instead of spreading thin across a wide range of topics.
#5 – Fake It Until You Make It
There is a method in SEO’s madness — Don’t guess too much. Use your creativity but never forget what ACTUALLY works.
Go through the formats of the best-ranking pages and copy them. Coming back to Content Creating, look at your top competitors’ queries, and just create better content than they have.
Go for FAQs, case studies, stats, research, and a good URL structure.
Use Keyword research tools and see how your best ranking competitors choose their keywords and how they claim their domain authority. KNOW YOUR ENEMY!
Don’t get too obsessed with creating something that has never been created before. Create a better version of the things that already exist. That’s the key. At the end of the day, the search engine is an engine and you can only use it well if you know how each of its cogs works. To learn that, just follow the best ranking websites’ footsteps. They have already paved the way for you!
Match Google’s format. Google has dozens of tools you can monitor your activity: Google Ads, Analytics, Rich Results, Structured Data Testing Tool, Google Search Console, Google My Business, Keyword Planner, etc.
Pro-tip: List posts are trending now. Use them if you can! 😉
#6 – Update your Old Content
Google loves both trends and backlinks. That’s how big newspaper websites appear very well on top of the searches.
If you’ve got some old content to update, do it. Make it look like more of today’s content with trending topics such as the pandemic. Adapt it. By updating that content of yours, you will increase your ranking just because Google loves the old, it trusts the old. Look at the Sandbox effect if you don’t believe me. Although Google denies it, they have admitted using something similar to it, which is prioritizing old content/websites to rank faster than brand new content.
Even if you have nothing to add to your old content, try writing some FAQs or just add some commas or full stops to your pages. While creating your FAQs, make sure you select questions that you’ve seen on the SERPs, things that people really ask Google. Write short answers with 3-4 sentences.
You know the drill — Submit your sitemap as I’ve mentioned above.
Even these tiny changes have been proven to increase On-page SEO. Easy, tiny, yet really EFFECTIVE!
#7 – Make a Tier-List!
This approach is an old-time classic but it still works.
Pick some obvious keywords and make a list of them. Remember, these days, making a list is something Google is in favor of. For instance, if you are running a furniture business, use these keywords: “Best Sofa Materials” and make a list of them. People like to know the quality of the material that they are going to sit on.
Personally, when I search for something on Google, I always put the keyword “Best” before. Writing a blog with the title “Best Sofa Materials” is one of the best ideas I can offer for your furniture business. The same strategy applies to any other business, you name it.
#8 – Get your Page Titles Straight
Besides Tier-lists, you may also want to create some fancy titles with the current year (remember, being up-to-date is favored by Google), bracketed items, numbers, and words starting with upper case.
People may use basic keywords while looking for what they want. But don’t forget some people are very diligent about what they are looking for. For instance, a business owner like you may be looking to rank better on Google by browsing “How to rank better on Google”, while another may browse something like “How to rank better on Google in 2020 during COVID-19 [Case Study].”
See what I’ve just done with this big title? That way, I’ve covered all the bases! That’s a WIN. Other people may as well have asked “How to rank better in 2020” or “How to rank during COVID-19”, it does not matter. My sentence is owning them all!
#9 – Use Featured & Rich Snippets
When in Rome do as the Romans do.
Use Featured snippets. Embrace the format that Google loves the most. I’ve explained above that you have to fake it until you make it. The same thing applies here. Use bullet points, tables, tier-lists, anything that Google sees as featured snippets. Look at the top ranking websites and how they create these snippets. If you can rank #5 for a single search, your featured snippets will appear, you don’t even have to rank #1!
In addition, use Rich Snippets. So what are they? Rich Snippets are things that you see but maybe don’t know the name of. They are all those fancy stuff such as star rankings, reviews, recipes, FAQs, stock & price indicators. Google encourages you to use them. Rich snippets increase the distinction of your results and provide you with better SEO.
I honestly find On-page SEO amazing! It is very easy to do, yet it is very effective! It does not need so much technical work but some content creating, some tools, and a keen eye for understanding Google’s way of doing things.
Need help with SEO?
Contact Frasca Digital today and we’ll lend a hand with any questions you have!
