On-page

In search engine optimisation, “on-page” refers to all content and technical measures carried out directly on a website. These are factors that the owner or a commissioned agency controls themselves. Unlike off-page factors such as backlinks, on-page factors don't depend on other websites.

A distinction is sometimes made between on-page optimisation (individual pages) and on-site optimisation (the entire domain, such as structure and technology). In general usage, “on-page” usually covers both.

Importance of on-page optimisation for search engine optimisation

On-page optimisation is the foundation of every SEO strategy. Search engines like Google want to show the most relevant and helpful pages for every search query. With good on-page optimisation, a website shows what a page is about, how the pages are connected and that it answers users' questions.

Elements of on-page optimisation

Google doesn't publish all the details, but a number of factors have proven important:

• Keywords: the choice of search terms is the foundation. A page's main keyword belongs in the page title, H1 heading and URL and should appear naturally in the text; subheadings pick up related terms. Keywords and topics also determine how a website is structured – for example, which categories a shop needs.

• Meta information: this is in the HTML head of the page. Important are:

  • Title tag: names a page and is used as the headline in the SERPs

  • Meta description: describes the content in the form of a teaser

  • Image file names: descriptive file names such as womens-sneakers-white.webp help Google understand images

  • Alt text: describes the content of an image for search engines and screen readers and is displayed if an image can't be loaded

  • Robots: specifies whether a page should be indexed (index/noindex)

  • Canonical: indicates which URL is the authoritative version for similar or duplicate content

• HTML structure: clean, semantic HTML helps search engines understand a page. This includes a logical heading hierarchy (<h1>, <h2> etc.), lists and tables for suitable content and structured data (Schema.org) for products, reviews or FAQs.

• Content: what matters is that content answers the search query completely and better than the competition and demonstrates genuine expertise. There is no minimum word count – some questions can be answered in a few sentences, others need a detailed guide.

In the past, attention was paid to a specific keyword density; later came TF-IDF analysis, which shows which relevant terms might be missing from a text. Today, Google mainly assesses whether content covers a topic comprehensively. Images, graphics and videos complement texts and convey information vividly. Duplicate content should be avoided.

Unique, helpful content convinces visitors, strengthens trust in the brand and is the basis for Google classifying a page as relevant.

High-quality content can be published in many formats – from category texts and product descriptions to guides and blog articles, videos, tutorials or white papers.

• Internal links: internal linking is one of the most effective on-page factors. It helps Google find all pages and shows which pages are particularly important. Important pages such as high-revenue categories should be linked from many places, with descriptive link texts. Internal links also distribute the power of external backlinks (link juice) within the website.

• URL: descriptive, short URLs with the main keyword are understandable for users and search engines. Their influence on rankings is small, however; existing URLs shouldn't be changed without good reason.

• Loading times: a page should load quickly on desktop and above all on mobile. Google measures this via the Core Web Vitals. The values can be checked with Google PageSpeed Insights and in Google Search Console.

• Usability and technology: good user guidance, mobile usability, HTTPS and error-free source code ensure that visitors find what they are looking for. This improves conversion rate and user signals.

On-page optimisation is the prerequisite for off-page measures to take effect: links to a weak, poorly structured page bring little. It therefore makes sense to put your own website in order first and then develop on-page and off-page together.