- So in today's video,
I'm going to show you my complete on-page SEO checklist. This is the exact
step-by-step checklist we use for every SEO campaign we work on. In fact, we just used this exact checklist to grow pages organic
search traffic by 1,337% and then we used it again to grow this page's traffic by 1,059%. Now here's my promise to you when you watch this entire training video, you will never need to
read, watch or consume any other content about
on-page SEO after you watch. Now does that sound good? Well before we get started, like this video right now
to show me you're pumped and leave a comment below saying let's do this to show me you're excited. Let's get started. (upbeat music) Hey, so welcome to my YouTube channel. My name is Nathan Gotch and
I'm the founder of Gotch SEO. And in this video I'm
going to walk you through my agency's entire on-page
SEO checklist from A to Z. Now if you're not
subscribed to my channel, please subscribe because
I publish in depth SEO and digital marketing videos
that will help you grow any company you're
working for or working on. And don't forget to hit the bell button because you'll get first access to new training when you do it. So the first thing we need to
tackle is what is on-page SEO? On-page SEO is the process of optimizing a single page on your website. This is not to be
confused with on-site SEO which is the process of
optimizing an entire website. However, these two types of optimization are not mutually exclusive. For example an on-site optimization action like installing an SSL certificate is also a good on-page
optimization action. It's also important to
mention the difference between on-page SEO versus off-page SEO. Off-page SEO is nothing more than another way to say link building. Link building or off-page SEO is the process of acquiring
backlinks to your website. So while on-page SEO is the
foundation you need to rank, you'll usually need a
substantial offsite SEO plan to acquire backlinks to your
pages and website as a whole. It's definitely possible to
rank without many backlinks, but in most cases you'll need them. Now next question is why
is on-page SEO important? Most people with basic
knowledge of SEO usually equate on-page SEO which is
placing keywords on a page. And there's no denying that keywords are critical for on-page optimization but there is much more to the process. As you'll soon find out,
on-page optimization includes keywords, copywriting, media, links, user experience and even conversions. Understanding and executing all
of these on-page SEO factors is important because it will determine how well your page will rank in Google. What I'll be showing you isn't
just about rankings though. This checklist will help
you optimize your pages to the fullest extent
but it will also help you increase dwell time, build
rapport for your brand and even drive conversions. So now it's time to show you how to do on-page SEO step by step. Just follow this checklist
and you'll achieve a perfectly optimized page. So the first part of this
process is performance. Number one, do you have Google
Analytics tracking set up? You need a way to measure the
SEO performance of your page and Google Analytics
is pretty hard to beat, but there are some decent alternatives out there like Clicky. Just make sure you have a way to track organic search traffic and conversions. Number two, are you tracking
your primary keyword phrase? Tracking individual keywords isn't as straightforward as it used to be because of localization,
personalization and other factors however, you should still be
tracking your primary keyword just to make sure you're
on the right track. I personally use ahrefs to
track keyword performance. So now let's move on to phase two which is crawling and indexing. So number three, is your page crawlable? You simply can't rank if Google's spiders can't access your page. Your robots.txt file and NoIndex tags are two common culprits
you need to look out for. This tool is perfect for checking
your page's crawlability. Just enter your URL and click submit, then the tool will show
you everything that is or isn't blocking search engine crawlers. You wanna see a 200 status code and no news is good news when it comes to the other sections. You can also use Screaming Frog SEO Spider to make sure your pages
are crawler accessible. Just click the response codes tab and select blocked by robots.txt. So number four, is your page indexable? Having a crawlable page is the first step to ranking in Google. The second step is to make sure that your page actually gets indexed. The best way to check if
your page is properly indexed is to copy your URL and
paste it into Google. Established pages should
show up and if they don't then you need to take
some additional steps. First check if the page
is using the Noindex tag. Just click the directives
tab in Screaming Frog and selected Noindex
from the filter dropdown. If it passes that test, then you need to examine
your site architecture. Sometimes your page is buried
too deep within your website and crawlers aren't able to reach it. This issue is most common
with eCommerce websites or really large websites. So to find out, click the site architecture
tab in Screaming Frog and look under the crawl depth section. You want most of your pages to be no more than three clicks deep. And if your pages passes
both of these tests then you should use the
fetch as Google tool. The last way to get your page indexed is to simply acquire backlinks to it. So now that you're tracking performance, your page is crawlable
and your page is indexed, it's time to optimize your
page for your primary keyword. Which brings me to point number five, are you targeting the right keywords? Some people overestimate their ability to rank for certain keywords. You need to go through
extensive keyword qualification, in competitor analysis,
processes to ensure that you're targeting the right keywords. I won't go too deep into it
here but here's a 30,000 foot keyword qualification process you can use. First, run your keyword through
ahrefs keyword explorer tool and you can quickly eliminate keywords based on keyword difficulty or KD. For example, newer websites or
websites that lack authority shouldn't target keywords
greater than a KD of 50. If your keyword passes the KD test, then you need to compare your website against the ranking
competitors on average. Gather the following data
points for each competitor and average them out, DR, backlinks, total linking group domains, which you can export from
ahrefs keyword explorer and word count. So now you have a roadmap
of what you'll need to do to compete for your target keyword phrase. So number six is have you
already targeted this keyword? Keyword cannibalization which is when multiple pages target the
same primary keyword phrase is something you need to keep tabs on. Here's an example. So avoiding this issue at the onset should be a priority
for every SEO campaign. Trust me when I say this, (evil laughter) it's a nightmare working
through large scale keyword cannibalization issues. Here's what you need to know, target one primary keyword per page and then focus on creating
and updating that one page. Don't create or optimize another page for the same primary keyword. Now I should mention
the Hub and Spoke model. You can target closely related keywords if the intent is different. For example, on Gotch SEO
I have a blog post about how to do an SEO audit which
is informational intent and then I have a page
targeting SEO audits service which is transactional intent. These keyword phrases are closely related but have much different intent. So here's a visual from Jimmy Daily. Just make sure you don't
get this model twisted and think that you should
start pumping out thin pages around your primary page/keyword. Which brings me to point number seven which is does your page
satisfy search intent? So if you've been following my work or you're a member of Gotch SEO Academy, then I know you're probably
sick of me talking about this but the truth is, it's
so incredibly important and it's something that a
lot of websites get wrong. There are four primary
categories of search intent, number one is informational, which would be how to get backlinks. Number two are transactional
which are buy backlinks. Number three are comparison inquiries which are moz versus ahrefs and number four are navigational
inquiries like Gotch SEO. So understanding the intent
behind your targeted keyword should dictate how you
structure your page. For example, if you're
targeting a keyword phrase that has informational intent, then that page should educate
and attempt to build rapport. The truth is most searchers
are not ready to buy when searching informational keywords. They're likely at the beginning
of the customer journey and you need to be cognisant of that and structure your page as
an educational resource. Now that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to push the prospect to the
next stage in the buying cycle, but you need to take baby steps. Lead magnets are my go to CTA
for searchers at this stage. So number eight, is your
primary keyword in the title? Now while SEOs don't agree on everything, most would have a hard time disputing that your primary keyword should
be in your page's title tag. So if you do anything on this checklist, make sure your targeted
keyword is in your title. But if on-page SEO was as simple as placing your keyword in the title, then there would be a
lot more successful SEOs. But here's the truth,
that's a bare minimum on page SEO action. So to take your title tag
optimization up another notch, you need to improve its clickability. Which brings me to point number nine which is is your title click worthy? Google uses the words in your title tag to understand what your page is about. But there's another side of title tags that you need to understand. First, you can find your
website's SERP CTR performance in Google's search console
when you click on performance. It's critical that you make your title as eye catching and
click worthy as possible. In fact, increasing your SERP CTR is one of the easiest ways to get more organic search traffic without
creating any new content. Which brings me to point number 10 which is can you add
modifiers to your title? So title modifiers like
best, top or the year, 2019 for example can help you capture more long tail organic search traffic. Now number 11 is have you used all of your title tag real estate? Titles can be as long as 65 characters before being truncated in Google SERPS. You should take full advantage of this character real estate. Just make sure your keyword is
toward the front of the title but after that, you should use all the copywriting techniques you can to entice searchers to
click on your result. You can use Screaming
Frog to find all titles under or over 65 characters
when you click on page titles and click the filter drop down. So number 12 is is your page
title wrapped in an H1 tag? Every page on your website
should have an H1 tag. You can using Screaming Frog SEO Spider to find what pages don't
currently have H1s. Just click the H1 tab and select missing H1s
from the filter dropdown. Now the question is can you
have multiple H1s on a page and how does that impact SEO performance? - Regardless of whether
you use HTML5 or not, having multiple H1
elements on a page is fine. The answer is yes but it would
be a very rare circumstance when I would either consider doing it. Number 13, is your primary
keyword in the meta description? Google often rewrites meta descriptions but it's still a good idea
to write a descriptive one that includes your primary keyword. For example, Google
replaced my meta description from my guide about 301 redirects with the first couple
sentences of my content. Number 14 is your meta
description click worthy? Like your title, you should try to make your meta description as
click worthy as possible. Number 15 is your primary
keyword in your URL? In my experience pages that
have the primary keyword in the URL tend to perform better. Google also claims that
having your keyword in the URL is a very small ranking factor. Number 16, is your URL structure lean? There's some evidence that
shorter URLs perform better but it's likely a very small factor. The main reason for shortening
your URLs is for UX. And that's because long
URLs are hard to remember and even difficult to share. So with that said, there
really are no benefits of having long URLs so cut
all the fat off your URLs and leave only your
target keyword phrases. Number 17, is your primary
keyword in the first sentence? Now it's extremely challenging to test micro on-page SEO factors such as placing your keyword phrase
in the first sentence but it's something I've
always personally done. To me, if you want Google's algorithm to truly understand
what your page is about, then you need to make it abundantly clear. So naturally placing your
target keyword phrase in the first sentence is a
perfect way to achieve that goal. Number 18, is your keyword density to aggressive relative
to your competitors? Many argue that you
shouldn't pay attention to keyword density and I
agree for the most part, you should write your content in the most natural way possible and the density should work it's way out. However, it doesn't hurt
to check the competition to identify the average keyword density for your targeted keyword phrase. Just use this tool to
gather the keyword density for each competitor and
then average it out. Then just compare your current
density to that average. If you're creating an entirely new page, then create the content
first and then adjust. Just keep in mind keyword placement is more important than density. Number 19, have you added variations of your primary keyword into the copy? So it's smart to structure your pages around one primary keyword, however, you should also try to rank that page for all the closely
related variations as well. One of my favorite ways to
find these keyword variations is to use ahrefs keyword explorer. Just enter your primary keyword phrase and then click on also rank for. Number 20, have you added synonyms of your primary keyword into the copy? Google's Hummingbird algorithm is designed to rank pages based on
themes, not just keywords. Now while it's important
to structure your page around your primary keyword, you also need to interweave
other relevant synonyms and topics around it. If you examine my backlinks guide, you'll see this in action. Every single section on
that page was deliberate. All I did was pull all the
ideas from answer the public and other keyword tools
and put 'em on the page. So in short, your page should be answering every question and solving every problem around your targeted keyword phrase. Just be careful not to
intermingle different intents. For example, that's why
I created a separate page for the keyword phrase buy backlinks instead of just placing
that section in my guide. My backlinks guide has
informational intent while buy backlinks has
transactional intent. So now let's move on to
phase four which is content. 21, is your page different and
better than your competitors? Unique is better than long. Every page on your website
that you wanna rank needs to bring something
new and fresh to the table. Always approach your
content from the angle of how are we going to
make this page different than what currently exists
while adding more value? Now this is much easier
when you're competing for informational queries. But how do you make your page unique when you're competing
for transactional queries like Los Angeles Criminal Lawyer? First, you need to leverage the content that is unique to your brand. That's going to be testimonials,
case studies and results. That should be the focal point
of every effective local page because you're trying to persuade
searchers to become a lead and you achieve that goal by having overwhelming social proof and establishing your brand's authority. Second, your page's UX and UI needs to be better than your competitors. Now fortunately on the local level, most businesses aren't
willing to invest in design. That means there's a
strategic advantage if you do. The other big factor that most local businesses ignore is UX. Pages targeting transactional queries should be built for conversions
or goal completions. That means forums should be above the fold and CTAs should be prominent. Thirdly, most local businesses aren't willing to invest time or money into video production, graphic design or quality photography. You should invest in multimedia if you're serious about ranking. I've personally invested over $30,000 in video editing alone. It's worth it. My last recommendation is to educate. Can you add a FAQ to the
page that makes a searcher more likely to become a lead? Can you give them accurate,
unbiased educational information that will help them make
an informed decision. Helping searchers and adding
value builds good will which builds trust for your brand. And trust is the key to high conversions. 22, is your copy free of
spelling and grammatical errors? Use tools like Grammarly to find spelling and grammatical errors. And the truth is Google
isn't fond of spelling and grammatical errors
based on what they said in their search quality
evaluator guidelines. It also wouldn't hurt
to hire a proofreader or editor to go through your pages. 23, is your copy longer on
average than your competitors? Now there's some correlation
that pages with more words tend to perform better in Google. It's just really important not
to take this out of context. Your copy needs to be well
crafted and thought out. Writing several thousand words of fluff content won't do much. As I mentioned in the previous checkpoint, your copy needs to be radically different than your competitors, not just longer. Use this tool or Screaming Frog to see how long your competitors content is. 244, is your copy well written? So some SEOs forget that not all writing is created equally. Just because you wrote 2000
words doesn't mean it's good. Writing is a skill and some people are
further along than others. You really only have two options, spend thousands of hours writing and reading to improve your ability or hire someone who already has the skill. If you aren't a great writer but don't have the budget to
hire, than write the content and have an editor go
through to improve it. 25, is your copy scannable? Internet users scan before they read that's why your content needs to use all the methods available to improve the scalability of your page. This is super important
for text heavy pages like blog posts or articles. You need to use your best judgment to give this check a pass or fail but here's a simple two-step process. First, scan your target page
that you wanna optimize, then assess whether or
not a reader can get an understanding of what the page is about without reading the entire thing. 26, if your copy written
for an eighth grader? There are target markets that want advanced writing and content
but they are the minority. Your content should be written to be understood and actionable. If someone can't understand
what you're talking about and how to implement
what you're suggesting, then there's a problem. Some experts forget that no one cares how much you know or how
much experience you have. It's believed that we as humans are inherently self interested. We wanna know how you're going to help us. That's why craftier
content so that it reads at an eighth grade level
or below is so effective. It makes your content
easier to understand, easier to take action on, and makes you far more relatable. You can use Hemingway Writer to make your content easier to understand. More importantly, study
the best direct response copywriters of all time like
David Oglivy, Dan Kennedy and Frank Kern and you'll
see that simple writing wins. Number 27, is your copy engaging? Writing at an eighth grade level or lower is the first step to
writing an engaging copy. The second step is to actually
be engaging when you write. People need to consume your
content before they take action. That's why all of these tactics in this copywriting
section are so important. From an SEO perspective,
if searchers are engaging and digesting your content, that is a positive signal for your page. It will increase dwell time and if you've done a good job, the searcher may complete another action such as sharing your page,
visiting another page, subscribing to your list, becoming a lead or even purchasing one of your products. So now the question is how do you make your copy more engaging? Well first, write to one reader by using pronouns such as you and yours. Second, interweave relevant
stories to illustrate points. Lastly, actually know
what you're talking about. While it's easy to fake expertise online, most readers sniff out BS. Number 28, does your copy
use short paragraphs? Long paragraphs are like the
kryptonite for internet users. (suffocating noises) Massive blocks of text are one of the most repelling things you'll encounter online. Keep your paragraphs short and scannable. I personally wouldn't go beyond three sentences per paragraph and I know this isn't what
your English teacher taught you but they've likely never sold
anything on the internet. Number 29, are your headings
structured logically? Using logical paid structure, won't have a profound
affect on your performance but it's still a good practice. Every page should have an H1 tag and then you should follow it
with an H2, H3, H4, et cetera. Number 30, is your copy
using descriptive headings? I learned the concept
of descriptive headings from Frank Kern. In short, a reader should be
able to scan your headings and understand exactly
what the content is about. Kern refers to this as
headings that tell a story. He also mentions that
readers almost always scan content before they commit
to reading the entire thing. That's why descriptive
headings are so important. Number 31, have you
used keyword variations, LSI keywords or synonyms in your headings? Your H1 tag can be
similar to your title tag but other headings
should include variations of your primary keyword,
LSIs and synonyms. Answer The Public is perfect for finding these keyword variations. Number 32, is your copy using bullet points and numbered lists? Use bullet points and numbered lists as
frequently as you can. This will break up your content and make it easier for readers
to commit to digesting it. Number 33, is your copy fresh? You should review your
copy at least biannually or annually to make sure
it's still accurate. Keeping your content accurate and current is critical for pleasing
Google's algorithms. This concept is mentioned countless times in Google's search engine
evaluator guidelines. There's also a better ROI when
you improve existing assets as opposed to creating new assets. So let's move onto phase five
which is image optimization. So 34, does your page have as many or more images than your competitors? Unique images make your page
more interesting and engaging and you should aim to have at
least as many unique images as your competitors or more. 35, are your images
unique to your website? Like writing, not all
images are created equally. Always strive to have unique images and graphics on your page. Now of course this may require
hiring a graphic designer or a photographer but it's
a worthwhile investment because it will improve the
quality and appeal of your page. Plus, it'll improve
your brand's perception if you put in that extra little effort. 36, are your images high quality? Getting unique images is the first step, the second step is making sure
that they're actually good. Hire a professional to take
pictures or create graphics. Businesses love to cut
corners to save money but in the long run it doesn't
actually save you money because low quality pictures and graphics hurt your brand's perception. Number 37, are you using
the right image format? Deciding between PNG, JPG or GIFs doesn't have a massive
impact on SEO performance. But it can help with page loading speed. PNG is the highest
quality out of the three and that means it will likely take the longest to fully load. At the end of the day, don't worry, it's not a life or death decision. Default to PNG and JPG because
they're the most common. Number 38, are your image
sized appropriately? Your image should be sized
and uploaded as the size that are going to appear on your page. This prevents image downsizing which will improve your
page's loading speed. 39, are your images compressed? Using high quality
images is super important but you also need to make sure that they are optimized for loading speed. Images are often one
of the biggest culprits of slow loading pages and
the way to prevent this is to compress your images. Tools like Optimizilla are perfect because it will show you the
image compression side by side. That way you don't
jeopardize image quality but you're also optimizing
for loading speed. Number 40, do your images
have descriptive file names? Google recommends using
descriptive file names for your images but what does that mean? It means you should save your images based on the contents of the image. For example, if your picture is of a 12 week old male great Pyrenees, then your file name should be 12-week-male-great-pyrenees. This will help with
your image performance. Just don't go overboard and
keyword stuff your files. Number 41, do all of your images have descriptive and accurate
ALT tag descriptions? Google spiders use ALT tags to understand what an image is about. And you should always
use descriptive ALT tags for every image on your page. So now let's move on to phase six which is video optimization. Number 42 is does your
page have video content? Video is one of the preferred mediums of content consumption online and it's also one of the
best ways to engage searchers and keep them on your page for longer which is a positive user signal. I highly, highly recommend
investing in video even if your competitor's aren't. 43, are the videos relevant
to the page/primary keyword? Like your images and copy, the video needs to be hyper
relevant to the page's content. Number 44, are the videos
unique to your brand? Yes, you can go to YouTube and
embed any video on your page but that isn't the best
long term strategy. You should be creating
your own unique videos because it's a great way to
improve your brand's perception and it's also another way to
grow your brand's presence on the second biggest search
engine which is YouTube. Number 45, are the videos
high-quality and valuable? Video content is incredibly
effective on many different fronts when it's
high quality and valuable. Your aim should be to create
the best video content you can but there's a challenge, you need to be decently engaging and articulate when the camera turns on. And this takes time and a ton a patience. So either you need to put in
the hours to become engaging or you need a team member who can represent your brand on video. I won't get too deep into creating video because it's outside
the scope of this video but one huge recommendation I have is to script out your content. Number 46, is the video
content responsive? Your videos should be easily
viewable on all devices. YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia videos are designed to be responsive but sometimes custom built
website can cause problems. Use this tool to test
your video responsiveness. If your video isn't responsive, you'll need to optimize your design. In the meantime, you can use this tool to make the videos responsive. Number 47, are the videos
hosted on the right platform? So deciding where to host
your videos is important both from an SEO and business perspective. From an SEO perspective, YouTube is king because it's the biggest
video search engine by far. That's why hosting your videos on YouTube and then embedding them on
your keyword targeted page can have a dual effect. Meaning you can rank in
both Google and YouTube to drive maximum visibility. But if you have no interest
in building a YouTube channel, then you can host your videos anywhere and still get all the benefits. Number 48, are the videos optimized? Your video's title
should match the keyword your page is targeting. For example my Anchor Text Guide features a video about anchor texts. Now let's move onto phase
seven which are links. Number 49, does your
page have internal links? Internal links are a powerful way to build your site's authority, improve your site's
crawlabilty and index ability and help you rank other
important pages on your site. Number 50, are your internal links using descriptive anchor text? Unlike external links, your internal links should use keyword rich anchor text. One thing I love to do
is run my competitors through Screaming Frog SEO Spider to get an idea of their
internal link anchor profile. Number 51, are your internal links optimized based on the
first link priority? The big factor you need to keep in mind is first link priority and this means that Google's algorithm likely only counts the first link/anchor text on a page and that's the main reason why I typically avoid placing pages I'm trying
to rank in the navigation. Number 52, does the page have breadcrumbs? Breadcrumbs are useful for
large or eCommerce websites. You just need to keep in mind the first link priority principle. Especially if you're trying
to rank your category pages. Number 53, are your internal links useful? Injecting internal links for
the sole purpose of ranking isn't a great idea. Remember that the goal of your
page is to please the user. Every internal link should serve a purpose or help the user in some way. In general, as long as
you're linking to relevant and valuable pages, then
you'll be good to go. Number 54, are all of your internal links using preferred URLs? Moving to new domains, changing URLs or installing SSL certificates
can cause URLs to change. And the end result is a redirect chain. Redirect chains force link equity to pass through a buffer and may actually slow your page's speed if they are excessive redirects. You should audit your internal links to make sure they're using
their preferred URLs. Number 55, does your
page have external links? Linking out to relevant
and trusted resources builds the trust of your page. 56, are all affiliate, sponsored, or paid links using a NoFollow tag? Google states in its webmaster guidelines that all paid links should
have the NoFollow tag. A NoFollow tag is supposed
to prevent page rank from following through the link. Number 57, are all of your external links set to open in a new window? Your goal should be to keep users on your site as long as possible and that's why you should make sure all external links open in a new window. I know this is a super minor issue but you wouldn't believe how
often I find it in audits. Number 58, does your
page have broken links? Broken links hurt user experience and need to be tackled
on a frequent basis. You should audit your page
and site every quarter to identify and fix broken links. Screaming Frog SEO Spider
is my favorite tool for accomplishing this goal. Just click the response codes and then click the filtered dropdown and select client 4xx and select in links and click in links to find
all your broken links. Number 59, are all of
your links clearly links? So sometimes web design and UX can clash and deciding how to style links is often one of those challenges. Now I'm in the camp that links
should always be underlined and should be a different
color than the body text. Links are meant to be clicked on. So now it's time for phase eight which is user experience optimization. Number 60 is does you page load
in less than three seconds? Page speed is one of the
most important UX factors. Not only can improving your page's loading speed help SEO performance but it's also a good business initiative. I recommend both Pingdom and GTmetrix to optimize your website loading speed. Number 61, is your page
responsive and mobile friendly? The majority of all web searches will be conducted on mobile
devices in the near future. That's why there's no debate that your website needs to be mobile friendly. Test your page using
this tool to make sure the experience is optimal on all devices. Number 62, does your website have an SSL certificate installed? Google stated a few years
ago that SSL certificates would be a part of their algorithm and would also be a ranking factor. Also, Google Chrome now labels websites with the dreaded not secure label. This is a big deterrent for users and having this label could hurt both your search engine
performance and even your business. You can use this tool to
test your page's security and SSL certificate installation. Number 63, is your font type legible and easy to read on all devices? Now this is a given but your font type should be easy to read. Some of the easiest fonts
to read are Open Sans, Montserrat, and Playfair Display. Number 64, is your font size large enough to be easily read on all devices? Having large readable font
is super important on mobile and users shouldn't have to
pinch to zoom to read your text. Number 65, does your page
use aggressive interstitials. Google has stated that their algorithm will demote pages with
aggressive interstitial pop ups. And honestly, I don't blame them because they're pretty annoying. If you're going to use
them, then only load them when a user visits a second
or third page on your website. I would avoid loading them
on mobile altogether though unless it's a slide down or slide up that can be easily closed. Number 66, does your page
have aggressive ad placements? One element that Google's
original panned algorithm targeted was aggressive ad placements
coupled with thin content. Now some businesses livelihood
depends on ad revenue but some take it a little too far. If you wanna continue
performing well in Google, then you need to think
about the user first. So the question is does
jamming ads in their face help them achieve a goal or solve a problem that
they were searching for? Every SEO driven page should be built to serve the user first. Get that part squared
away and then think about how to place ads in a way that doesn't disrupt
the user's experience. So now for phase nine which is local and you really only need
to tackle one question for on-page SEO and that's number 67, is your address prominently displayed? So if you're trying to rank
your page in the local pack then your address needs to be displayed. It doesn't need to be above the fold but it should at least be
in the body of the content or in the footer. Just be careful with placing
the address in the footer if you have multiple locations. And that's because most
footers will display site wide which means your address
will displayed on every page. Now this isn't an issue
if you have one location. However if you have multiple locations then you should only display the address on the location page that's most relevant. So the next phase is structured data. Number 68, is your address
using structured data? Google claims that structured data isn't a part of their algorithm and whether that's true is tough to say but I believe implementing
structure data correctly can only have a positive impact
on your page's performance. So at the very minimum wrap your address with structured data to
help Google's algorithm better understand your
page and your business. Number 69, is your page
using structured data? Local businesses will likely benefit from using structured data but it has so many other uses as well. The good news is that many
content managing systems have structured data built in and it will do basic markup for you. This Schema plug-in works
perfectly for WordPress. Number 70, is the structured
data set up correctly? You wanna make sure your structured data is set up correctly once
you've implemented it. And the best tool to use is Google's Structured Data Testing Tool. The next phase of this process
is optimizing your page for your money, your life and EAT. Number 71, are you giving health,
financial or legal advice? Many believe Google's algorithm
update on August 1, 2018 which is called the Medic Update targeted your money, your life or YMYL types of websites and pages. In short, any websites offering health, financial or legal advice will be under greater
scrutiny going forward. And the main reason is because incorrect, unproven or inaccurate
information in these spaces can actually hurt a person. Google only wants to rank pages that have accurate information
in their search engine. And this is incredibly apparent based on how they score pages in their Search Engine Raters guidelines. So with that said, make
sure your page's content is accurate no matter
what niche you're in. Number 72, does your page have
the appropriate disclaimers? All health, financial and legal advice should be accompanied by
appropriate disclaimers. This not only protects your business, but it's also a signal
of trust for your page. Number 73, does your page list and link to all sources of information? Plagiarism can get you
kicked out of college, however on the internet,
anyone can steal, copy and distribute your content and ideas. Sure, it definitely sucks but you don't need to be
the scum of the internet. Instead when you get
information from another page, that you didn't previously
have knowledge of, you should link to that page. First it's ethical and a
common curtesy to do so and lastly, it makes your
page far more trustworthy, both for users and search engines. Number 74, does your blog
content have a visible author? Every informational page like blog posts should have a visible author. Back in the day, hiding your
identity was a common practice but these days it will
probably hurt more than help when it comes to your SEO performance. Number 75, is the author credible and qualified to write about the topic? E-A-T also known as EAT which stands for expertise, authoritativeness,
and trustworthiness has been a big topic since
the August 1 Google update. Some debate whether it's
taking factor or not and debating is fun and
usually a waste of time but I don't think it matters either way. A qualified person should
be writing your content and this policy can only benefit your business and SEO performance. Think about it, what
page is more valuable? Page A which is written by someone who has years of experience in X industry or Page B which was written by some jack of all trades
writer you hire on Upwork? It makes logical sense
that Google is going to value content written by someone who has the qualifications to write about whatever topic it is. Number 76, does every blog post have a detailed author box and bio? I believe every blog post
should have an author box or something similar in a
detailed bio of the author. The bio should explain why
the author is qualified to write about the topic. Number 77, does each
author have a dedicated and detailed author page? Now this isn't entirely necessary but I think it's worth the effort. It just adds another level
of trust to your content. Now the author bio at
the bottom of each post is just a short description of
your writer's qualifications but the author page is a
more detailed description along with links to social media profiles and other articles. So this second to last phase you need to tackle are goal completions which brings me to point number 78 which is does the page have
clear calls to actions or CTAs? Some believe that Google puts
weight onto goal completions and a goal completion is the action that a user is supposed
to take on your page. Now this will largely depend on the intent of the targeted keyword phrase. For example, if your page ranks for St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer, two appropriate goal completions would be contact form
submissions and phone calls. Now it's probably very hard
for Google to get this data but it's still a good business objective. I believe that every page on your website should have a call-to-action. And as I mentioned, your CTA will depend on the intent of the targeted keyword. If it's a product page, then
your CTA will be sales driven. If it's a top of the
funnel informational asset then your CTA may be as
something as simple as asking the user to share
your page or leave a comment. Number 79, is the page shareable? Social media sharing button should be prominently displayed
on informational content because it's more likely
to be shared if it's good. Make it as easy as possible for the user to share your content. I personally use SUMO
for most of my websites but there are many good options out there. And finally, the last on-page SEO phase is optimizing your design
and user interface. And you only need to ask one
question, which is number 80, is the website design modern and updated? Some websites need serious facelifts and it's a good investment to continually upgrade your site's
design to keep it modern. Striking a balance between design and UX is critical from an SEO perspective so take it seriously. So wow, that was super intense but I didn't want to leave
any stone left unturned. So if you got value from
this training video, please leave a comment
below saying awesome and don't forget to like,
subscribe and hit the bell button because you'll get first access to new videos like this in the future. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
