On-Site SEO, sometimes referred to as On-Page SEO is arguably the most critical success factor when it comes to online marketing. Without a website which can be readily indexed by all major search engines, all 'off-site' website marketing efforts will deliver poor results in a best case scenario and could even have a negative impact in the worst case.
In order to ensure a website can be indexed by search engines a number of steps need to be taken. Changes need to be made to the website on a technical level and content must be optimised for search engines. These on-site changes are commonly referred to as 'On-site SEO' where SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Implementing these changes would make up the first phase of implementation and is discussed in more detail below.
It is important to note that On-site SEO is not a one off process (although completing it at least once would be of more benefit than doing nothing). On-site SEO is a cyclical process and efforts should be refined and improved on an iterative basis while considering the wider context of keyword research, online search trends and changes to legal terminology, as examples.
On-site SEO is neither an art-form nor a science, it does however rely on a fusion of the two. Creativity must be combined with precision in order to ensure the best possible results are attained. Each page of the website must be analysed and optimised to target highly relevant and popular keywords and phrases. These must be phrases which lay-people and prospective customers use when searching for your product or service. These may differ from the ideas which you have on which keywords are the most important. As such, analysis and optimisation should be carried out in phases. The top level of a sites structure should be optimised first, then sub-levels should be optimised according to the resources available.
Once initial on-site SEO is completed, your website will gradually rise up the ranks on major search engines. To assist with this, to provide a higher ranking and more rapid accession to the top of the search engine results 'off-site SEO' comes into play.
