On-page SEO guide 2025: 10 steps for higher ranking & conversions

On-page SEO is no longer just about tweaking keywords or writing a decent blog. Since that is where people are interacting with your brand online, you want to ensure they have a good, all-around experience so they end up engaging more with your site.

If your pages load slowly, your content lacks intent alignment, or your metadata is forgettable, you’re not just missing rankings – you are losing revenue to your competitors too. Google and AI-driven overviews now reward pages that are not only informative but also well-structured, fast, and user-friendly.

At Dok Online, we treat on-page SEO as a performance layer. It’s where UX, structure, and semantics meet. We don’t just tweak content—we engineer smart, scalable copy that drive results.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• Why on-page SEO is essential for visibility and engagement
• The 10 on-page factors that move the needle
• What to do to get it right

What is on-page SEO? 

On-page SEO is the process of improving everything on your website that affects how well a page ranks and performs. That includes content, page titles, headings, internal links, images, URLs, and even how fast your page loads.

This is one of the three pillars of search engine optimization – the other two being off-page and technical SEO.

Modern on-page SEO focuses on clarity, structure, and performance. When your site is easy to understand, fast to load, and built with users and machines in mind, you don’t just attract traffic – you turn it into results.

It’s no longer just about keywords or writing a few paragraphs. Google and Large Language Models like ChatGPT and Claude now go a lot deeper and understand meaning, context, and structure. It is based on this that they are able to analyse and present results so quickly. 

To have them and search engines consider your pages over others, you need to work on a few on-page things like:

• Improving on-page performance and experience – UX & technicals
• Providing more information about the topic in hand
• Updating old content with new information
• Adding on-page visuals

Why is on-page SEO still important?

On-page SEO is still important because it directly impacts how well your site ranks — and how users engage once they land. It’s not optional – it is foundational.

Here’s what effective on-page optimization can do for your site:

• Higher rankings for competitive, high-intent queries
• Better user experience, increasing time-on-site and trust
• Stronger crawlability, helping Google understand your structure
• Improved conversion rates, with intent-aligned content and CTAs
• Future-proof performance, especially with AI-powered search evolving fast

What are the 10 on-page factors to optimize in SEO?

1. Content creation & topical updates
2. Metadata (titles & descriptions)
3. URL structure
4. Header structure
5. Keyword optimization
6. Internal linking
7. Image optimization
8. Mobile UX & responsiveness
9. Technical SEO
10. Structured data

From metadata to internal links, we’ve seen these 10 areas move rankings, boost traffic, and reduce churn — across SaaS, e-commerce, and content-heavy sites. It’s what we implement on six-figure traffic pages every day.

These essentials shape how your content is discovered, understood, and ranked – laying the groundwork for stronger visibility, higher engagement, and sustainable SEO growth.

1. Content creation & topical updates

Great content does more than rank – it educates, converts, and scales with your business. But learning how to create content that ranks and converts is an art form of its own. After all, this isn’t just about matching keywords – it’s about satisfying intent and covering the topic in full.

In essence it starts by identifying what your audience really wants to know about the topic.

A strong article goes beyond surface answers with layered value: use cases, internal insights, comparisons, and subtopics that competitors miss. You will even want to consider questions that people may not have thought of yet.

The goal here is complete semantic coverage – identifying and answering all possible questions one may have about anything related to your topic.

Moreover, a key part of on-page SEO is regularly updating existing pages – not just for freshness, but to maintain their relevance and performance. Look for signs of content decay, shifts in user intent, structural issues, or gaps in topical coverage. Then:

• Expand the page with new, semantically related subtopics
• Refine formatting for readability and skim-friendliness
• Strengthen internal links to reflect authority flow and structure
• Trim outdated or cannibalizing sections that dilute rankings

Done right, these updates don’t just preserve rankings – they help your content stay competitive as the search landscape evolves.

2. Meta titles & meta descriptions

Your title and meta description are the first things a user sees on Google – and often the last if they’re poorly written. These snippets are not just summaries but performance assets that influence CTR, expectations, and how search engines categorize your page.

Write metadata that’s clear, compelling, and aligned with search intent. If users understand your page instantly, they’re far more likely to click.

A good title doesn’t just include a keyword – it promises value. It delivers exactly what the users can expect from the page. Similarly, a great meta description anticipates what the user wants to find, then frames your page as the best destination.

Here’s how to optimize them:

• Write titles under 55 characters, including your brand name. This is especially for mobile, where display space is tighter
• Keep description under 150 characters
• Focus on the reader and make it clear and readable, using keywords is optional here.
• Use your meta description as a hook – show benefits, not just keywords
• Match the user intent – if the query is transactional, lead with a CTA including price or discount
• Test snippets regularly – even small changes can swing CTRs by 10–30%. A/B test including brand names, prices, different CTAs to see what works the best.

3. URL structure

A clear, keyword-rich URL makes your pages easier to find, understand, and rank. Your URL isn’t just a technical element – it’s a signal to Google, to users, to link sharers. They’re short, readable, and designed to guide both crawlers and users effortlessly. Here are the best URL practices to consider:

• Keep it short and focused – ideally under 60-70 characters for the full URL, including your domain name.
• Use hyphens instead of underscores for word separation
• Avoid stopwords and filler like ‘and,’ ‘at,’ ‘the,’ ‘of,’ etc. unless they add clarity
• Include one primary keyword that reflects the page topic
• Don’t include dynamic parameters unless necessary (?id=123 breaks readability)
• Use lowercase only – mixed cases can create duplicate paths

Here’s an example:

• Good URL: https://example.com/shoes/best-running-shoes/

A clean, keyword-rich URL that clearly signals the page topic to users and search engines alike. It tells that the site has a category of shoes and within there, they have filtered out the best ones. This also makes it easier to scale in the future by grouping similar content in each category.

• Bad URL: https://example.com/category123/item?id=9876

Unclear and cluttered – lacks descriptive context, making it harder to rank and navigate.But URLs don’t work in a vacuum – they also reflect how the information on your site is organized and structured. A strong site architecture means that important pages aren’t buried too deep, related content is grouped logically and linked contextually.

4. Header-tags

Header tags do more than break up text — they signal hierarchy, meaning, and intent. From an SEO perspective, they help search engines understand how your content is organized. From a UX angle, they improve scanability and comprehension for real users.

A well-structured page typically follows a clear hierarchy: one H1 that defines the main topic, followed by H2s that introduce the core subtopics. Each H2 can contain several H3s, and when needed, even H4s to go deeper into nested points. Crucially, every header should support the one above it — no H3 should introduce a new concept unrelated to its H2, and no H2 should drift from the main H1. This preserves semantic consistency and avoids confusing both users and crawlers.

What to do:

• Format content beneath each header into logical, digestible sections
• Use only one H1 per page – it’s your headline and main ranking target
• Follow a question-answer sequence: phrase H2 as a question and answer it in the content that follows
• Structure H2s to reflect the primary themes of your page
• Nest H3s under the right H2s to explain or expand on each section
• Keep header tags relevant – don’t switch topics midstream
• Use short, descriptive headers that match search intent
• Avoid skipping levels (e.g., going from H2 directly to H4)

5. Keyword optimization

Can a single page on your site rank for 20 different keyword variations? If not, there’s work to be done.

High-performing pages aren’t built around one keyword – they succeed because they reflect the entire topic. Keyword optimization today is about creating a semantically rich environment that signals intent, relevance, and depth. Here’s what to keep in mind:

• Start by collecting all potential keywords – exact matches, long-tails, synonyms, People Also Ask queries, and NLP-driven terms from Ahrefs, Semrush, and Google SERPs. 
• Map these keywords by search intent, topical themes, or content angle. The idea is to cluster the thousands of keywords into neat little pillars focussing on a particular idea. For a shoe brand, this could mean segregating keywords based on demographics (men, women, 50+), use cases (running shoes, walking shoes), commercial intent, informational intent, and more.
• Refine them in clearer clusters. From that point on, map content pages and outlines that actually satisfies search intent.

This process can mean analyzing hundreds or even 100,000+ terms, but the payoff is worth it. You get a clear understanding of your audience – what and how is it that they are interacting with the topic of your business.

When writing, you shouldn’t have to obsess over keyword frequency. If your content is truly semantically sound, the right terms appear naturally. Primary keywords go in titles, H1s, and intros. Synonyms and semantically similar words are embedded deep within the content.

That said, it is always a good practice to use an SEO tool like Surfer to see if you missed any important topic that your competitors may be covering. This is something to consider post publishing too – as a part of your broader content optimization strategy.

6. Internal Linking

Internal links do more than just connect pages – they form your website’s topical map (more on that later). When done right, they guide both users and search engines through your content and tell Google which pages matter most. They help establish parent-child relationships between pages, signal topical depth, and ensure your key content gets crawled, indexed, and ranked.

Think of it as building a roadmap. If your pillar pages aren’t linked to from high-authority pages, or if subpages don’t point back, you’re missing a huge opportunity to consolidate relevance and pass on SEO link juice.

Secondly, dropping random links without context or structure won’t help – and might even confuse search engines about what your site is really about. Instead, you need to think strategically. 

Here’s how we optimize internal linking:

• Balance equity distribution – make sure your most important commercial or high-converting pages are being fed authority from blog posts and informational content.
• Use descriptive anchor text that reflects the topic of the target page – not vague terms like “read more” or “click here.”
• Place links in semantically rich zones: Place links in content under H2s or H3s that align closely with the linked topic. Contextual relevance strengthens both UX and SEO.
• Avoid orphan pages: Every important page should be linked from at least one other relevant page.
• Plan the order of the internal links. Which links will go on the page, and in what order?
• Limit to 3–8 internal links per page, depending on the length and purpose. Too many can dilute the effect, too few can isolate content.

7. Image optimization

Your graphics and visuals are part of your brand – but if search engines can’t understand them, they don’t exist. Needless to say, image SEO is important.

Whether you sell physical products or software, your visuals help build trust, explain ideas, and drive conversions. But they can also hold you back if not optimized. Heavy files, vague alt text, and generic filenames all reduce your site’s crawlability, loading speed, and relevance.

Here’s how to make every image and video count – for both SEO and branding:

• Provide value: Use visuals to highlight, summarize, or inform the audience. For blogs, infographics are ideal to summarize long info. For e-commerce brands, high-resolution product images from multiple angles help sell the product better. Remember – every image tells a story and adds to the brand value.
• Compress image files for faster load times: Smaller file sizes mean faster pages. Use WebP or AVIF formats and compression tools like TinyPNG or Squoosh.
• Write keyword-aligned, descriptive alt text: Support accessibility and help Google understand image content by describing it – if you can include synonyms/related keywords naturally in there, even better!
  For example, “Close-up of the DG black luxury leather duffle bag on wooden bench” adds far more value than “bag-image1.”
• Lazy-load visual content: Delay loading of below-the-fold images and embedded videos to boost speed and UX. This is particularly crucial for big e-commerce stores where category pages tend to list plenty of products.
• Use meaningful filenames: Avoid default names like IMG_8383.png. Describe the content with clarity – modular-sofa-gray-angle.jpg gives Google a lot more info.
• Add schema for videos: While there is no schema for images yet, you can support video indexing and improve eligibility for rich results using VideoObject schema.
• Host videos smartly: Use platforms like YouTube with optimized embeds. Set proper thumbnails, titles, and meta info. Avoid autoplay – it hurts UX and page speed.

8. Mobile UX & responsiveness

Google’s switch to mobile-first indexing wasn’t just a technical update – it was a signal that mobile experience now defines your site’s overall performance. After all, over 60% of all web traffic is mobile.

If your design works well on desktop but frustrates users on mobile, your rankings and conversions will take a hit. This is also something we have noticed at Dok Online time and again, where critical mobile SEO principles are ignored.

Good mobile UX starts with responsive layouts, but goes much deeper:

• Design for touch: Buttons, menus, and CTAs should be large enough to tap comfortably, with space around them to avoid accidental clicks.
• Readable content: Use legible font sizes for mobile display (16px+), proper line height, and sufficient contrast to ensure readability in any light.
• Write short paragraphs: Divide content into smaller blocks for a less cluttered look.
• Speed matters more: Mobile users expect pages to load instantly, even on weaker connections.
• Avoid intrusive elements: Popups, sticky headers, and floating buttons that cover content harm usability and can even trigger ranking penalties.

9. Technical SEO

A large part of mobile SEO also ties in with how well you work on your site’s technicals. You can write the most brilliant content on the web – but if your page is slow, poorly structured, or hard to crawl, it won’t rank. On-page SEO isn’t just about words on the screen. It’s about the infrastructure that makes them visible, discoverable, and competitive. This is why technical SEO is crucial. 

Optimizing a website technically includes working on:

• Page Speed & Core Web Vitals: Streamline load times by optimizing images, minifying code, and reducing server requests. Tools like JetOctopus and Lighthouse help us identify what’s slowing your site down — and fix it.
• Structured Data: We use schema markup to turn your content into rich results. From FAQs and articles to product and organization markup, we help Google understand your content faster and display it better.
• Crawlability: Clean robot.txt files, strong internal link logic, and clear sitemaps ensure search engines can discover and index what matters most. For ecommerce sites, we control crawling of faceted filters to protect crawl budget and avoid duplicate content issues.

10. Schema markup & structured data: Speaking google’s language

No matter how big of a brand you are or what your niche is, structured data is how you future-proof your content in a semantic-first world. Search engines don’t just read your content – they also parse it.

Schema markup adds a layer of meaning to your content. It tells Google what each section represents – not just how it looks. Instead of guessing, Google knows exactly what’s on your page. In our experience, we have found Schema to be a gamechanger for e-commerce companies.

With Schema, you give precise information to the bots about different facets of your business/website to help understand better. These are known as Schema types and include author details, shipping & return info, availability & stock info, reviews & ratings, price, material, make & model info, weight & dimensions, and other attributes.

Let’s take an e-commerce product page as an example:
By implementing schema, you can explicitly tell Google:

• This is a product
• It costs €129
• It’s in stock
• It has 182 reviews with a 4.7-star average
• It comes in 3 colors and 4 sizes
• Free returns within 30 days
• It is made of wood and copper
• It weighs 200 grams

Now compare that to a plain page with none of that context — guess which one gets more attention in the SERPs?et Google Merchant Center, helpt schema mark-up om de productgegevens automatisch te synchroniseren.

What are the most common on-page SEO mistakes that hurt your rankings? 

Keyword stuffing, slow page speed, and weak content structure are the most common on-page SEO mistakes – and they can seriously damage your rankings. These issues reduce visibility by making it harder for search engines to interpret your content and by lowering user engagement.

Here’s what to avoid:

• Forgetting the big picture: Remember that your pages are not on their own – they are all connected. Google evaluates your website as a whole by looking at how the site functions and how each page provides value. Aside from on-page, give attention to technical and off-page elements too.
• Keyword stuffing: Repeating keywords unnaturally doesn’t improve rankings—it hurts them. It breaks readability and can trigger spam signals, especially under Google’s helpful content and spam updates.
  What to do instead: ✅ Use related phrases and variations of your most important keywords.
• Slow page speed: Especially on mobile, slow-loading pages lead to high bounce rates and lower engagement. You want to ensure that your Core Web Vitals metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and First Input Delay (FID) are in green with a high score.
  ✅ Compress images, reduce scripts, and clean up your code.
• Poor content structure: Irregular use of headers, long unbroken text, and missing visual hierarchy confuse both users and search engines.
  ✅ Use a logical H1 > H2 > H3 flow and break content into scannable blocks.

What are the best SEO tools for on-page optimization?

The best tools for on-page SEO fall into four key categories:

• Google’s own tools: Google Search Console & Google Analytics
• Crawlers: Sitebulb or JetOctopus or Screaming Frog
• On-page content analyzers: Surfer SEO, Scalenut (AI driven!)
• All-in-one SEO platforms: Ahrefs or SEMrush or Moz or SE Ranking

Each of these tools plays a specific role in improving your on-page performance:

Ahrefs and SEMrush offer a 360° SEO view. They combine keyword tracking, backlink analysis, and competitor benchmarking. These are good to identify content gaps, build stronger internal linking strategies, and monitor on-page performance at scale.

Google Search Console provides indexing and performance insights, helping you monitor keyword visibility, detect crawl errors, and stay aligned with Core Web Vitals and mobile usability.

Google Analytics gives you a clear view of how users interact with each page—revealing bounce rates, engagement metrics, and behavioral signals that influence rankings and conversions.

Sitebulb and JetOctopus act as advanced crawlers. They audit your site’s technical health, flag issues like broken links or duplicate content, and uncover crawl bottlenecks that can limit visibility with clear, actionable reports.

Surfer SEO analyzes the top-ranking pages for your target keywords and compares them to yours. It provides data-backed guidance on word count, headings, semantic keywords, and content structure to help your pages better match search intent.

What is the difference between on-page SEO and off-page SEO? 

The difference between on-page SEO and off-page SEO lies in where the optimization takes place.

Aspect	On-page SEO	Off-page SEO
Definition	On-site SEO elements	External SEO factors
Focus	Content, UX, internal signals	Backlinks, PR, external trust signals
Control	Fully managed by your team	Depends on third-parties
Purpose	Improve page quality and relevance	Boost domain trust, authority and brand awareness
Impact	Affects rankings directly per page	Affects overall domain authority
Examples	Titles, URLs, schema mark up, internal links, …	Backlinks, mentions, reviews, branded content on external platforms and socials

• On-page SEO refers to everything you can control directly on your website—like content quality, meta tags, URL structure, internal linking, and technical performance such as page speed and mobile usability. These elements help search engines understand your content and improve user experience.

• Off-page SEO focuses on external signals—such as backlinks, brand mentions, and social engagement—that build your brand’s and thus your website’s authority and trustworthiness.

A successful SEO strategy combines both: on-page builds the foundation, and off-page builds the reputation

Ready to turn your SEO into a long-term growth engine?

At Dok Online, we don’t just create content — we build topical authority that search engines trust and users choose. From in-depth technical audits to AI-ready content strategies, we help businesses transform underperforming websites into high-converting hubs.

• Future-proof your visibility
  In the age of AI search — staying relevant isn’t optional. We’ll help you stay ahead. Not by hacks or shortcuts, but by building a solid SEO foundation that keeps delivering results.
• Curious what that looks like?
  Let’s hop on a quick call and we’ll walk you through real-time metrics from live client dashboards: traffic, rankings, conversions that are all powered by our SEO playbook.No magic. Just solid strategy. Ready to lead your niche?
  Book a discovery call now and let’s map your future growth together!