On-page optimization is how you apply Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques directly to your website and the pages within it. It isn’t difficult, but it requires a few extra steps that you might not think to take.
Keyword Density
Keyword density is an integral part of on-page SEO and is also probably the least understood.
Did you know that the ideal keyword density is 2%-5%?
That’s it. Two to five keywords for every 100 words. For your ideal keywords, at least. Don’t be afraid to use your keywords, just try not to overuse them. Keep your text readable.
It’s also considered ideal to keep your ideal keywords close to
the beginning of the page text, within the first 50-100 words.
The trick is to use variations on your keywords and phrases. Keep the keyword density of your most desired words at that 2%-5% density and then use variations of those words for the rest. Good variations are alternate ways to say your keyword.
Keyword Variation Example
Bad Variation of “Box”
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Good Variation of “Box”
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How to practice good keyword density in Javelin CMS
Use any module that takes text as an input (that’s all of them).
The Title Tag
The text contained in the title tag will display at the top of the browser and in the page’s tab (when using a multi-tab web browser). The title tag is the first thing search engines read on a web page. The first word/phrase should be the #1 target keyword and the rest should be descriptive. You don’t have to pack in the keywords, but do explain what’s on the page.
Title tag example
- Boxes at Bob’s Box Emporium
- Wholesale boxes at Bob’s Box Emporium
How to change the title tag in Javelin CMS
In the “Page Settings”, type the desired phrase into the “Web Page Title” field.
Meta Tag Keywords & Meta Tag Description
The meta tag was very important in the early days of web. Nowadays, it’s less important, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it.
The meta description is necessary for describing your site and it should be keyword dense.
Meta Description Example
Bob’s Box Emporium is your one-stop-shop for all your cheap box needs. We have cardboard boxes, steel boxes, paper boxes, box dividers. We service the greater Oklahoma City area with fast and quality service.
Meta keywords have fallen out of fashion with many search engines because of the gross overuse of off-topic terms to drive up rankings in the early days. But that doesn’t mean they’re useless: Bing and Yahoo! both still use them.
Keywords and phrases should be separated by commas. You should also include misspellings and alternate ways of saying a keyword. Limit the number of keywords you list to 10-20 and organize them from most important to least important.
Meta Keyword Example
box, boxes, crates, storage, dividers, box dividers, cardboard, corrugated cardboard, steel, cheap, low price, Oklahoma City, OKC, Edmond, Mustang, Del City
Adding Meta Keywords & Meta Descriptions in Javelin CMS
Go to the “SEO+Meta” page under “Page Settings”. You can have custom descriptions and/or keywords for every page on your site.
Images
Search engines couldn’t care less about how good your images look, they only care about the alt attributes and the file names of the images placed on your pages.
An alt attribute displays alternative text. Search engines don’t actually see the page, they read the page’s code, so having the alt attribute be a keyword or phrase will let the search engine know what the image is for.
Alt Attribute Example
Bad Alt Attributes
(yes, I’ve seen all of these) |
Good Alt Attributes
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It’s good practice to make the alternate text and hover text (tool tip) the same.
Another way to make images more search engine friendly is to give them names with keywords.
Image Name Example
Bad Image Names
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Good Image Names
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How to add alt attributes in Javelin CMS
In the insert image dialogue box (general tab), fill out the “Image Description” field.
Bolding/Italicizing
Bold or italicize your keywords once on one page. We suggest your home page.
Yes, I’m bolding and italicizing a lot on this page, but this is a blog post, hidden deep within the structure of the site. Not a top or second level page.
Examples of Bolded and Italicized text
This is bold.
This is italicized.
How to bold and italicize in Javelin CMS
In any text module editor, highlight the desired text and click the “B” to bold and the “I” to italicize. Alternatively, use Ctrl+B to bold and Ctrl+I to italicize.
Internal Links
Search engines like Google only read the first link to a page. Links farther down on the page aren’t counted with the same weight as the first one.
Internal links are text links (not navigation links) that link to other pages in your site. Because of the way we develop websites, this is only important if you have pages that aren’t displayed in the navigation because your navigation is the first link on the page and it is text and it is accessible by search engines.
If the page is hidden from the navigation, then the text links count as it will be the first link on the page.
How to make internal links in Javelin CMS
In any module with a text editor, highlight the text you want to make a link and click the “Insert/edit link” button. Copy and paste the URL of the specific page into the dialogue, then delete everything from “http://” to “.com” (or .net or .org). Doing this will make the link work no matter what your domain is.
Good Internal Link
- Link Text: See our special on self-sealing boxes
- Link URL: /products/specials/box-123
Bad Internal Link
- Link Text: click here
- Link URL: http://bobsboxemporium.com/products/specials/box-123
URL Structure
URL is an technical term referring to your website domain and how you get to the pages within it. An SEO friendly URL structure follows two rules: 1) it’s short and 2) it contains keywords.
Keywords closer to the domain name are ranked higher than those farther away.
URL Structure Example
Bad URL Structure
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Good URL Structure
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There’s another advantage to having shorter URL structure, you’re more likely to have people share the link when it’s shorter and easy to see exactly where you are being linked to.
How to create a URL structure in Javelin CMS
Javelin uses the original page name when the page was created, separating individual words with hyphens.
Click Depth
Click depth has to do with how “deep” your site is and how “buried” pages are in the structure.
Important pages/keywords should be top level pages, less important pages/keywords should be sub-pages nested beneath those.
Click Depth Example
Top level pages receive more attention than second level pages, second level pages receive more attention than third level pages, and so on.
Top Level Pages
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Second Level Pages
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Third Level Pages
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How to manage click depth in Javelin CMS
In the site map, adding a page will create a top level page. Click the “add page” button to the side of any top level page to create a sub-page directly beneath the top level.
Finally
Relax. You don’t have do do all this. Just be aware of it and strive to start achieving some SEO goals.
Remember, having perfect on-page optimization doesn’t guarantee a top-ranking on any search engine. It helps, but what is really important is having a site that people want to come back to, and that they want to share with others. It’s a good idea to constantly update your content. An easy way to do this is to start an industry-specific blog to share what people should know about what you do.