On page SEO means improving the page itself so that people and search engines understand it quickly. It is the part of SEO you control completely, and it is the task in the week 7 assignment: optimising the homepage and blog post you drafted in week 4. Employers often test it by asking a candidate to review a page and suggest changes.
The main parts of a page
- Title. The title element is usually what appears as the clickable headline in search results. Google's guidance is to give every page a unique, descriptive title, keep it concise, and avoid stuffing keywords or vague labels like "Home". There is no fixed character limit, but long titles get cut off, so put the important words first.
- Meta description. A short summary of the page. Search engines often build the snippet under the title from the page's own text and only sometimes use your description, so write it to summarise the page accurately rather than as a keyword list.
- Main heading. One clear heading at the top, usually the first heading on the page, that tells visitors they are in the right place.
- Opening paragraph. Answer the main question or say what the business offers within the first few sentences, using the main keyword naturally.
- Subheadings. Break long text into sections with honest subheadings. This helps readers on small screens and helps search engines see the structure.