In more detail
On-page SEO sits between technical SEO (can search engines access the page?) and off-page SEO (what do others think of it?). It focuses on whether a page is the best answer for the searches it targets.
Typical on-page work includes:
- Content and intent: making sure the page answers what searchers actually want, with depth and accuracy. See search intent.
- Title tags and headings: clear, descriptive and specific to the page
- Meta descriptions: accurate summaries that may be shown as snippets
- Structure: logical headings, short paragraphs, lists and tables where they help
- Internal links: to and from related pages, with descriptive anchor text
- Images: descriptive file names and alt text, compressed for speed
- Structured data: where it accurately describes visible content
- URLs: readable and stable, as recommended in Google's URL structure guidance
Google's SEO starter guide covers most of these basics. It also notes that some commonly cited tactics, such as keyword density or meta keywords, don't help.
Why it matters when hiring an agency
On-page improvements are often the fastest route to better rankings for pages that already sit on page two or three, because the page already has some authority. Ask agencies how they'll choose which pages to work on first. A data-led answer uses Search Console to find pages with impressions but weak positions or click-through rates.
Be wary of on-page work described only in checklist terms ("we'll optimise 20 pages a month"). Ask what will change on each page and why.