On-page SEO is everything you can control on the page itself to help search engines understand your content and help users find what they’re looking for. Unlike off-page SEO (backlinks, domain authority), on-page is entirely within your control — which makes it the most actionable part of SEO for content writers.
Get the fundamentals right on every page you publish and you’re ahead of most websites. The Moz Beginner’s Guide to SEO covers the full landscape if you want to go beyond what’s covered here — it’s one of the most comprehensive free resources on the subject.
Title Tags
The title tag is the text that appears as the clickable headline in search results. It’s one of the most important on-page SEO factors — it tells both Google and searchers what the page is about.
Character limit: Aim for 50–60 characters. Google truncates titles that are too long (typically around 600 pixels wide in results, which works out to roughly 60 characters). Put the most important words first.
Keyword placement: Include your primary keyword, ideally near the front of the title.
Compelling for clicks: The title tag serves double duty — it needs to describe the page for SEO purposes AND be compelling enough to earn the click. Ask yourself: if this appeared alongside nine competitors in search results, would someone click mine?
Examples:
Weak title tag: “Blog | Tips for Writing” (No keyword, not specific, no value proposition)
Strong title tag: “On-Page SEO Guide for Content Writers (Updated 2024)” (Primary keyword, audience-specific, freshness signal)
If your CMS separates “title tag” from the “H1” (page heading), use them for different purposes. The title tag is for search results; the H1 can be slightly different and more expansive.
Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are the short paragraphs under title tags in search results. They’re not a direct ranking factor, but they dramatically influence click-through rate — which does affect rankings over time.
Character limit: 150–160 characters. Longer descriptions get truncated.
What to include:
- A brief description of what the reader gets
- Your primary keyword (Google sometimes bolds it in the results)
- A soft call to action or enticement
Format: Write in active voice, be specific about the value offered, and don’t end mid-sentence (which happens if you exceed the character limit).
Example:
Weak meta description: “Read our article about on-page SEO for content writers.”
Strong meta description: “Optimize every page you publish — title tags, headers, meta descriptions, and internal links explained in plain language for writers.”
Every page on your site should have a unique meta description. Duplicate descriptions across multiple pages look lazy in search results and miss opportunities to match each page’s specific promise.
H1: The Page Heading
The H1 is the main heading on the page — it should appear once, and only once.
Your H1 should:
- Include your primary keyword (ideally near the start)
- Accurately describe the content of the page
- Be compelling to readers scanning the page
The H1 and title tag can be identical or slightly different. Having them match reinforces the keyword signal; having slight variation can help you optimize each for its specific purpose (search display vs. in-page reading).
H2 and H3 Subheadings
Subheadings structure your content and signal topical depth to search engines.
H2 subheadings are the major section breaks. Include secondary keywords and related phrases naturally. Think of each H2 as answering a specific sub-question a reader might have about your topic.
H3 subheadings subdivide H2 sections. Use them when a section has multiple distinct components that benefit from visual separation.
From an SEO perspective, subheadings:
- Signal the topics and subtopics your content covers
- Help Google understand the structure and scope of your content
- Improve “passage ranking” (Google’s ability to rank specific sections of a long page)
- Create potential featured snippet targets (especially for H2s that start with “How to” or “What is”)
From a user experience perspective: most web readers scan before they read. A well-structured heading hierarchy allows scanners to identify the section they need and jump directly to it.
URL Structure
A good URL tells both search engines and users what the page is about before they click.
Best practices:
- Include your primary keyword
- Keep it short — ideally under 5 words in the slug
- Use hyphens between words (not underscores)
- Remove stop words (a, the, is, of) unless they’re essential
- No dates unless the content is genuinely time-specific
Good URL: /on-page-seo-guide-for-content-writers/
Bad URL: /blog/2024/07/22/article-about-how-to-do-on-page-seo-tips-for-writers/
For existing pages, only change URLs if you can implement proper 301 redirects. Changing URLs without redirects breaks links and loses accumulated link equity.
Keyword Density and Natural Language
The concept of “keyword density” — targeting a specific percentage of keyword repetition — is outdated. Modern search engines understand language well enough to assess relevance without counting keyword frequencies.
The practical guidance: write naturally. If you’re writing a 1,500-word article on on-page SEO, the term “on-page SEO” and related phrases will appear naturally several times without any conscious effort to hit a percentage.
What matters more than keyword frequency:
- Using the full vocabulary of the topic (related terms, synonyms, context words)
- Covering the subtopics that the top-ranking competitors cover
- Matching the language your audience uses for the concept
Image Alt Text
Alt text is the written description of an image that serves two purposes: accessibility for screen readers and SEO signals for search engines.
How to write good alt text:
- Describe what the image actually shows accurately and specifically
- Include your primary keyword where it genuinely applies to the image
- Keep it under 125 characters
- Don’t start with “Image of” or “Picture of” — just describe it
Good alt text: "Screenshot of on-page SEO title tag settings in WordPress"
Bad alt text: "photo" or "image1" or "on-page SEO on-page SEO on-page SEO"
Every image should have alt text. Missing alt text is an accessibility issue and a missed SEO signal.
Internal Links
Internal links connect your pages to each other, distributing authority and helping search engines understand your site structure. For on-page SEO, the relevant considerations are:
Anchor text: use descriptive, keyword-rich anchor text rather than “click here” or “read more.” The anchor text tells Google what the linked page is about.
Link from relevant content: link to pages that are genuinely related to the current page. Links in context (within the article body) carry more weight than navigation links.
Link to important pages: use internal links to direct authority toward pages you want to rank better, especially from your highest-traffic existing pages.
Our dedicated internal linking strategy guide covers this in detail, including how to structure pillar pages and topic clusters.
Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are the boxes that appear at the top of some search results, displaying a direct answer to the query. They’re valuable because they provide “position zero” visibility above all organic results.
Content structures that commonly earn featured snippets:
- Definitions (H2 question + short paragraph answer): “What is on-page SEO?” followed by a concise 2–3 sentence definition
- Numbered lists (H2 question + ordered list): “How to optimize a title tag? 1. Include your primary keyword. 2…”
- Tables (comparison questions): structured comparison data
- Short paragraphs (specific question queries): the best concise answer to a “how does X work?” question
To target featured snippets: identify questions your target audience asks, create a clear H2 question heading, and follow it with the cleanest, most direct answer you can write — usually 40–60 words.
Putting On-Page SEO Together
On-page SEO is most effective when applied consistently across every piece of content you publish. Build it into your production workflow so it’s automatic rather than retroactive.
Before every publish, verify:
- Title tag under 60 characters with primary keyword
- Meta description 150–160 characters, compelling, keyword included
- H1 present and unique on the page
- Primary keyword in first 150 words
- H2s cover the topic comprehensively
- All images have alt text
- 2–4 internal links to relevant related content
- URL is clean and keyword-included
Combined with the broader content writing principles in our complete guide to writing SEO content that ranks, this on-page checklist covers everything that’s within your control as a content writer.