Here are the 18 On Page SEO Best Practices we follow. Every part of the On Page SEO Best Practices formula must be relevant to the other.  Each element builds on the other to build a strong optimized site.

1. Each page of the web site should have one theme and all keywords should be relevant to that theme. (i.e. Do not have keywords about car repairs on a page about bicycle repair.) Don’t try and jam 5 or six topics onto one page, keep it simple.

2. The URLs of dynamic, database-driven pages should look simple, static and contain keywords.

Ideally the keyword phrase should be the last phrase in the URL. Filenames and directory names include targeted keywords. The URL shouldn’t contain extraneous directories. Separate words in URL with hyphens, not underscores. Search engines read hyphenated words as separate words as opposed to underscores which search engines take to mean to include the entire phrase. (i.e bicycle-repair is treated as two words while bicycle_repair would be treated as one phrase.

3. Each page should have a unique title tag containing the relevant keyword phrase for that particular page only. Page titles should start with your targeted keywords and title tags should be no longer than 70 characters. The correct syntax for a title meta tag is: Keyword Phrase | Company Name |

4. Each page should have a unique keyword rich description meta tag. This description meta tag should be no more than 160 characters with correct sentence structure. Some search engines will use your description in the Search Engine Results so make the copy informational about the content of the page, but avoid sales pitches.

5. Keyword meta tags are not important to Google at all. However Yahoo and Bing (which account for 20 +% of traffic) do pay attention. Keep keyword phrases relevant to the copy on the page and to no more than 8 per page.

6. The Google ranking algorithm dictates that if you’re using an <h1> tag, then the text in between this tag must be more important than the content on the rest of the page. Treat H1 (aka Header tags) as you would a headline to draw people’s (and search engines) attention to the headline and the paragraphs below.

7. The permanent body copy should be contextually sufficient and keyword-rich. The more copy the better and the more opportunity you will have for adding in relevant keyword phrases.

8. Text links should include targeted keywords that point users to pages within the site. For example “For more information on magic shows” as opposed to non-descriptive text, i.e. “Click Here”.

9. Graphics or images used in the site should have descriptive, keyword-rich alternative attributes that are useful for visitors.

10. Graphic or image names should contain keyword phrases, where applicable.

11. Each site should have a properly configured robots.txt file on the home page only. The spiders will only read one robots.txt, so having them on every page does nothing. Do not use a “visit after” meta tag. There is no such recognizable tag.

12. Web site has an XML Site map submitted to search engines.

13. The site should be laid out such that is easy to navigate from one part of the site to the next.

14. The site should be listed in Open Directory (DMOZ.org).

15. The site should have a custom error page (aka a 404 page) with search option.

16. The site should avoid using pop-ups, especially for critical functions such as registering. If the visitor has their pop up blocker turned on then they will not see the pop up.

17. The exact same content must be visible to both users and search engine spiders.

18. Avoid an auto start video or audio playback; give visitors the option to control any media they encounter on your site.

These are the Best Practices we have successfully followed since 1998 and have implemented with great success on many web sites resulting in top rankings for some very competitive keyword phrases.