Page by page.

On-page website optimization is work on what people and robots see on a page: headings, meta tags, text, links and markup. It is most often what separates a page in 15th position from a page in the top 5, and you can get through it on your own in a few days.

Below are six steps in the order we carry them out on projects, and the mistakes we come across most often. This is the basic stage of what is called SEO optimization, and any improvement of pages should start with it.

What on-page optimization is

On-page optimization means adjusting page content so that the search engine understands exactly which query the page answers. Its goal is page relevance, that is, a match between what is written and what a person is looking for. It is part of what is called search engine optimization (SEO), and without it the rest of the work does not pay off.

How it differs from technical optimization

The technical side makes sure the website opens, gets indexed and loads quickly: response codes, robots.txt, sitemap, speed. It is checked by a technical website audit, while on-page work deals with the content itself.

How it differs from off-page optimization

Search SEO optimization is divided into three levels, and the off-page level is links, mentions and reviews on other platforms. You cannot fully control it, while the on-page level is entirely in your hands.

What it includes

On-page work covers:

• H1-H6 headings;
• title and description meta tags;
• page structure and text optimization;
• internal linking between pages;
• Open Graph and structured data.

What it does not include

Loading speed, server configuration, external links and advertising. They are handled in parallel, but they are separate blocks of work.

Step 1. Page headings

Headings tell the search engine the main topic and the order of subtopics. The right hierarchy helps both the robot and the person who skims the text in 10 seconds. An experienced SEO specialist starts checking a page with them.

H1

The H1 names the topic and contains the main query in a natural form: "Washing machine repair in Moscow," not "Welcome." It does not have to match the title, but it must answer the same query.

H2-H6

H2s divide the text into major sections, H3s and H4s into subsections. It is convenient to phrase H2s as customer questions: "How much does it cost," "How the work goes." H5 and H6 are hardly needed on regular pages.

One H1 per page

Two H1s blur the topic. A common cause is a logo marked up with this tag in the template header.

Hierarchy

Do not skip levels: H2 is followed by H3, not H4. There are styles for large fonts; headings are not used for decoration.

Step 2. Meta tags

Meta tags form the snippet in search results and affect CTR, and therefore traffic, even without rankings going up.

Title

The title is the page's most important text signal. Length: 50-65 characters, with the main query closer to the beginning. Google rewrites inaccurate titles, so the title should honestly describe the content.

Description

The description does not affect rankings directly, but it often makes it into the snippet. The optimum is 140-160 characters with numbers, advantages and a call to action.

How to write

State the benefit: "Repair in 1 day, technician arrives in 2 hours, 12-month warranty." Add a secondary query that is not in the title.

Common mistakes

A list of cities, a repeat of the title, no commercial word on a service page, a phrase cut off in the middle because of length.

Step 3. Page structure

Page structure determines whether people read it to the end and whether the search engine can take a ready answer from it. Alice AI and Google's overviews are more willing to quote clear blocks.

Paragraphs

A paragraph is one idea in 3-5 lines. The first sentence after a heading answers the section's question right away, and the details follow.

Lists

Format steps, requirements and advantages as lists: they are easier to read, and search engines readily pull them into answers.

Tables

A table works for comparing plans, specifications and timelines. An image will not replace it: the robot does not treat text in a picture as a table.

Readability

A subheading every 2-3 screens, bold text in moderation, short sentences. Check the page on a phone: for Google, the mobile version is the main one.

Logic

The order of blocks follows the customer's path: what it is, how much it costs, how we work, why trust us, how to get in touch. Text optimization without this logic turns into a set of phrases.

Step 4. Keywords

Keywords on a page show the search engine which queries to rank it for. They are taken from the semantic core - a list of queries distributed in advance across the website's pages.

Where to use them

Optimizing for SEO requires each query to be assigned to only one page. Within that page, queries are distributed by zones:

• the main one in the title, H1 and first paragraph;
• secondary ones in H2 subheadings and the text;
• long-tail queries in captions and image alt attributes;
• synonyms and topical words throughout the text.

How not to overdo it

Keywords are woven in where they sound natural. Keyword "nausea," that is, the frequency of the most repeated word, signals over-optimization if one word stands out noticeably from the rest.

Occurrences

1-2 exact occurrences of the main query per 5,000 characters are enough. The rest are word forms and rearrangements: "repair price," "repair inexpensively."

Synonyms

Synonyms and topical words broaden coverage and help the search engine understand the context. How to choose them is covered in the article on choosing keywords.

Step 5. Internal linking

Internal linking distributes weight across the website and helps the robot find new pages, and the visitor find the next step.

Internal links

Link from articles to services, and from services to case studies and prices. Every important page should get links from at least 2-3 others.

Anchors

Link anchors describe the target page: "repair cost," not "here." Vary the wording so you do not end up with dozens of identical exact-match anchors.

Where to link

To the pages being promoted, related materials and the customer's next step. Links to URLs with a 404 error or a redirect are replaced.

How many links

For an article of 6-8 thousand characters, 3-6 links in the text are enough. Relevance matters more than the number.

Step 6. Metadata and markup

Metadata and markup do not raise rankings directly, but they control how the page looks on social media and in search results.

Open Graph

The og:title, og:description and og:image tags set the link preview in VK, Telegram and MAX. Without them, the messenger will insert a random image and cut off the headline.

Structured data

Schema.org markup tells search engines the type of content: organization, service, product, article, breadcrumbs, reviews.

What it gives

Rich snippets with the price, rating and site path, as well as a more accurate understanding of the page by search engines and neural networks.

What it does not give

Guarantees: the search engine decides for itself whether to show a rich snippet. Since May 2026, Google has dropped FAQ snippets, so question-and-answer blocks are no longer displayed in its results.

Common mistakes

Most mistakes come from templated work and trying to please the robot instead of the person.

Optimization for the sake of optimization

SEO optimization for search engines rather than for readers produces texts of 10 thousand characters with a keyword in every paragraph. Since 2025, Yandex has considered AI-generated texts without expert proofreading to be of low value, and keyword stuffing still leads to demotion.

Identical titles

The same title on dozens of pages is a typical CMS problem. The search engine does not understand which one to show, and the pages compete with each other.

Empty descriptions

Without a description, the snippet is assembled from a random fragment, often from the website's menu or footer.

Spam in the text

Lists of cities, a keyword in every sentence, hidden text - outdated techniques that today lead to demotion.

Conclusion

On-page work is the most accessible growth lever: headings, meta tags, structure, keywords, links and markup are entirely under your control. It is where the result began in the case about the growth of organic visibility for a corporate website. Competent website SEO optimization first eliminates errors and only then expands query coverage.

The price of website SEO optimization depends on the number of pages and templates: for a landing page it takes a few days, for a catalog, months. At epic name., we calculate the cost of website SEO optimization after an audit, and you can order SEO for your website as a one-off or as part of SEO promotion. The easiest way to order website SEO optimization is with a list of priority pages - that way the work starts with those closest to revenue.