Keyword Analysis from Ahref – On Page SEO in 2016

On Page SEO in 2016 – In the entire sphere of SEO Campaign, On-Page SEO is typically a major cog. On-page Search Engine Optimization is the practice of optimizing a website with all its individual webpages to make it rank higher on SERP. Optimizing website with all On-page SEO factors help to increase more relevant site visitors in Search Engines. Keywords play a major role in On-page optimization. Placing right keywords strategically on website would help search engine to know what the website is all about. Keyword Analysis plays the most important role in on page seo.

On Page SEO is considered to be the most practical approach for any website owner.

However, the 6 findings in 2M data driven analysis of Ahref points some startling data that makes every SEO expert to consider. So, Keyword analysis should be the very first phase to start with On Page SEO

Pages Rank on Google’s First Page without Exact Keyword

You search a query on search engine and find websites on the front page to choose from. Analyzing these sites for recreating on-page SEO strategy, you see that the searched keyword doesn’t appear on  webpage at all.

Just as an example, “Business Standards” might be the exact keyword in question. Here, the words may or may not be present, and hence you’re left wondering what’s going on. Earlier it meant a lot to have keywords in the title and text. And, it may still be important, but now Google has got smarter enough.

Google’s algorithm can now decipher keywords and text which users type in search box and display results that correlate, but may not be present on the webpage. With Google’s RankBrain and Hummingbird, it has been forthright in all its efforts to get smarter. Though it’s a beginning for these algorithms, but that doesn’t mean that cannot be implemented.

With Semantic Search of Google, Ahref used large data point of 2 million search queries to get clear picture of what On Page SEO looks like for 2016. Many webpages are ranking well on very first page of Google’s SERP despite of not using the exact keyword. These pages are visible on top because they‘re more relevant.

How to use Exact Match Keywords – Keyword Analysis?

As we don’t know the exact weight for all Google’s Ranking signals, the placement of websites on front page can still be mysterious. Trial and Error has taught a lot for SEO experts to consider few methods that might have actually worked well for exact match keywords.

• Keyword in Domain Name – Before the EMD update, keywords in domain name was the major part of Search Engine Optimization to rank higher in SERP Results.
• Keywords in URL – John Mueller from Google quoted saying “Keyword in URL of website is a very small ranking factor”, and the result showed a negative correlation while listing keywords in Website URL.
• Keyword in Page Title – Most SEO Experts put the keyword in Title of page. However, the study says partial keywords can also be used. Catchy title with right keywords might be more useful.
• Keyword in Meta Description – While considering keywords in Meta Description, there is no correlation with Google Ranking. As a matter of fact, many websites have excluded Meta Descriptions. Here, Google will make webpage visible on SERP based on the content used in it.
• Keyword in Headlines – Placement of keywords on Header Tags does not seem to do much apart from having a good user experience. As the study showed, approximately 85% of websites didn’t use exact match keyword in header tags, and 70% didn’t have an H1 tag at all.
• Keyword in Content – The Keyword Analysis from Ahref, 6^th Ahref’s metric says that 75% of webpages ranking in top 10 of SERP scanned didn’t have an exact keyword match anywhere in their content.

Solution –

Google has finally figured the ways out to overcome keyword stuffing and the “best practices” for exact match keywords wherein they are not required. By doing this, the focus still remains on User and not on Search Engine. In case you are making use of headers, then use for user experience and not for rankings. I would recommend you do use header tags for proper structure of webpage, and if the headline should contain keyword, then add it as it may help to scan the website content easier.

On Page Factors Excluding Keyword Optimization –

1. Age of webpage has a very strong correlation for Google Rankings.
2. Have secure Pages using HTTPS for ranking on top of SERP
3. Loading time of webpage
4. Long-form content with relevant information
5. Shorten URL’s tend to perform better
6. Link out to Authority Sites
7. Social Shares

Most Noteworthy – Create the content in most natural way with all relevant information for users without having a focus on SEO. Here, Google is working for best user experience without having a main focus on keyword match.

For keywords used on site with no links, on page factors take prominence to help search engine determine ranking of website or individual webpages. Furthermore, Links out performed a website to solidify higher ranking in Search Engine Result Page (SERP).

User Experience and Page Relevancy are highly important On-Page SEO factors in Google 2016, when compared with keyword optimization.