A High Point custom cabinet shop spent $14,000 on a brand-new website last year. It looked beautiful. It also got 23 visitors a month from Google. The reason was simple: the entire site violated nearly every on-page SEO rule that determines whether Google can understand and rank a page. The fixes took two weeks.
What On-Page SEO Actually Is
On-page SEO is the set of optimizations made on the pages of your own website to help Google understand what each page is about and which keyword it should rank for. It is the foundation. No amount of inbound links, social media, or paid advertising will fix a website that is invisible to Google because of basic on-page mistakes.
The On-Page SEO Checklist
- →One target keyword per page. The home page targets your main service plus your city. Each service page targets one specific service plus your city. Each blog post targets one specific question.
- →Keyword in the URL. /kitchen-cabinet-installation-high-point is far better than /services.html or /page12.
- →Unique title tag on every page. Many Triad business sites use the same title tag site-wide ("Welcome to ABC Company"). Each page needs a unique title that includes the target keyword.
- →One H1 heading per page. The H1 should contain the target keyword and describe what the page is about. Do not skip directly to H2s, and do not use multiple H1s.
- →Real text content of at least 300 words. Pages built mostly from images, Flash, or embedded video have nothing for Google to read.
- →Descriptive image file names and alt text. kitchen-cabinets-high-point-nc.jpg, not DSC_4521.jpg.
- →Internal links between related pages. Service pages should link to each other and to relevant blog posts using descriptive anchor text.
The Triad-Specific On-Page Rules
- →Mention your city by name in body content. Pages that mention "Greensboro," "Winston-Salem," or "High Point" naturally in real sentences rank far better for local searches than pages that hide the location in the footer.
- →Include your full street address and phone number on every page. Usually in the footer. This reinforces local relevance.
- →Build a separate page for each service area. A Greensboro plumber serving Winston-Salem and High Point should have a dedicated page for each city, not one "Service Areas" page that lists them all together.
After we rebuilt the High Point cabinet shop's site using the checklist above, monthly Google traffic grew from 23 visitors to over 900 visitors in seven months, with no paid advertising spend.
Read the companion pieces on title tags and meta descriptions and earning inbound links from Triad sources, or have our digital marketing agency rebuild the on-page SEO of your existing website.