On-page SEO check,
in plain words.

Titles & summaries

Missing titles are HIGH severity, they're your Google headline. Overlong titles get trimmed with the important words first. Missing summaries are LOW: they don't rank you, but they cost you clicks. Duplicates across pages are grouped so one rewrite fixes them all.

Headings that make sense

Exactly one main heading per page. Zero is confusing, three is chaos. The checker reads your heading order and tells you, simply, what to merge or demote.

Pictures people (and Google) understand

Every informative image needs a one-sentence description, for blind visitors using screen readers and for image search. Decorative images are explicitly left alone.

Words with a point

Very short pages are flagged with context: does this page answer its visitor's question? The fix is never "write 2,000 words", it's add helpful details, examples, or join the page with a sibling.

Markup that matches

JSON-LD schema is validated against Schema.org and checked against what's actually visible on the page. Mismatched markup misleads Google and is flagged.

What on-page SEO covers

On-page SEO is everything you control inside the page itself: the words, the headings, the images, the links to other pages on your site and the markup behind them. Its job is to make two things obvious to both visitors and search engines: what the page is about, and why it is a good answer to someone's question.

It sits between technical SEO, which gets the page found and indexed, and off-page SEO, which builds trust from outside. A technically perfect page with thin or confusing content will not rank, and a brilliant article that search engines cannot read will not either.

Start with search intent

Before writing a word, decide what the searcher wants. Someone typing "best running shoes" wants a comparison. Someone typing "how to tie running shoes" wants steps. Someone typing a brand name wants that brand's site. Look at the results Google already shows for your target phrase, note what kind of pages appear, and make sure your page gives the same kind of answer, only better.

Matching intent matters more than matching wording. A page can use the exact phrase twenty times and still fail because it is a product page for a query that wants a guide. Choose one main topic per page, and give each page its own job.

Titles and descriptions that earn clicks

The title tag is the headline of your search listing. Keep it unique for every page, put the key words near the front, and describe the page honestly. The meta description does not affect rankings, but it can change how many people click. Write one or two sentences that say what the visitor will get. Check both in the free SERP snippet preview before publishing.

Headings that work as an outline

Use one H1 that states the page topic, then H2 headings for the main sections and H3 headings for subpoints. A reader who scans only the headings should understand the structure of the argument. Do not skip levels for visual effect, and do not use heading tags just to make text bigger. Clear headings also help screen readers and give search engines a map of the content.

Writing content that is worth ranking

Google's guidance asks whether content is helpful, reliable and written for people first. In practice that means answering the question completely, giving specific details and examples, showing real experience, and being clear about who wrote the page and why you can be trusted. Cover the follow-up questions a reader is likely to have, and link to sources where facts need support.

There is no ideal word count. Some questions need two hundred words and others need three thousand. Use the free word counter to check length and readability, then judge the page by whether it fully solves the problem. Avoid repeating a phrase just for search engines, and use the keyword density checker to spot accidental over-use.

Images, links and URLs

• Images. Use descriptive file names, write alt text that describes what the image shows, set width and height, compress files and use modern formats such as WebP or AVIF.
• Internal links. Link to related pages using descriptive anchor text. Avoid "click here". Make sure every important page is linked from somewhere sensible.
• URLs. Keep them short, readable and lowercase, with hyphens between words. Avoid unnecessary parameters and dates that will make the page look old.

Common on-page mistakes

• Using the same title or description on many pages.
• Targeting several unrelated topics on one page.
• Writing short, generic text copied from a supplier or another site.
• Hiding important content in images or tabs that never load for crawlers.
• Leaving old, outdated facts on pages that are still ranking.
• Stuffing keywords into headings, alt text and footers.

A simple on-page checklist

1. Confirm the search intent and choose one main topic.
2. Write a unique title and description and preview them.
3. Use one H1 and a clear heading outline.
4. Answer the question fully, with examples and sources.
5. Add descriptive alt text and compressed images.
6. Link to and from related pages with meaningful anchors.
7. Add structured data that matches the page, using the schema generator.
8. Run the free SEO audit to catch anything you missed.

How to prioritise on-page fixes

You rarely have time to fix everything, so start where the effect is largest. First, fix pages that already get impressions in Search Console but have a low click rate, because a better title and description can lift traffic immediately. Second, improve pages that sit between positions four and twenty for a valuable query, since small gains in content depth can move them onto the first page. Third, merge or remove pages that are thin or duplicate, which strengthens the pages you keep.

Leave new pages for last unless they are important to the business. A steady routine of improving one or two existing pages each week will usually beat a large rewrite that never gets finished, and each change teaches you something about what your audience responds to.

Sources

• Google: Title links
• Google: Snippets
• Google: Images

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