{"id":164004,"date":"2023-08-10T21:35:34","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T02:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?page_id=164004"},"modified":"2025-11-13T10:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T15:46:12","slug":"on-page-seo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/on-page-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"On-Page SEO: How to Optimize for Robots and Readers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[MAIN_CONTENT]\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">On-page SEO is the process of optimizing blog posts and website pages to improve their search rankings and AI visibility.<\/div>\n<p>On-page SEO is important because small changes to your page can have a big impact on its rankings, traffic, and visibility in&nbsp;AI.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s an example of one of our blog posts climbing 7 places in the search results after changing a single word in the&nbsp;title:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1493\" height=\"1162\" class=\"wp-image-175840\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-1.jpg 1493w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-1-546x425.jpg 546w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-1-768x598.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1493px) 100vw, 1493px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">Tip<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\"> On-page SEO refers to the improvements we can make directly on our page. Anything that helps with search performance but can\u2019t be changed directly on our page is called <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/glossary\/off-page-seo\">off-page SEO<\/a>.<\/div><\/div>\n<p>On-page SEO is like icing on a cake. To get the most from it, you need helpful, accurate content that matches the intent of the keyword you\u2019re targeting. (We have a guide on this topic <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/seo-content\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-content\/\">in the previous chapter<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>And on-page optimization isn\u2019t just about getting more visibility in search engines.<\/p>\n<p>Now, people use AI to get their questions answered.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the best practices that help you rank well in search now <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/geo-is-just-seo\/\">also help you appear in AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meaning, your on-page SEO is as important as&nbsp;ever.<\/p>\n<p>With that taken care of, here are some practical on-page tweaks that can help you rank higher and get more search traffic performance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"1. Include your target keyword in relevant places\" data-section=\"target-keyword\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_wbamkf7dqp0k\"><\/a>1. Include your target keyword in relevant places<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Including your target <strong>keyword<\/strong> within key elements of your page will help Google, AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini, and your readers, understand what the page is&nbsp;about.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1877\" height=\"1505\" class=\"wp-image-175841\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-2.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-2.jpg 1877w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-2-530x425.jpg 530w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-2-768x616.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-2-1536x1232.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1877px) 100vw, 1877px\"><\/p>\n<p>But search engines now understand <strong>topics<\/strong> and <strong>user intent<\/strong> much better than they used&nbsp;to.<\/p>\n<p>Meaning, SEO is not just about repeating one exact keyword anymore.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s about covering topics comprehensively, and matching what users are searching.<\/p>\n<p>This is even more crucial for AI visibility\u2014AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity were built to understand the relationships between words and topics.<\/p>\n<p>For that reason, they prioritize content that <a href=\"https:\/\/metehan.ai\/blog\/chatgpt-is-using-reciprocal-rank-fusion-rrf\/?s=09\">covers subjects thoroughly<\/a> when generating their responses.<\/p>\n<p>What is the core topic of your&nbsp;page?<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve figured that out, make sure you clearly signpost it in the places search engines and LLMs will&nbsp;look.<\/p>\n<p>That means your target keyword <em>should<\/em> still appear in key places to build that topical relevance\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Page title<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>URL<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Main header<\/strong> (H1)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Subheaders<\/strong> (some of your H2s, H3s,&nbsp;etc.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Intro paragraph<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u2026but your content also needs to cover related concepts and answer common user questions.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-190883\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/questions-in-Ahrefs-Keywords-Explorer.jpg\" alt width=\"1720\" height=\"1414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/questions-in-Ahrefs-Keywords-Explorer.jpg 1720w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/questions-in-Ahrefs-Keywords-Explorer-517x425.jpg 517w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/questions-in-Ahrefs-Keywords-Explorer-768x631.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/questions-in-Ahrefs-Keywords-Explorer-1536x1263.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1720px) 100vw, 1720px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"2. Use header tags to structure your page\" data-section=\"header-tags\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_um7idzld1n6x\"><\/a>2. Use header tags to structure your&nbsp;page<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>HTML header tags help Google and AI assistants understand the content on your pages, and break it up into logical, easily skimmed sections for readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Header tags look like this\u2014&lt;h2&gt;Header goes here&lt;\/h2&gt;\u2014in your page\u2019s code. You can use the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo-toolbar\">Ahrefs toolbar<\/a> to quickly see how header tags are used on a&nbsp;page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"836\" height=\"560\" class=\"wp-image-175842\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-3.png\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-3.png 836w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-3-634x425.png 634w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-3-768x514.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As a general guide, try&nbsp;to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Use one &lt;h1&gt; tag per page<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use &lt;h2&gt; tags for your page\u2019s main points.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use &lt;h3&gt; tags (and beyond) for sections that support your main points<\/strong>, like examples or related ideas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As an added benefit, good use of subheadings will improve the readability of your content, making it easier to see, at a glance, what each section is&nbsp;about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1478\" class=\"wp-image-175843\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-4.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-4.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-4-460x425.jpg 460w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-4-768x709.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-4-1536x1419.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"3. Write a compelling title tag\" data-section=\"title-tag\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_548fk6rut8eg\"><\/a>3. Write a compelling title&nbsp;tag<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Title tags are often the main piece of information audiences use when deciding whether or not <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/advanced\/appearance\/title-link\">to click on your site<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Google rewrites title tags <a href=\"https:\/\/zyppy.com\/seo\/title-tags\/google-title-rewrite-study\/\">61.6% of the time<\/a> (most often for titles that are very short or very long). But these are usually small changes, and Google still uses <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7356991147728064512?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7356991147728064512%2C7357444238667571200%29&amp;dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287357444238667571200%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7356991147728064512%29\">your original title<\/a> during the process of ranking, so it\u2019s worth spending time making it as compelling as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to that, your page title tags can influence how an AI recognizes and references your brand in conversations.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few tips for writing titles:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Keep them short<\/strong>\u2014under 70 characters is best to avoid truncation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Match search intent<\/strong> \u2013 tell searchers you have what they&nbsp;want.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Harness the <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-write-a-headline\/\"><strong>curiosity gap<\/strong><\/a>\u2014but don\u2019t create misleading clickbait that isn\u2019t reflective of the article\u2019s contents.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Include the keyword<\/strong>\u2014or a close variation if it makes more&nbsp;sense.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Include the year for topics that demand freshness<\/strong>\u2014like <em>tax allowance 2026<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Do something to stand out<\/strong>\u2014show a sense of humour, or respond to other articles in the&nbsp;SERP.<\/li>\n<li><strong>If in doubt, use the ABC formula<\/strong>\u2014adjective, benefit, confidence booster.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190853\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-4.png\" alt=\"On-page SEO Title optimization example showing the evolution from &quot;10 SEO Tips&quot; to &quot;10 Easy SEO Tips for More Traffic (Tried and Tested)&quot;. The breakdown shows three components: &quot;Easy&quot; highlighted as the Adjective, &quot;for More Traffic&quot; highlighted as the Benefit, and &quot;(Tried and Tested)&quot; highlighted as the Confidence Booster.\" width=\"1800\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-4.png 1800w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-4-680x131.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-4-768x148.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-4-1536x295.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\"><\/p>\n<p>You should set a title tag on every indexable page. If you like, you can use <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Ahrefs\u2019 <strong>Site Audit<\/strong><\/a> to find pages with title tag issues like being empty or too long. Once you\u2019ve signed up and crawled your site (<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">it\u2019s free<\/a>), go to the <strong>Content<\/strong> report to check for issues.<\/p>\n<p>Here we can see 226 page titles that are too long, and at risk of getting truncated:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190854\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-5.png\" alt=\"Two pie charts in Ahrefs Site Audit showing title tag analysis. Left chart &quot;Title tag setup&quot; shows 2,464 pages with &quot;Only one&quot; title tag (nearly 100% in green). Right chart &quot;Title length distribution&quot; shows 2,178 pages with optimal length (15-70 characters) in green, 226 pages too long (>70 characters) in red, and 60 pages too short (<15 characters) in yellow.\" width=\"1976\" height=\"652\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-5.png 1976w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-5-680x224.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-5-768x253.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-5-1536x507.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1976px) 100vw, 1976px\"><\/p>\n<p>To save some time, you can generate your title tags at scale using Patches in Ahrefs Site&nbsp;Audit.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190855\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-6.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Site Audit interface showing &quot;Batch AI&quot; modal dialog for generating titles and meta descriptions. The dialog shows options to generate titles (checked) or meta descriptions (unchecked), with settings to process 1000 pages per batch. Options include keeping existing drafts or overwriting them with AI recommendations. \" width=\"1451\" height=\"915\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-6.png 1451w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-6-674x425.png 674w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-6-768x484.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1451px) 100vw, 1451px\"><\/p>\n<p>Further reading: <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/title-tag-seo\/\">What Are Title Tags? How To Write Them for&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"4. Write an engaging meta description\" data-section=\"meta-description\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_alorajo0sv1k\"><\/a>4. Write an engaging meta description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Meta descriptions <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/blog\/2009\/09\/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag\">aren\u2019t a ranking factor<\/a>, but they can bring more clicks and traffic. This is because Google uses them for the descriptive snippet in the search results <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/meta-description-study\/\">37.22% of the time<\/a>. The rest of the time, they use other content from the&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n<p>For that reason, there\u2019s no need to obsess over crafting perfect meta descriptions for every page. Just focus on writing good ones for important pages, like your homepage or those that get lots of search traffic. Here are a few writing tips:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Keep them short<\/strong>\u2014under 160 characters is&nbsp;ideal.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Expand on the title tag<\/strong>\u2014include extra information that your title doesn\u2019t contain.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Match search intent<\/strong>\u2014double down on what searchers want.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use an active voice<\/strong>\u2014address the searcher directly.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Include your keyword<\/strong>\u2014Google often bolds these in the results.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Meta descriptions have long been a fundamental on-page SEO factor, but they still matter today\u2014even when it comes to AI visibility.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7339191681256177664\/\">ChatGPT selects<\/a> the best source to cite for its response based on the content\u2019s:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>URL<\/li>\n<li>Title<\/li>\n<li>Snippet (usually the <strong>meta description<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Ranking position<\/li>\n<li>Metadata (like publishing date)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>All of these, bar #4, are examples of on-page SEO factors you should absolutely still be paying attention to in&nbsp;2025.<\/p>\n<p>To batch-create meta descriptions for all your other pages, try Patches again.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190856\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-7.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Site Audit interface showing &quot;Meta description too short&quot; issue with a table displaying affected URLs, their organic traffic, HTTP status codes, meta descriptions, and a &quot;Patch it&quot; feature where users can edit meta descriptions directly, with options to draft, publish, or modify the content.\" width=\"1591\" height=\"815\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-7.png 1591w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-7-680x348.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-7-768x393.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-7-1536x787.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1591px) 100vw, 1591px\"><\/p>\n<p>The tool will generate thousands of options for you to use or remix to your heart\u2019s content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"5. Set SEO-friendly URLs\" data-section=\"url\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_eqx1c32p49ct\"><\/a>5. Set SEO-friendly URLs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s helpful to use a short, descriptive URL structure highlighting the core topic of the page. As Google explains in its <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/fundamentals\/seo-starter-guide#use-descriptive-urls\">SEO starter guide<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cParts of the URL can be displayed in search results as breadcrumbs, so users can also use the URLs to understand whether a result will be useful for&nbsp;them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190857\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-8.png\" alt=\"Google search result snippet showing an Ahrefs blog post titled &quot;Programmatic SEO, Explained for Beginners&quot; with the URL path highlighting &quot;programmatic-seo&quot; in the breadcrumb navigation. The snippet describes programmatic SEO as creating keyword-targeted pages automatically.\" width=\"990\" height=\"235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-8.png 990w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-8-680x161.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-8-768x182.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 990px) 100vw, 990px\"><\/em> There are some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/pankaj-kumar-b21177170_seo-garyillyes-aioverviews-activity-7355582113762459648-vr7y?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAABoEm7QBekJrKEnvC5H6nTAmYwOb4R1k5GE\">theories<\/a> that keeping your URLs short and clean can positively impact your visibility in AI,&nbsp;too.<\/p>\n<p>We recommend using your target keyword as the URL slug, like we do throughout the Ahrefs blog:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-315\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-315 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-720px\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Page Title<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Target Keyword<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">URL Slug<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-agency-software\/\">SEO Agency Software (My Tried and Tested Tools)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">seo agency software<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">\/blog\/seo-agency-software\/<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/franchise-seo\/\">Franchise SEO: Local and National Growth Strategies for Franchises<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">franchise seo<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">\/blog\/franchise-seo\/<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-trends\/\">SEO Trends 2024: Separating Fact From Fiction<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">seo trends<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">\/blog\/seo-trends\/<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-promote-your-blog\/\">How to Promote Your Blog (There Are Only Three&nbsp;Ways)<\/a><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">how to promote your&nbsp;blog<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">\/blog\/how-to-promote-your-blog\/<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<p>Adding your keyword to your URL won\u2019t magically boost search performance, but it will build the reader\u2019s confidence that your page is relevant to their&nbsp;query.<\/p>\n<p>(And make your life easier when you come to update your old content and can\u2019t remember what the target keyword was.)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190858\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-9.jpeg\" alt=\"On-page SEO SEO best practices illustration showing URL structure comparison. Header states &quot;Short, descriptive URLs are best for SEO&quot;. Two examples: top URL &quot;https:\/\/domain.com\/734\/834753956756&quot; marked as &quot;Bad&quot; with red X, bottom URL &quot;https:\/\/domain.com\/mens\/shirts\/&quot; marked as &quot;Good&quot; with green checkmark.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1028\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-9.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-9-661x425.jpeg 661w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-9-260x166.jpeg 260w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-9-768x493.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-9-1536x987.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>When choosing your URL, it\u2019s a good idea&nbsp;to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Avoid including dates (unless they\u2019re essential).<\/strong> <em>\/best-seo-tools-2026<\/em>&nbsp;makes sense this year, but it will send the wrong message to searchers if you want to update your article next&nbsp;year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t worry about function words. <\/strong>Words like <em>for, and, <\/em>or <em>to <\/em>can be safely left out of your&nbsp;URL.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make URLs simple and readable. <\/strong><em>domain.com\/article\/keyword-research-guide<\/em> is better than <em>domain.com\/2026\/03\/21\/article-keyword-research.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"6. Add internal links in useful places\" data-section=\"internal-links\">\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_fzyelbugcsa1\"><\/a>6. Add internal links in useful places<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<\/div><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Link to relevant pages on your website, if you have them. <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/glossary\/internal-link\">Internal links<\/a> help visitors navigate your website and increase the odds that they\u2019ll find the information they need\u2014but there are benefits for SEO&nbsp;too.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190859\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-10.png\" alt=\"A screenshot of different types of hyperlinks in an article\" width=\"796\" height=\"587\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-10.png 796w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-10-576x425.png 576w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-10-768x566.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\"><\/p>\n<p>Internal linking helps search engines and AI crawlers find all the pages on your website, understand what each page is about (and how they relate to one another), and highlight the pages you <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/internal-links-for-seo\/\">believe to be the most important<\/a>. These links also help pass <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-pagerank\/\">link authority<\/a> between your&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n<p>When adding internal links:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Use relevant anchor text<\/strong>\u2014but keep it natural and don\u2019t keyword stuff your anchors.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Link to your most important pages<\/strong>, like your product and service pages, or your best blog&nbsp;posts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use the <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-hub\/\"><strong>hub-and-spoke model<\/strong><\/a> to ensure that your most important \u201chub\u201d pages receive the link authority they deserve.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can use Google\u2019s <em>site: <\/em>search operator to quickly find relevant pages to link to. Search your website for your target keyword (in brackets to find exact matches), and Google will show every indexed page that features the keyword:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190860\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-11.png\" alt=\"Google search results page showing a Google Search Operator site: specific search for &quot;on-page seo&quot; within ahrefs.com\/blog. \" width=\"1673\" height=\"1029\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-11.png 1673w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-11-680x418.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-11-768x472.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-11-1536x945.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1673px) 100vw, 1673px\"><\/p>\n<p>Or you can automate the process using Ahrefs\u2019 <strong>Site Audit<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Go to the <strong>Internal link opportunities<\/strong> report<\/li>\n<li>Enter the URL of your newly-published page in the search box<\/li>\n<li>Choose \u201cSource page\u201d from the dropdown<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hit enter, and you\u2019ll see a list of recommended internal linking opportunities.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190861\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-12.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Site Audit interface showing &quot;Internal link opportunities&quot; section. The platform displays filtering options with an ahrefs blog in the source page field. \" width=\"1384\" height=\"726\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-12.png 1384w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-12-680x357.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-12-768x403.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1384px) 100vw, 1384px\"><\/p>\n<p>For example, here the report is suggesting that I link from our post on <em>toxic backlinks<\/em> to our guide on <em>bad links<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190862\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-13.png\" alt=\"A table in Ahrefs Site Audit, Internal Linking report, showing internal linking opportunity with source page &quot;https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/toxic-backlinks\/&quot;, and a bolded suggestion for hyperlinking the words &quot;bad links&quot; to the target page &quot;https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/bad-links\/&quot;.\" width=\"1950\" height=\"178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-13.png 1950w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-13-680x62.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-13-768x70.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-13-1536x140.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1950px) 100vw, 1950px\"><\/p>\n<p>Internal links can also help search-integrated AI assistants find related topics and information to shape their responses.<\/p>\n<p>Learn about the ins and outs of internal linking in our full guide: <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/internal-links-for-seo\/\">Internal Links for SEO: An Actionable Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"7. Add external links\" data-section=\"external-links\">\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_mj4p4zm1i69m\"><\/a>7. Add external links<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<\/div><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=58zaiOx7TM4&amp;t=25s\">Google says<\/a> linking to other websites is a great way to provide value to your&nbsp;users<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>External linking is also a good idea whenever you want to cite information from elsewhere on the web, or send the reader to an authoritative third-party source of information.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>We do this all the time on the Ahrefs blog:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":175854} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1132\" height=\"698\" class=\"wp-image-175854\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-15.png\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-15.png 1132w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-15-680x419.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-15-768x474.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1132px) 100vw, 1132px\"><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Over time, some of your external links will break as the linked page is redirected or deleted, creating a bad user experience. You can find and fix these broken links using <strong>Site Audit<\/strong>: just set up a regular crawl of your website, and monitor the <strong>Pages with broken links <\/strong>issue in your crawls.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":175855} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1778\" height=\"1254\" class=\"wp-image-175855\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-16.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-16.jpg 1778w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-16-603x425.jpg 603w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-16-768x542.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-16-1536x1083.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1778px) 100vw, 1778px\"><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"8. Optimize your images\" data-section=\"images\">\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_we5xk9ngxgyw\"><\/a>8. Optimize your images<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<\/div><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Images from your pages can rank in Google image search, appear in AI search results, and send more traffic your&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n<p>You need to do three things to optimize them:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Compress your images. <\/strong>Compressing images makes file sizes smaller, leading to faster load times. Plenty of tools exist for doing this. ShortPixel is a good option.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use descriptive filenames.<\/strong> Google says that filenames give them clues about the image\u2019s subject matter.[9] So dog.jpg is better than IMG_859045.jpg. As a rule of thumb, be descriptive, be succinct, and don\u2019t stuff keywords.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use descriptive alt text<\/strong>. The main purpose of alt text is to improve accessibility for visitors who use screen readers, but Google also uses alt text (alternative text) to understand the subject matter of an image.[9] This is an HTML attribute that looks something like this:<em> &lt;img src=\u201chttps:\/\/yourdomain.com\/puppy.jpg\u201d alt=\u201cpuppy\u201d&gt;<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Alt text helps AI and search engine crawlers understand what\u2019s in your images, so that they can better rank or cite your content.<\/p>\n<p>You can use the <strong>Images report<\/strong> in Ahrefs\u2019 <strong>Site Audit<\/strong> to check your site for images with missing alt text (and flag a host of other possible optimization opportunities, like oversized images):<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190865\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-16.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Site Audit showing on-page SEO alt attribute distribution with a pie chart displaying 62.97% images with alt text (green) and 37.03% missing alt text (yellow). Below this is a bar chart showing file size by image subtype, with PNG files being most common, followed by JPG, with small amounts of SVG and GIF files. File sizes are categorized as light (<100KB), medium (100-500KB), large (0.5-1MB), and too large (>1MB).\" width=\"1105\" height=\"1176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-16.png 1105w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-16-399x425.png 399w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-16-768x817.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1105px) 100vw, 1105px\"><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"9. Fill your content gaps\" data-section=\"content-gaps\">\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_cehym2slvg52\"><\/a>9. Fill your content gaps<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<\/div><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>You can often improve your ranking by filling any \u201ccontent gaps\u201d in your article: important information that other articles cover, but you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Adding new sections to include this missing information can help you rank for extra <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/long-tail-keywords\/\">long-tail keyword variations<\/a> and improve your ranking for your primary keyword.<\/p>\n<p>This is important for AI visibility, too.<\/p>\n<p>When someone asks ChatGPT about \u201chealthy breakfast ideas\u201d, the AI doesn\u2019t just match keywords. It uses a process called \u201c<strong>query fan-out<\/strong>\u201d to generate questions like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>What is a healthy breakfast?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Why is breakfast important?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>What foods should you avoid in the morning?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>How can you make breakfast quickly?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>What are examples of healthy breakfasts?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even if it doesn\u2019t rank highly, content that answers <a href=\"https:\/\/metehan.ai\/blog\/chatgpt-is-using-reciprocal-rank-fusion-rrf\/?s=09\">many related questions<\/a> is more likely to be cited by AI than a single high-ranking page.<\/p>\n<p>Our <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/ai-content-helper\"><strong>AI Content Helper<\/strong><\/a> helps you spot gaps in your content, based on what\u2019s already ranking.<\/p>\n<p>Here we just added a published URL, and the target keyword.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190866\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-17.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs AI Content Helper tool interface showing input fields for &quot;Target keyword&quot; (filled with &quot;SEO Basics&quot;), &quot;Article URL&quot; (showing ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-basics\/), location set to United States, brand kit set to Ahrefs, and a &quot;Create document&quot; button.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-17.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-17-680x399.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-17-768x450.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-17-1536x901.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>The <strong>AI Content Helper<\/strong> then scored the article based on how well it covered the overarching topic.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190867\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-18.jpg\" alt=\"Ahrefs AI Content Helper showing &quot;SEO Basics: Beginner's Guide to SEO Success&quot; with content score of 79. The interface displays article content covering SEO fundamentals, with sections on &quot;What is SEO?&quot;, &quot;Why is SEO important?&quot;, and &quot;What are the benefits of SEO?&quot;. The right sidebar shows topics including &quot;Introduction to SEO&quot; (90 score) and &quot;Keyword Research&quot; (74 score).\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1047\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-18.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-18-680x348.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-18-768x393.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-18-1536x785.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>This tool is useful for improving both search <strong>and<\/strong> AI visibility.<\/p>\n<p>It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/thinkingslow_tip-if-you-want-to-optimize-your-content-activity-7341461334921732098-QAVH\/\">uses the same mechanics<\/a> as AI models to interpret your content, and score topic coverage out of&nbsp;100.<\/p>\n<p>Then it suggests subtopics that can be included to further enrich the article.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190868\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-19.jpg\" alt=\"Ahrefs AI Content Helper interface showing an SEO content editor for &quot;SEO Basics: Beginner's Guide to SEO Success.&quot; The main content area displays article text with sections on SEO fundamentals. Right sidebar shows topics panel with content score of 79, word count of 2.5K, and various SEO-related topics like &quot;Introduction to SEO&quot; (90 score) and &quot;Keyword Research&quot; (74 score).\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-19.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-19-680x417.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-19-768x471.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-19-1536x943.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>You can switch on the \u201cHighlights\u201d function to make specific topic-level line edits, and watch your score change in real-time.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190869\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-20.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs AI Content Helper with highlighting feature enabled (shown by toggle switch). The content displays the same SEO basics article but with key phrases highlighted in orange throughout the text. The right sidebar shows the same topics panel with scores, and the highlight feature appears to emphasize important SEO concepts and terms within the article content.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-20.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-20-680x419.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-20-768x473.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-20-1536x947.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"10. Show off your experience and expertise\" data-section=\"experience\">\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_yhp3cqrbwkuq\"><\/a>10. Show off your experience and expertise<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<\/div><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Google\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/blog\/2022\/12\/google-raters-guidelines-e-e-a-t\">quality rater guidelines<\/a> encourage authors to demonstrate \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/eeat-seo\/\">EEAT<\/a>\u201d in their content: <em>expertise, experience, authoritativeness, <\/em>and <em>trustworthiness.<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>These guidelines are used by Google\u2019s quality raters, and although they\u2019re not a direct ranking factor, they give a clear indication of the type of content Google aims to reward in its search results. You can emphasize your EEAT in a few different ways:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:list -->\n<ul><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li><strong>Show relevant expertise in your author bio. <\/strong>This is especially important for so-called YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics: medical content should be reviewed by medical professionals, investment advice by accredited investors, and so&nbsp;on.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li><strong>Include expert quotes.<\/strong> When your expertise isn\u2019t enough to be authoritative on the subject, seek out quotes and feedback from people who <em>are <\/em>experts (especially in fields that require specific certifications and qualifications, like healthcare or accountancy).<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li><strong>Get hands-on with your topic.<\/strong> If you\u2019re writing about brewing espresso, actually go and brew a few hundred shots. Reviewing free CRM software? Download, install, and spend a few hours with each option. If you aren\u2019t willing to go to these lengths, there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ll be beaten by someone who&nbsp;will.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li><strong>Show evidence. <\/strong>Prove to readers (and Google) that you did the thing you\u2019re talking about: add experience to your author bio, and include original photographs and videos of your experience.<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><\/ul>\n<!-- \/wp:list -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":175863} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"492\" class=\"wp-image-175863\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-24.png\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-24.png 1024w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-24-680x327.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/word-image-175839-24-768x369.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Here\u2019s an example of an author bio demonstrating relevant expertise for the article topic.<\/em><\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"11. Optimize for zero-click search\" data-section=\"zero-click-search\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190849-_wcqt95ja92n0\"><\/a>11. Optimize for zero-click search<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Now that users have access to instant AI answers like <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/featured-snippets\/\">Featured Snippets<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ai-overviews\/\">AI Overviews<\/a>, and AI Mode, clicks and traffic are disappearing fast\u2014this is known as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/zero-click-search\/\">zero-click search<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>But getting your site featured in AI responses can still help you get your brand seen by more people.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no surefire way to win these features\u2014ranking well generally is still the most important thing.<\/p>\n<p>But, as a general rule of thumb, if your article contains similar text to the response generated by zero-click features, you\u2019ll have a better chance of appearing in&nbsp;them.<\/p>\n<p>For example, writing in <a href=\"https:\/\/seonotebook.notion.site\/Introducing-SnippetBrain-1248c368519180ce8de5fee211e300b2\">declarative sentences<\/a> and opening with your key point early in the article can&nbsp;help.<\/p>\n<p>Rich answers like AI Overviews and Featured Snippets are meant to provide simple, concrete answers, so they look for text that offers a simple, concrete answer to cite\/rephrase.<\/p>\n<p>One possible way to increase your presence in AI Overviews is by learning from competitor pages that are already being&nbsp;cited.<\/p>\n<p>Just search your competitor\u2019s domain in the AI Responses of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/brand-radar\">Ahrefs Brand Radar<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190871\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-22.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs AI responses report in Ahrefs Brand Radar showing &quot;Cited domain > Contains > semrush.com entered as filter criteria. Additional options for adding rules and groups are visible with &quot;Apply&quot; button at bottom.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"965\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-22.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-22-680x320.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-22-768x362.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-22-1536x724.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>Then, add a negative \u201cDoesn\u2019t contain\u201d filter for your own domain\u2014this way you\u2019re seeing which AI Overviews your competitors are being referenced that you aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>In this example, we filtered down even further to find valuable, bottom-of-the-funnel queries, by adding a filter for the keyword \u201cTool\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190872\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-23.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs AI responses report in Ahrefs Brand Radar showing &quot;Cited domain > Contains > semrush.com&quot; and &quot;Cited domain > doesn't contain > ahrefs.com&quot; and &quot;query > contains > tool&quot; entered as filter criteria. Additional options for adding rules and groups are visible with &quot;Apply&quot; button at bottom.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-23.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-23-680x322.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-23-768x363.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-23-1536x727.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>We were left with 56 keywords, including one with fairly strong <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-rank-for-keywords\/\">Business Potential<\/a> for Ahrefs: competitor traffic analysis tool.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190873\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-24.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs AI responses interface showing search results for &quot;competitor traffic analysis tool&quot; with 56 results. \" width=\"2048\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-24.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-24-680x259.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-24-768x293.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-24-1536x585.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>By studying the pages that typically get cited, we can optimize our on-page SEO to compete for that search feature.<\/p>\n<p>In this example, we found that a newly published tool list and two landing pages were referenced\u2014each featuring the keyword in their&nbsp;H1.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190874\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-25.png\" alt=\"Text snippet explaining that cited pages are either tools lists or competitor analysis landing pages, followed by three highlighted links: &quot;Competitor Analysis Tools 2025: Best Picks for Every Budget&quot; from optinmonster.com, &quot;Competitor Analysis Tool: The AI-Powered Website Spy&quot; from similarweb.com, and &quot;Website Competitor Analysis Tools&quot; from semrush.com.\" width=\"1938\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-25.png 1938w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-25-680x220.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-25-768x249.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-25-1536x498.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1938px) 100vw, 1938px\"><\/p>\n<p>We checked our own content archives on the topic of \u201cCompetitor analysis tools\u201d and found an outdated (2024) tool list, and a weakly themed landing page.<\/p>\n<p>So, we can take this to mean that we either need to update our old tool list or re-theme our landing page around the focus keyword, if we want to win that AI search citation.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"12. Get rich results with schema markup\" data-section=\"rich-results\">\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_56yao14d0hbz\"><\/a>12. Get rich results with schema markup<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<\/div><\/div>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Schema markup is a type of code you can add to your pages to help search engines and AI assistants understand the meaning and structure of your content.<\/p>\n<p>This can lead to <strong>rich results<\/strong> in Google: enhanced search listings that include extra information like ratings, step-by-step instructions, or&nbsp;FAQs.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190875\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-26.jpg\" alt=\"Comparison showing how Google uses schema markup to display rich results. Left side shows a product listing for &quot;Bose QuietComfort 45&quot; headphones with rich snippets including 4.1 star rating, 165 reviews, \u00a3279 price, and &quot;In stock&quot; status, labeled &quot;With schema markup&quot; with green checkmark. Right side shows the same product without rich features, labeled &quot;Without schema markup&quot; with red X.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"890\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-26.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-26-680x296.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-26-768x334.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-26-1536x668.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>Both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seroundtable.com\/schema-llms-copilot-bing-microsoft-39093.html#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20big%20debate,Microsoft%20Bing%2C%20said%20they%20do\">Google<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seroundtable.com\/schema-llms-copilot-bing-microsoft-39093.html#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20big%20debate,Microsoft%20Bing%2C%20said%20they%20do\">Microsoft<\/a> confirm that structured data, like schema markup, is important for AI search, and may help LLMs correctly interpret your page content.<\/p>\n<p>Think of schema markup as a label that tells search engines, \u201cHey, this part is a question and this part is the answer,\u201d or \u201cThese are steps in a process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here are some useful types of schema markup to consider:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>FAQPage schema:<\/strong> Use this when you include a short Q&amp;A section answering common beginner questions. It helps AI search tools and Google identify and reuse your answers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>HowTo schema:<\/strong> Great for step-by-step instructions. Makes your guide more useful in visual search features and voice assistants.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article or Organization schema: <\/strong>Helps show who wrote the content and why they\u2019re credible\u2014useful for building trust and authority.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can learn more about the different types of schema, and how to apply them using our guide: <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/schema-markup\/\">Schema Markup: What It Is &amp; How to Implement It<\/a>.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"13. Improve user experience\" data-section=\"ux\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190849-_d46vux8gim42\"><\/a>13. Improve user experience<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Google considers<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/intl\/en_uk\/search\/howsearchworks\/how-search-works\/ranking-results\/#:~:text=that%20you%20see.-,Usability%20of%20content,-Our%20systems%20also\"> how users interact<\/a> with your pages when determining rankings.<\/p>\n<p>This is called \u201cuser experience\u201d, or \u201cUX\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Good UX is also important for AI visibility, since AI systems prioritize content that\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/how-llms-interpret-content-structure-information-for-ai-search\/544308\/\"> easy to read and well-structured<\/a> when generating their responses.<\/p>\n<p>To rank your pages, Google takes into account a set of \u201cpage experience signals.\u201d These include (but are not limited to):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Core Web Vitals (CWV)<\/strong> (in other words, whether the page is fast enough and stable).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Security<\/strong> (whether the page connects via&nbsp;HTTPS).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mobile-friendliness<\/strong> (Google uses the mobile version of your pages for indexing and ranking).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoiding intrusive interstitials<\/strong> and dialogs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can keep an \u201calways-on\u201d check of your Core Web Vitals in Ahrefs Site&nbsp;Audit.<\/p>\n<p>Just head to Site Audit &gt; Performance report &gt; and look out for CrUX metrics.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190876\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-27.jpg\" alt=\" Ahrefs Site Audit dashboard showing Core Web Vitals performance for desktop devices. Key metrics include 140 pages with CrUX metrics (-70 change), 4 pages with poor CrUX performance (-6 change), and 11 pages with poor Lighthouse scores (-24 change). Two pie charts show CrUX performance distribution (121 good, 15 needs improvement, 4 poor) and Lighthouse score distribution (883 good, 880 needs improvement, 11 poor).\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1107\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-27.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-27-680x368.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-27-768x415.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-27-1536x830.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>Here are some other steps you can take to improve your on-page UX.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190849-_kcp09xndpm8s\"><\/a>Make your content easy to read and navigate<\/h3>\n<p>Use short paragraphs, clear headings, plenty of white space, and design your content layout with your target audience in mind\u2014for example, a technical blog should look different from a lifestyle site.<\/p>\n<p>For landing pages, guide users toward your goal with content and visuals that support rather than distract from your message.<\/p>\n<p>And make sure you optimize site-wide\u2014not just the odd&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190849-_xdsk22jodhwq\"><\/a>Don\u2019t forget technical on-page SEO<\/h3>\n<p>Technical factors also directly impact your page\u2019s ability to provide a good&nbsp;UX.<\/p>\n<p>Search and AI crawlers, for example, can scan your website more easily when it has a clean technical structure.<\/p>\n<p>Your <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/seo-basics\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-basics\/\">web hosting quality<\/a>, server-side caching, and site architecture can also affect how quickly your pages load and how easily crawlers can access your content.<\/p>\n<p>Tools like <a href=\"https:\/\/pagespeed.web.dev\/\">PageSpeed Insights<\/a> can help you spot technical issues that might be impacting UX and holding back your rankings.<\/p>\n<p>Check out our guides to learn&nbsp;more:<\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/core-web-vitals\/\">What Are Core Web Vitals (CWVs) &amp; How To Improve Them<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/first-input-delay-fid\/\">First Input Delay (FID) \u2013 Defined, Measured, &amp; How to&nbsp;Fix<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/largest-contentful-paint-lcp\/\">Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) \u2013 Defined, Measured, &amp; How to&nbsp;Fix<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/cumulative-layout-shift-cls\/\">Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) \u2013 Defined, Measured, &amp; How to&nbsp;Fix<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/mobile-seo\/\">Mobile SEO: 10 Optimization Tips to Build a Mobile-Friendly Site<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3><a id=\"post-190849-_r8aaubn7awit\"><\/a>Make your content accessible to search and AI crawlers<\/h3>\n<p>Websites need to be accessible to bots, as well as people.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/always-on-audit\/\">Ahrefs\u2019 \u201calways-on\u201d Site Audit<\/a> lists out when AhrefsBot last crawled each page of your site\u2014AhrefsBot sees what all other bots&nbsp;see.<\/p>\n<p>Running a full crawl with AhrefsBot will show you what search and AI crawlers might encounter when they get to your&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n<p>This will help&nbsp;you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure all your key pages return 200 OK (no broken links).<\/li>\n<li>Fix any issues in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/robots-txt\/\">Robots.txt<\/a> or Meta Robots that say \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/glossary\/noindex-tag\">noindex<\/a>\u201d or block important content.<\/li>\n<li>Find orphan pages with no internal links, and reference them from related articles, category pages, or navigation menus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190877\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-28.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Site Audit Overview dashboard displaying four key metrics in pie chart format\u2014with the largest pie chart showing &quot;HTTP status codes distribution&quot; with Success 2xx (7,685), Redirect 3xx (987), Client error 4xx (98), Server error 5xx (7), and Timeout (5) responses.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"928\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-28.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-28-680x308.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-28-768x348.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-28-1536x696.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>You can also view \u201cContent changes\u201d in the Top Pages report of Ahrefs\u2019 Site Explorer tool to find and refresh outdated content\u2014it\u2019s proven that both search bots and <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/do-ai-assistants-prefer-to-cite-fresh-content\/\">AI assistants prefer fresh information<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190878\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-29.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Site Explorer showing &quot;Top pages&quot; with filters applied, including &quot;Traffic: Declined&quot; filter. The interface displays comparison options (Previous 3 months highlighted) and shows pages with declining traffic. An &quot;Update opportunity&quot; column shows content change recommendations.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"898\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-29.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-29-680x298.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-29-768x337.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-29-1536x674.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"14. Monitor your on-page SEO performance\" data-section=\"monitor\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-190849-_u9kzl8bairuj\"><\/a>14. Monitor your on-page SEO performance<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>So, you\u2019ve made on-page changes like updating title tags or adding internal links.<\/p>\n<p>Now you need to track whether these optimizations are actually improving your performance.<\/p>\n<h3>Track how your optimized topics are ranking<\/h3>\n<p>After updating your title tags and headings with your focus topics, use <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/rank-tracker\">Ahrefs Rank Tracker<\/a> to see if those specific pages are growing in terms of Share of Voice and traffic.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190879\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-30.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Rank Tracker showing overview with &quot;Tag: Is On-page SEO&quot; filter applied. Graph shows share of voice and traffic trends over time with recent uptick.\" width=\"1525\" height=\"929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-30.png 1525w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-30-680x414.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-30-768x468.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1525px) 100vw, 1525px\"><\/p>\n<h3>Measure traffic changes to optimized pages<\/h3>\n<p>Use <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\">Ahrefs Web Analytics<\/a> to check if your optimized pages are getting more organic traffic.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s free, privacy-friendly, and much easier to use than Google Analytics 4.<\/p>\n<p>Look at traffic trends before and after your on-page changes to see what\u2019s working.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190880\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-31.gif\" alt=\"Ahrefs Web Analytics gif showing click+drag date selection on a trend chart listing &quot;total views&quot; and &quot;unique visitors&quot;\" width=\"1252\" height=\"720\"><\/p>\n<h3>Check user behavior on updated pages<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s not just about traffic. After improving factors like content structure or mobile-friendliness, monitor metrics like bounce rate in Google Search Console or <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\">Ahrefs Web Analytics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190881\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-32.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Web Analytics dashboard showing 30-day performance metrics from June 29 to July 28. Two line graphs track bounce rate (purple line around 77%) and visit duration (yellow line around 8 minutes) over the time period, with a tooltip showing data for Monday, July 28, 2025.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1084\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-32.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-32-680x360.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-32-768x407.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-32-1536x813.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p>If people are staying longer on your optimized pages, that\u2019s a good sign your changes are working.<\/p>\n<h3>Track your performance in AI search results<\/h3>\n<p>Check if AI assistants like ChatGPT or Google\u2019s AI Overviews are beginning to reference your site&nbsp;more.<\/p>\n<p>You can use <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/brand-radar\">Ahrefs Brand Radar<\/a> for this. For example, you can search your brand name in AI Overview responses, and track whether mentions have increased following specific on-page optimizations.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-175839-_8c0vb2vnzrlc\"><\/a>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>When you optimize your headers, fill content gaps, and demonstrate expertise, you\u2019re making it easier for algorithms to confidently recommend your&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n<p>The difference now is that Google isn\u2019t your only target\u2014you\u2019re also competing for citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI assistants.<\/p>\n<p>That said, the core on-page factors haven\u2019t changed. The tactics above will stand you in good stead for visibility in both search engines and AI assistants.<\/p>\n<p>If your visibility doesn\u2019t improve, it\u2019s worth trying to update or strengthen your content again.<\/p>\n<p>We do this all the time on the Ahrefs blog, and we\u2019ve had good results from updating or even completely rewriting content.<\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/boost-traffic-with-ai-content-helper\/\">How I Boosted Traffic by 72% With Ahrefs\u2019 AI Content Helper<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ahrefs-for-content-marketers\/#see-competitor-content-updates\">My 5 Favorite Ahrefs Use Cases for Content Marketers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/evergreen-content\/\">Evergreen Content Explained: 2 Key Ingredients for Success<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Below, you can see an example\u2014organic traffic grows and stays fairly consistent following regular updates (the green circles represent content changes!):<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-190882\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-33.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs Site Explorer chart showing organic traffic growth over time from August 2023 to August 2025. The graph shows steady upward trend with notable increases marked by arrows, reaching peaks around 1K monthly organic traffic. Multiple data points are marked along the timeline with green circles and yellow arrows showing consistent updates and upward growth pattern.\" width=\"1094\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-33.png 1094w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-33-680x259.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/word-image-190849-33-768x293.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1094px) 100vw, 1094px\"><\/p>\n<p>The key is to stay consistent with your on-page optimization\u2014small, regular improvements compound over time to deliver outsized visibility gains.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[MAIN_CONTENT] On-page SEO is important because small changes to your page can have a big impact on its rankings, traffic, and visibility in&nbsp;AI. Here\u2019s an example of one of our blog posts climbing 7 places in the search results after<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":132730,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-guide.php","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[413],"coauthors":[457,412,336,464],"class_list":["post-164004","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-page-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>On-Page SEO: How to Optimize for Robots and Readers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On-page SEO is the process of optimizing blog posts and website pages to improve their search rankings. Here&#039;s how.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/on-page-seo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On-Page SEO: How to Optimize for Robots and Readers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Writing that robots rank and readers respect.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/on-page-seo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-13T15:46:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/social_EN.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"990\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Learn all about it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ahrefs\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/on-page-seo\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/on-page-seo\\\/\",\"name\":\"On-Page SEO: How to Optimize for Robots and Readers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/on-page-seo\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/on-page-seo\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/social_EN.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-11T02:35:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-13T15:46:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"On-page SEO is the process of optimizing blog posts and website pages to improve their search rankings. 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