One of the reasons that those new to SEO often hit the buffers before they even start, is they become overwhelmed trying to understand every single aspect of it. Admittedly, SEO is a big subject, but as with any other, the sensible way to approach it is by breaking it down into its component parts.
This applies perfectly when considering how to optimise pages within a website design. Instead of trying to tackle everything at once and going round in circles, the required actions can be placed within 7 different categories, and then be planned for accordingly.
These 7 elements of on-page optimisation are:
Bot/Spider Friendly
If you want your website to rank, its pages need to be crawled by the search engine bots and spiders. If the underlying data structure hinders, rather than helps this, then what they send back will not be the full picture. Correct URL structures and redirects set up correctly will help, as will having your website hosted with a reputable hosting company.
Keyword Optimisation
This involves making sure that not only do your website pages have the correct number of keywords but also that they are used in the appropriate places such as the title and the first paragraph. Also, the keywords should not merely be the list that your keyword software churned out. Instead, thought should be given to descriptive keywords and those that match user intent.