On-page Relevancy SEO Factors

Published: 12-25-2024
Modified: 03-08-2025
by Wayne Smith

On-page SEO is about content relevancy. Without on-page keyword relevancy, a page does not get displayed by search engines. Pages need to be optimized around a topic or keyword. Backlinks are important for ranking but backlinks themselves can only increase content relevancy.

SEO Factors and Co-factors

On-Page SEO factors include:

• Page title and description
• headlines, with the h1 tag being the most important
• The text of the page, within a paragraph tag
• Above-the-fold content
• Internal Linking

Co-factors increase relevancy but may not qualify a page themselves for search engines. The difference between a co-factor and a factor comes down to weight. For competitive terms, using only factors may not rank the page.

A video as a co-factor, can result in a 400-word page showing up in search, and without the video, the same page would not be served.

Co-factors include:

• Schema can work as both a factor for content embedded on the page and a as co-factor
• Images and photographs
• Video, audio, and other multimedia content
• Interactive content
• Content people search for but are not of a type readable by search engines
• Keywords in the URL
• Responsive Design, Mobile Friendly
• Page speed or performance
• Relevancy of resources and links on the page
• Relevancy embeded content such as images on the page -- Note: relevancy of images comes from the content of the page

Keyword Research

The research for relevant keywords should be done before the page is created. What needs to be known includes:

• SEO Competition: How competitive is the specific search term?
• Semantic Connections: What are the semantically related terms?
• Entity Relationships: What are the parent, child, and related entities?
• User Intent: What is the user intent, as "seen in the search," for the various search term forms?
• What on-page SEO methods are already being used for the various search term forms? And, what SEO methods are not currently being used?
• What pages are on the 5th page of search results and why?
• What gain-of-information can be provided that is not being served by the current search results?

SEO Relevant Terms in Title and Description

Title, Description Metadata

The page title and description used by search engines directly impact the click-through rate of the site. They need to show relevance to the search intent.

Above The Fold Relevancy

Above-the-Fold content optimization

Search engines prioritize the content above the fold, as it’s the first thing visitors see when they land on a page. If this content doesn’t appear relevant, users are more likely to leave and return to the search results.

Navboost: User Engagement SERP Refinement

Engaging page titles, created by researching the pages already in search, improve click-through rates. NavBoost uses this data as well as time on the page, revisits to the page, and navigation search intent to find the page, as signals for SERP refinement.

LEDE ... Above the fold, Early in content, and Predominant

Above the Fold and Keyword Prominence are two key concepts in website design and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The query terms or semantically related terms need to be visible and noticeable within seconds of landing on the page. Generally, this means in both the main headline and the first paragraph or LEDE.

Semantical Related Headlines

The query term for search should be clearly visible in the page title and above-the-fold in the main headline H1 tag. Related terms should be in any additional headlines on the page.

Headlines (H1, H2, H3, et al) for SEO

Additional subheadings qualify the page for semantically related queries. A style often used for Listicals.

Multiple subheadings can also trigger jump links to be displayed in search.

Jump Links Snippet, (TOC in search)

Use keywords in text of page

Keyword Density, an SEO Relevance Factor

A paragraph written using standard grammar rules will have the subject used at least once, often more than once. Semantically related keywords, (or keyword clustering), may be used as the subject of the sentences.

Paragraphs can also be used for entity optimization, or explaining what the subject of the paragraph is in terms of the properties of the subject entity and how it relates to other entities.

Entity Based SEO guide

Structured Schema and On-Page Relevancy

Structured Data Schema

Schema can help frame the content in a number of different ways that help search engines to properly rank the content. Different types of content match different types of user intent. Citations to authoritive sites clairfy the accuracy of information in YMYL search results. Knows about can enhance personalized search. The relationship between pages on the site show breadth, and signal the content is related to the topic of the site.

• Schema includes a "knows about" attribute for the author, offering a point-of-view signal that can enhance personalized search.
  • The "sameas" attribute for social media and authoritive sites where the author has been published can be used to enhance personalized search.
• The "has part," "is part of," "breadcrumbs," and related links clarify child, parent, and sibling entities.
• The "About" attribute clarifies the entities related to off-page resources, such as images, and serves as a factor in determining the page's relevance..
• Mentions clarify a relationship or understanding of the entity but only as a co-factor, not the subject of the page.
• Citations clarify the content is in line with authoritative websites.
• The schema Content type helps align the page with what users are searching for.
  • Local Business and Organization Schema: for maps and local search.
  • Product Schema: for purchase intent.
  • Event Schema: for what is happening near me.
  • Recipe Schema: for recipes.
  • The Review content type is for pages that provide detailed information about a product, service, business, or make comparisons. These pages don't need to be formatted for a featured snippet and can offer valuable new insights.