On-Page SEO Tips & Tacks to jump-start your Google rankings in 2018-2019
SEO On Page Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is no longer an option but a certainty to be incorporated while designing websites to attract existing/prospective users, specifically for Google and Bing among other Search engines.

When you put your query or a specific term on Google Search (or any other search engine), the relevant results for those words/phrases populate the screen. Well, it has been found that users majorly check out the first page results and subsequently the second page results as the Search engine has ranked them higher than other sites.

Experts suggests that Google uses more than 300 factors to establish the hierarchy of results, though they will never disclose them for sure - revealing that would be disastrous as it defeats the purpose of their search engine as well as its reputation of being the one-stop hub of highly-relevant, ideal information.

You may come across the words “Black Hat SEO” wherein unethical methods were used long ago to achieve higher rankings. With the advent of time, Google bots have got extremely smarter and intuitive- well again, this is the age of the matrix; nowadays the bots can easily establish the authenticity and relevancy, more so when they are well-equipped to not only understand text but also images or visuals, thanks to major advances of cutting-edge technology.

SEO is an organic way for higher rankings, where the results rank higher naturally and are easily accessible without resorting to paid ads or monied processes. In today’s era, where websites are the first impression of the organization, you need to implement trendy SEO strategies as the paid ads are quite expensive with search engines companies charging the sky for them.

On-Page and Off-Page SEO optimization are critical in today’s digital era. In this blog, we will delve in to On-Page SEO hacks that will hold you in good stead in 2018 and beyond.

Keyword Research

In the current times, you definitely watch the web for several reasons like obtaining information and performing transactions among other purposes. Generally, you enter some key terms in the search engine text-box to get relevant results.

Imagine entering the text “How to make Pancakes in an hour with ingredients found in Dubai” in the search bar of a search engine. Suppose one of the results displays a recipe for “Chicken broth” under the Cooking Pancakes heading- just doesn’t make sense, right? In general, the key terms or queries you type in the search bar should give you results, which contain information related to your topic. However, when you get results like “Simple way to cook pancakes in an hour- for expats in Dubai” and they show the relevant information like mixing the ingredients available in Dubai and guiding you to cook pancakes in an easy way, it means that the key result is connected to your query on cooking pancakes.

These keywords/ long phrases/ queries help Google bots in displaying the respective results, with a high degree of accuracy. However, avoid cluttering the content with too many keywords- Google bots will understand your ploy easily and it can have an adverse affect on your rankings.

Also, localization plays a major role when it comes to selecting keywords. You need to localize the context of the content. For example, Dubai has a diverse populace of local Emiratis and Expats. Introduce Arabic keywords in conjunction with English terms as your content. Thus, it increases the scope of your business by catering to a wide target audience including both the Emiratis as well as the Expats in your niche.

Finding keywords & long-tail terms using different resources

You will find a plethora of resources on the web, using which you can derive keywords in your niche. A few utilities to derive essential key terms and phrases are listed below (Obviously Listing all the tool-kits is impossible as they number in hundreds or more). Using these options, you will get a fair idea of generating keywords or relevant phrases and questions - making you well-equipped to understand the finer nuances of this process.

Google Search (Latent Semantic Indexing)

Google is a crucial platform where you can get an idea about powerful and potent words in your niche. To obtain a right mix of certain key phrases, enter your queries and relevant terms in Google’s default search box. Then, you can see a few short-and-long tail keywords/phrases that are populated as auto-suggestions. These terms indicate the words/phrases/queries that people generally use to find or link with the desired content, akin to a predictive forecasting pattern.

You can find some essential short- and long-tail phrases on the Google website in the following ways:

Using a Prefix

Type in the search query and then add a (star symbol) before it without any space. Voila! You can see the auto-populated predictive words/phrases that appear in the drop-down as suggestions. In this case, we enter the words Social media following which we add a symbol before it. Predictive queries/keywords/phrases that are commonly and frequently used before the words Social media are populated as suggestions.

Adding a * symbol prefix before search query

Figure 1 - Adding a * symbol prefix before search query

* Using a Suffix

Using a symbol after the search query as a suffix will result in predictive terms/phrases displayed as possible suggestions as shown in Image 2. These terms/words frequently occur after the content used in the search query. In the following image, we can see that we have added a symbol after the words “Social media” in Google Search.

Adding a * suffix to the search query

Figure 2 - Adding a *suffix to the search query

Therefore, words/terms that usually occur after entering the search query content, are displayed as possible suggestions.

In real-time scenarios, use a prefix or suffix to the mix of words pertaining to your niche; Also, use a mix of short terms or long phrases to derive the vital keywords that can be incorporated in the content.

* Key short/long phrases on the base of page

You can also view several terms/phrases at the bottom of the page before the pagination section under related searches as shown in the following image. These predictions illustrate the various suggestions that are quite handy when it comes to seeking relevant results

Google’s Suggestions for the search query term/phrase at base of the page

Figure 3 - Google’s Suggestions for the search query term/phrase at base of the page


The UberSuggest utility is a recent tool that helps generate suggestions for a particular term. Check out this tool on the following website: Neil Patel

Ubersuggest by Neil Patel

Figure 4 - Ubersuggest by Neil Patel

This tool is a best-fit for the idiom “Kill two birds with one stone”. Find the most powerful keyword suggestions using this toolkit- what’s more, it gives you a pan-optic overview of the volume, level of difficultly, competitive intelligence analysis, seasonal trends, and much more.

For example, type in “SEO in UAE”, and you will get the various keyword ideas and the Google SERPs on the Keywords idea page.

Ubersuggest Keyword idea

Figure 5 - Ubersuggest Keyword idea

When you click on the Overview functionality button, it imparts information such as the Search volume, SEO Difficulty, Paid Difficulty, and Cost per Click rate (as shown in the following image)

Keyword Overview

Figure 6 - Keyword Overview

You also get to know if the keyword has potential and will be subsequently handy for the SEO project in your niche.

Keywords Everywhere

Imagine a tool that abstracts the need to switch between your keyword tool and Google Keyword Planner- more so, where you can install it as a browser Add-on for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox; well Keywords Everywhere is the utility that will help you significantly. You can also download the file in Excel, CSV, and PDF formats.

Keyword Everywhere Add-on

Figure 7 - Keyword Everywhere Add-on

Check out this tool on KeywordSeveryWhere


Quora is an awesome platform to find keywords. Just enter a long tail query/question on Google Search, and usually, you will observe a Quora result which on clicking, populates the question and popular answers by users pertaining to that question. Further more, using the filter option, you can further isolate the results to find the most appropriate answer.

For example, enter a question for finding the best SEO site in UAE as depicted in the following image. You will see the Quora question in the populated results. If you click on that result, relevant answers can be seen. This gives you an insight into the user mindset specifically for that location if you filter and isolate to get the most apt answer - kind of a data mine for localization. Various phrases and key terms can be found using this portal.

Moreover, It sheds light on the resolution for that question giving you an inkling of what works in UAE and this can be used for competitor analysis wherein you can see the highest ranking keywords and most likely SERPs.

Quora result for best SEO Service in UAE

Figure 8 - Quora result for best SEO Service in UAE

Relevant questions popped by entering SEO Services in UAE

Figure 9 - Relevant questions popped by entering SEO Services in UAE

Action-plan: ensuring an effective Content structure

The dynamics of the SEO business have changed massively in today’s era. You come across a lot of posts which specify the virtue of text content; however, the “Content is King” concept is passe’. Remember an instance we discussed earlier in line with finding the most apt and quick way to cook a pancake- assume one blog on “How to cook pancakes” gives the recipe for “Chicken broth” instead; this is an error while enclosing the content in the code.

What do you think will happen in this scenario! You will find the blog misleading and go to a different website to search for the relevant recipe (on a lighter note, some will find it amusing and use sarcastic quips in the comments section, you bet they do). Similarly, you too will not read content that doesn’t stay true to the context. This decreases the dwell time and drastically increases the bounce rate - Therefore, “Relevant Content is king” is the new mantra.

Experts have observed a radical shift into interpreting the action of Google Bots. Text-based SEO strategy is no longer the norm. Studies have suggested that the bots are now able to understand Graphics and the enclosing text to verify whether it is suitable for that image. Also. “Pictures speak louder than words”. Therefore, you need to base your strategies on Videos, Info-graphics, and Images with excellent and viable content.

Text-based content strategy

But you surely cannot ignore the basic fundamentals for text content. You would still need to write titles and accurate meta description. To understand the significance of it in real-time, let’s look at the following example:

Title & META Description

Figure 10 - Title & META Description

See a sample code snippet, which showcases the way you need to enter the meta description in you front-end code:

Meta Information sample code guideline

Figure 11 - Meta Information sample code guideline

Figure 10 shows an ellipsis (meaning three dots after the viewed content) which signify that the entire text is not shown; rather it shows only a part of the content. Studies point towards a “Less is More” rhetoric where the Title and the Meta Description should be very concise, thereby enabling the search engine bots to read it effectively in quick time. Do not indulge in keyword stuffing as the Google bots have got smarter due to advanced machine-learning algorithms and are capable of understanding these shady tricks. Keep it as befitting as possible in line with your niche, and refrain from be-fooling the Google bots as it might affect your rankings drastically.

Image- & Infographic-based SEO strategy

Well, you need to incorporate the following On-Page techniques for Infographics and Images to optimize them for SEO.

  • For starters, use phrases containing keywords pertaining to the info-graphics and images as an extension for the URL.
  • Use h1(read Heading 1) as the heading for the info-graphic content; preferably use Alt text for all images and Info-graphics as it helps search engines know what the graphics are all about.
  • Page load speed is a critical field as Google prefers pages that load up quickly and is most likely to recommend them leading to optimal results- meaning Google may not rank a specific page higher if the page takes an era to load.
  • Dwell time on the page and bounce rate are crucial factors. Users will leave the site leading to a high bounce rate if the content enclosing the info-graphics or the image itself is misleading.
  • Remember to include Social media icons, like the ones for Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook to gain higher rankings- it all boils down to the number of social shares, which indicate whether there is value in the image from the user perspective - something that is not only visually-appealing but also apt logically in line with the content and context.

Using the Landing page for Lead generation

“First impression is the last impression” is an adage that you hear frequently from kindergarten to Grad schools and finally,at your Workplace. Similar is the case of a landing page of your website. You don’t want to disappoint your users with a shabby page as it can be a vital factor in deciding conversions from interactions to subsequent sales.

It is a case of function over form. Imagine you buy a high-end car from a premium car manufacturer. Assume that it doesn’t function well and has several breakdown issues. On the other hand, imagine you buy a budget sedan at a price significantly lower than the luxury car. When it comes to performance, it is not only fuel-efficient but also excels in its function and demonstrates ultimate reliability. To infer, the budget car you buy at a lower price is quite dependable but the premium-segment luxury car is a major irritant due to its frequent breakdowns. Obviously, if you had to choose one of the two, you will surely go with something that functions well, making the budget car a feasible option. Same is the case with a website. It may be most-appealing but if it crashes frequently or has bad links, or stalls when you are surfing it, then you face severe repercussions in terms of high bounce rate and lower dwell time. Therefore, function over form is vital when it comes to websites. If your website or web page functions extremely well, it is bound to increase the dwell time and lead to conversion optimization. You can take a look at our Watchtower website, which has a simple, yet effective design but functions well: (Click on the following link for site accessibility - https://www.thewatchtower.com/)

Watchtower.com website

Figure 12 - Watchtower.com website

Implementation without planning can lead to chaos. An ad-hoc approach will be detrimental due to illogical flow and will hardly deliver results. Similarly, before you design a landing page, you need to know the purpose and the goals you can achieve with that web page. These may vary from filling up forms or signing up for a product/service to extract leads from it.

Call to Action

What you do with the generated leads is vital as these leads can be potentially converted into sales. Initially, you obtain the leads and then use conversion optimization hacks to extract meaningful results from it. The strategy to optimize conversions from potential leads is called “Call to Action”. You will observe the different call to action instances visible on the screen in the following snapshot of a website:

Call to action on website

Figure 13 - Call to action on website

Commonly used Call to Action buttons

Figure 14 - Commonly used Call to Action buttons

Rich Snippets and Featured Snippets are two different techniques that helps your SEO projects stand out from the competition. Also, people generally get confused about Rich Snippets and Feature Snippets, thinking that they are the same.

Featured snippets appear on the top of the organic result and usually is displayed in those results, where the user has entered a question or query-type input (usually How-to queries) in the search text-box. Following is an example of a featured snippet:

Featured Snippet

Figure 15 - Featured Snippet

This is quite user-friendly as it helps users determine the best search results for their question-like input, reducing the number of times the users click on several other results for relevant information. A featured snippet is more prominent, has more credibility, and ensures a high degree of traffic. You can use the following tips to ensure that Google gives more preference to host your Featured Snippet information in the search results:


  • Try to ensure that your page is listed in the first page of the results.
  • Studies have suggested that using Question & Answers type of content or a list answering specific How-to questions offer a high degree of probability for your website snippets to get more traction.
  • Using Header tags for the questions makes it more likely to gain precedence over other hacks.
  • Keep the answers concise, I.e. up to 60-65 words and check out the other sites that have been able to get results and incorporate those phrases and style it perfectly (like list styles, bulleted points, or structured tables) to achieve the desired results.

There’s much more to this than the quips jotted here; however, these basic steps are the most common and potential tactics for your website content being displayed as featured snippets.

Rich snippets

Rich Snippets are those snippets that are much more elaborate and display more relevant and catchy information in the search results. Following is an image that showcases the difference between a normal and rich snippet.

Rich Snippet Vs. Normal Snippet

Figure 16 - Rich Snippet Vs. Normal Snippet

If you observe the difference between the Rich and Normal Snippets in the preceding image, ratings and more relevant content can be seen in the rich snippet. It elaborates on additional info such as Reviews.

In rich snippets, there is more detail; like the Machine Part SKU number for an automotive spare part. Minute details such as contact details, localization, and business-specific information are displayed on the screen. Users are able to find crucial information earlier than possible. To counter the challenges of tailoring your content in a particular way (takes too much time), you can use the Schema org portal for creating structural markup. More information on this concept can be found on the following link:

Implementing Localization

Localization is a critical part of SEO implementation, Local Language and location are important in this well-connected world. For example, in Dubai, the local Emiratis and American/European expats use different languages for communication.

Arabic and English are two predominant languages in Dubai and other parts of UAE. However, since Arabic is the preferred language for local residents, even the posts in social media channels such as Twitter are in the Arabic lingo. Therefore, localization plays an imperative role in SEO, especially in countries where the residents are not well versed in English (e.g.- non-native English speakers).

Tweets on Dubai Trends in Arabic & English

Figure 17 - Tweets on Dubai Trends in Arabic & English

Location is also an important aspect in the SEO industry - you know how things vary from country to country and region to region. One man’s poison might be another man’s nectar (not to be taken literally, of course), meaning choices and trends are relative; they vary from place to place and depend on other diverse factors. For example, some cuisine served in America might not be allowed in say various parts of UAE, such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Sharjah. Or say there is no need to wear insulating thermals and woolen fabrics in a tropical city like Hawaii but they are a norm in regions closer to the Arctic circle, such as Finnish Lapland (in Finland).

Moreover, you can list your businesses/services using the “Google My Business” facility, post which your business will reflect in the Google listings. The following screenshot shows the different plumbers in a specific area in Dubai

Google My Business Listings in the Sheikh Zayed Rd., Dubai

Figure 18 - Google My Business Listings in the Sheikh Zayed Rd., Dubai

Voice searches are quite trendy nowadays and a bulk of traffic can be generated through it. Google streamlines its algorithms to make it easier for users to locate information or perform some actions, and voice definitely plays a pivotal role in it. With the world on the cusp of Industrial revolution 4.0 (expected in the year circa 2022), technology will scale several notches above and voice search will no longer be an option; rather, it would be a given.

You need to check out this Forbes post, which helps you gain insight into enhancing your content for Voice search: Forbes post for Voice Search

Site Speed

Today’s era is all about instant gratification and the same holds good for SEO too. Page load time is crucial as you will not stay glued to the monitor waiting perennially for the web page to turn up. Milennials, who make for a majority of the workforce, lean towards anything that is quick and gives immediate results. Do you wait forever when you want to buy something on an e-commerce website? Users will quickly go to some other portal to buy something if they feel like some page is going to take forever to load.

Check out the following post, which explains how you can increase your site speed significantly: Crazyegg

The experts at Crazy egg also have a quick definitive guide to optimize your page load times in 2018-2019: Crazyegg

The web is filled with utilities and tools that perform a speed test for your website. However, some of them are quite intuitive and our personal favorite tool is the UPTRENDS web speed test.

Go to the following web page to make use of this tool: Uptrends

The high points of this tool are:

• Testing from different places across the globe through worldwide web checkpoints

• Testing the desktop website with the option to choose the screen size, bandwidth throttling, and different browsers

• Testing the mobile website, where you can choose the device model and Bandwidth throttling

• Delves deep by loading HTML, CSS, Images and scripts for a web page

We tested the following website of Film District Dubai, a video production setup in Dubai catering locally as well as different places in the UAE. - we used the Amsterdam web checkpoint and the following results were observed in the online report:

Speed test for Film District Dubai

Figure 19 - Speed test for Film District Dubai

Following are the various report attributes on checking the site speed:

  • General Information You can see the Google PageSpeed Score and the other attributes such as Load Time, Location Device, Browser, Size, Requests and connection type (Refer to the following image for the details).

General Info

Figure 20 - General Info

  • Performance improvisation and fixes

Improvisations in Performance

Figure 21 - Improvisations in Performance

  • Waterfall

Waterfall diagrams help present a graphical view of all the web browser resources to present your web page to the users. Moreover, it even depicts the order of the resources being loaded, including the time spent for loading every resource. It sheds light on the hindrances for slow web page load times. It also defines the approach to be taken to fix the issues related to the web page speed. The shorter and skinnier height and width of the waterfall indicates high speed times. Finally, the hierarchy and order of the resource requests can be configured to optimize the speed significantly and therefore, improvise the rendering time. Following is a snapshot of the waterfall diagram generated for Film District Dubai with Amsterdam as a web checkpoint.

Waterfall diagram for FilmDistrict Dubai

Figure 22 - Waterfall diagram for Film District Dubai

You can delve deep into the inner-workings of the Waterfall diagrams by referring to this terrific Moz Blog: You have seen some On-page SEO methodologies to augment your brand visibility. However, it’s not a bible for all tacks or processes, and the learning curve is really steep especially with the technology advances year-after-year. Using plug-ins for creating AMP Pages, Mobile Optimization, and remarkable web design can be a game changer too.

Some of these site design techniques can be found on the previous blog “Quick Hacks to streamline your web design in 2018”.

Finally, we recommend you to check the site periodically to weed out any errors that crop up due to errors or while revamping and appending the website content. There are many SEO-errors that can occur over a period of time.

The SEO Site Checkup tool is an awesome utility to find various problems that rake up and also explain the fixes in case of any discrepancies (SEO Site Checkup). Further more, you can even export the report in PDF format for reporting purposes:



Close Snap-Shot of some of the SEO Site Checkup results

Figure 24 - Close Snap-Shot of some of the SEO Site Checkup results


Now that you know the various methodologies explained in this blog, start implementing the mentioned tips for streamlining the On-Page SEO aspect of your website. There are many more techniques (meaning this post is not a complete Bible for On-Page SEO) but by adopting these different methods, you will surely have a head-start in reinforcing your SEO campaign.

Now that we have an idea about On-Page SEO strategy, let’s delve in the next topic “Off-page SEO hacks in 2018-2019”. More of that on the next blog! So stay tuned on for more :).

The following link sheds light on the various SEO methodologies that are used on a regular basis: SEOLium



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