You can do all your on page Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) manually but if you are using WordPress you can get a WordPress SEO Plugin to help.

On page Search Engine Optimisation is not difficult, it is just that there are a lot of little things that you have to remember to do for each post or page that you generate. Even if you are organised enough to run through a check list this quickly becomes a chore and often is not done, or is not done properly. It is in fact a task which is much better done by software like a WordPress SEO Plugin.

It is well worth doing on page SEO properly because a correctly optimised page or post provides a firm basis for all your other SEO activity. The search engines want to show their users content that is relevant to the term typed into the search box and, whilst there is much more to search engine optimisation, the basic requirement is to ensure the search engine spiders understand what your page is about (what keyword(s) it is targeted at).

To achieve this you need to select a primary keyword (or phase) for the page or post and:

• Include the keyword in the URL (the primary keyword for the site should also be in the domain name).

• Include the keyword in the title and, if possible, in all of the h1, h2 and h3 tags.

• Include a meta description which will entice visitors to the site, including the keyword near the beginning.

• Use the keyword throughout the content and particularly in the first and last sentences.

• Add a graphic and put the keyword in the ALT field.

• Link to other pages on your site.

• Include some external links to trustworthy sites (don't link to dubious sites i.e. those that may engage in SEO practices that the search engines don't like).

This is by no means a definitive list and, of course, you still have to ensure that the content reads well to the human visitor.

You can use a WordPress SEO Plugin (there are several to choose from) to help you set-up your on page SEO and there are also WordPress themes that make it easier.