On-Page SEO Australia: The Complete Optimisation Checklist
On-page SEO is the foundation. Before you chase backlinks or create content, every page on your site should be properly optimised. This isn’t optional or nice-to-have. It’s the baseline.
The good news: on-page optimisation is something you can control entirely. You don’t need to convince other websites to link to you or wait for Google to crawl your site. You can improve on-page SEO today.
This guide walks through the complete checklist in a way that’s actionable for business owners who aren’t technical.
1. Title Tags: The Most Important On-Page Element
Your title tag is the headline Google shows in search results. It’s also the text that appears in your browser tab. It’s the single most important on-page SEO element.
Length and Format
Keep titles between 50–60 characters. Any longer and Google truncates them in search results. Any shorter and you’re wasting real estate.
Aim for this structure: Primary Keyword | Secondary Benefit | Brand Name
Example: “SEO Services Brisbane | Organic Traffic Growth | Anitech”
This tells Google what the page is about, hints at the benefit, and includes your brand.
Keyword Placement
Put your primary keyword early in the title. Google weights the first words more heavily. “Best SEO Agency Brisbane” outranks “Brisbane’s Best SEO Agency” for “SEO agency Brisbane” because the keyword appears first.
Clickability Matters
Your title has to make someone want to click it. “Brisbane SEO Services” is informative but boring. “How to Choose an SEO Agency in Brisbane (2026 Guide)” compels clicks.
A/B testing this is hard without tools, but the principle is: specificity and clarity beat generic headlines.
Common Title Tag Mistakes
- Using the same title on multiple pages
- Cramming too many keywords in (keyword stuffing)
- Making it all lowercase (looks less professional)
- Including symbols or characters that don’t render well (e.g., | works; ★ often breaks)
2. Meta Descriptions: The Click Driver (Not a Ranking Factor)
Your meta description is the 145–155 character snippet below the title in search results. Google doesn’t use this for rankings, but it massively impacts CTR.
A compelling meta description increases clicks from the same search position.
Format
Write for humans, not robots. Include:
- What the page is about
- A benefit or reason to click
- A call to action (optional but effective)
Example: “Discover how to audit your website for SEO issues, fix them, and improve rankings. Step-by-step guide for Australian businesses. Start your free audit.”
This tells the reader what they’ll get, why they should care, and what to do next.
Length
Keep it 145–155 characters. Shorter = you’re not using space. Longer = Google truncates.
Common Mistakes
- Leaving the default WordPress meta description (“This is an example of a WordPress post…”)
- Writing to keywords instead of people (“SEO agency Brisbane SEO services Brisbane local SEO…”)
- Being vague (“Learn more about our services”)
- Duplicating descriptions across pages
3. H1 and Header Hierarchy: Structure Your Content
Your H1 tag should be the main topic of the page. Use only one H1 per page—think of it as the page’s primary headline.
Below that, use H2s for major sections, then H3s for subsections. This structure helps Google understand your content hierarchy.
H1 Best Practices
- Include your primary keyword, but naturally (not forced)
- Make it descriptive, not generic
- Keep it under 70 characters
- Use one per page only
Good: “Complete Guide to SEO for Small Business Australia” Bad: “Stuff I’m Ranking For: SEO Agency Brisbane Digital Marketing”
H2/H3 Usage
Each H2 should represent a major topic. Use H3 for subtopics under each H2.
Example structure:
- H1: On-Page SEO Checklist for Australian Websites
- H2: Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
- H3: How to Write Effective Title Tags
- H3: Meta Description Format
- H2: Header Hierarchy
- H3: H1 Best Practices
This structure is easy for Google to parse and helps readers scan the page quickly.
4. Keyword Usage in Body Copy: Natural, Not Stuffed
Your primary keyword should appear in the first 100–150 words of your page. After that, use it sparingly and only when it reads naturally.
There’s no “correct” keyword density. The old rule (“use your keyword 1.5–2% of the time”) is outdated. Modern SEO is about semantic relevance, not keyword count.
The Real Rule
Write naturally. If your target keyword doesn’t fit the sentence, don’t force it.
Good: “On-page SEO is about optimizing the visible and invisible elements of a webpage to improve rankings and clicks.”
Bad: “On-page SEO, including on-page SEO, helps with on-page SEO improvement, so you need on-page SEO services.”
Use synonyms and related terms. If your keyword is “SEO agency Brisbane,” also use “Brisbane digital marketing,” “search engine optimization services,” “local SEO Brisbane.” This is called semantic relevance, and it’s what modern Google cares about.
Keyword Placement Spots
- H1 tag (if it fits naturally)
- First 100 words of the page
- One subheading (H2 or H3) if relevant
- Once or twice in the body copy (if natural)
- Alt text of key images (see below)
That’s it. Don’t force it more than that.
5. Image Optimisation: File Names and Alt Text
Images are often overlooked in on-page SEO, but they matter for accessibility and rankings.
Image File Names
Save images with descriptive names, not defaults.
Bad: “IMG_2341.jpg” Good: “how-to-audit-seo-checklist.jpg”
This helps Google understand the image context.
Alt Text (Most Important)
Alt text describes images for screen readers and appears if an image fails to load. It’s also a place Google looks for relevance signals.
Write alt text for humans first (accessibility), then keep keywords in mind.
Good alt text: “Step-by-step SEO audit checklist for Australian websites” Bad alt text: “image” Keyword-stuffed: “SEO audit checklist Australia SEO services Brisbane digital marketing”
Use alt text on:
- Your feature image
- Important charts or infographics
- Supporting images in your content body
Don’t use alt text on purely decorative images (spacers, borders).
Image Compression
Uncompressed images slow your page down, which hurts rankings. Compress images before uploading.
Tools: TinyPNG, ImageOptim (Mac), or your WordPress plugin (most modern ones auto-compress).
Target: Feature images under 200KB, body images under 100KB.
6. Internal Linking: Connect Your Pages
Internal links help Google understand your site structure and distribute “link juice” (authority) across pages.
Where to Add Internal Links
- In the body copy (when relevant): “For more on keyword research, see our keyword research guide.”
- Related posts sections
- Navigation menus
- Breadcrumbs (if you have them)
Anchor Text Matters
Anchor text is the clickable text in a link. Use descriptive text that tells Google what the linked page is about.
Good: “Read our complete SEO audit guide.” Bad: “Click here” or “Read more”
Use your keywords in anchor text where it fits naturally, but don’t over-optimize. A mix of branded (“Anitech’s SEO services”), keyword-rich (“best SEO agency Brisbane”), and generic (“learn more”) looks natural.
Linking Strategy
- Link from high-traffic pages to pages you want to rank
- Link from general pages to more specific pages (e.g., from your SEO services page to your “SEO for e-commerce” page)
- Avoid creating silos (every page can link to every other page if it’s relevant)
7. URL Structure: Clean and Descriptive
Your URL should be clean, descriptive, and static (not changing).
Good: yoursite.com/seo-agency-brisbane Bad: yoursite.com/?id=284&page=services Also bad: yoursite.com/blog/2026/04/09/seo-agency-brisbane
Keep URLs short and readable. If you see a URL and can guess what the page is about, it’s a good URL.
In WordPress, set your permalink structure to /%postname%/ once and don’t change it. This gives you clean URLs without date stamps.
8. Schema Markup Basics: Help Google Understand Your Content
Schema markup is code that tells Google exactly what your content is about. It’s optional but helpful.
For most Australian businesses, you only need two types:
Organization Schema
Tells Google about your business:
“ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "name": "Anitech Marketing", "url": "https://anitechgroup.com", "telephone": "+61XXXXXXXXX", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "123 Queen Street", "addressLocality": "Brisbane", "addressRegion": "QLD", "postalCode": "4000" } } “
This helps Google show your contact details in search results.
Article Schema
If you’re publishing blog posts, use Article schema to mark it up:
“ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "On-Page SEO Australia: The Complete Optimisation Checklist", "image": "https://yoursite.com/image.jpg", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Mitchell" }, "datePublished": "2026-04-09" } “
Most modern WordPress SEO plugins (Rank Math, Yoast) add this automatically. If you’re using WordPress, check that your plugin is enabled.
For Shopify, Wix, or custom sites, you might need to add schema manually or use a plugin.
9. Page Experience Signals: Speed and Mobile
Google now considers Core Web Vitals (page speed and responsiveness) as ranking factors.
What to Check
Go to Google PageSpeed Insights, enter your URL, and check:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How fast your main content loads
- First Input Delay (FID): How responsive your page is
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Whether page elements jump around while loading
Aim for “Good” on all three. If you see “Poor,” use PageSpeed Insights recommendations to improve (usually: compress images, reduce third-party scripts, enable caching).
Mobile Responsiveness
Your site must work on mobile. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check. If it says your site isn’t mobile-friendly, fix it urgently—most of your traffic is probably mobile.
On-Page SEO Checklist
Before publishing or updating a page, run through this:
- [ ] Title tag: 50–60 characters, primary keyword early, compelling
- [ ] Meta description: 145–155 characters, includes benefit + CTA
- [ ] H1 tag: One per page, includes primary keyword naturally
- [ ] H2/H3 hierarchy: Logical structure, relevant subheadings
- [ ] Body copy: Primary keyword in first 100 words, used naturally throughout
- [ ] Images: Descriptive file names, alt text on important images, compressed
- [ ] Internal links: 3–5 relevant links to other pages, descriptive anchor text
- [ ] URL: Descriptive, under 60 characters, no date stamps or parameters
- [ ] Schema markup: Organization schema on homepage, Article schema on blog posts
- [ ] Page speed: Check PageSpeed Insights; aim for “Good” on Core Web Vitals
- [ ] Mobile: Test on mobile, ensure responsive design
FAQ
Q: Does keyword density still matter? A: No. Write naturally. Google uses semantic relevance, not keyword count. Stuffing keywords hurts more than it helps.
Q: Should I include my keyword in every subheading? A: No. Use it in your H1 and maybe one H2. Forcing it into every subheading looks spammy.
Q: How many internal links should I add? A: 3–5 relevant links per page. More becomes excessive and dilutes link juice.
Q: Can I change my URL after publishing? A: Yes, but set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. Otherwise, you’ll lose rankings.
Q: What if I can’t meet Core Web Vitals scores? A: It’s a ranking factor, but not a dealbreaker. If you’re fast enough (LCP under 3 seconds), you can still rank. Prioritize fixing the most obvious issues first.
Q: Should I use exact match keywords in anchor text? A: Use varied anchor text. “SEO services Brisbane” + “our SEO offering” + “click here” looks natural. Only exact match looks manipulative.
Q: Do I need schema markup to rank? A: No, it’s optional. But it helps Google understand your content and can increase CTR with rich snippets.
Next Steps
Pick one of your top 5 pages and run through the checklist above. Usually you’ll find 2–3 quick wins (better title tag, stronger internal linking, image optimization).
These small improvements compound. Over 3–6 months, diligent on-page optimization raises your baseline ranking potential.
If you want someone to audit your current on-page SEO and identify opportunities, that’s what we do. Book a free 30-minute site review with Anitech. We’ll show you exactly what’s holding you back on-page, prioritize your quick wins, and outline a timeline to implement them.