If your page isn’t doing what it should, you don’t need a complicated audit or a weekend blocked out. You need an hour, a bit of honesty, and the willingness to trim what isn’t helping. That’s what this guide is — the quick, no-nonsense version of on-page SEO that makes a real difference without turning your day upside down.
We’re going to move through the things that matter: clarity, structure, relevance, and experience. Not hacks. Not gimmicks. Just the pieces that actually shift a page from “kind of fine” to “quietly performing.” Treat this like a conversation across the table. Read a section. Fix that part of your page. Move on.
Get clear on what the page is actually for
You cannot optimise a page you don’t understand. Most underperforming pages try to do too much or speak to too many people. Before you touch anything else, decide what the page is supposed to accomplish.
Write down one line — the purpose. Something simple like, “This page helps someone understand X.” Keep that line visible as you work. Every change you make should support that purpose. Anything that doesn’t either needs to be cut, rewritten, or moved elsewhere.
This clarity alone fixes more SEO problems than people expect. Google rewards pages that know what they’re about. Readers do too.
Give the page a simple, sensible structure
Your structure is how readers follow along and how Google parses the content. You don’t need a pile of headings. You just need enough for the page to make sense.
Use a clean H1 and a handful of H2s
Your H1 should plainly state what the page covers. No fluff. No clever phrasing that hides the topic. After that, use a few H2s — not ten, not twelve — to mark the big shifts in the conversation.
Inside those, only add an H3 when you truly need a subsection. If a thought can be handled with a couple of paragraphs, let the paragraphs do the work. Over-formatting makes pages harder, not easier.
This is where you step back and make the page feel like a guided path rather than a pile of loosely connected ideas. A handful of headings is enough to make it intuitive without looking like a technical manual.
Fix the essentials: title tag, meta description, URL, intro
These pieces tell people — and search engines — what they’re getting into. You don’t need to overthink them, but you do need to be intentional.
A good title tag sounds click-worthy to an actual human. It should match the tone and promise of the page. Keep it short enough not to break in the results. Your meta description should make someone stop scrolling for half a second and think, “Alright, this might help.” One or two clean sentences are enough.
Your URL should be simple and readable. Strip out the clutter, numbers, and unnecessary words. And your intro should get to the point quickly: acknowledge the problem, promise the outcome, and lead them into the content without a long warm-up.
These may look small, but they shape a reader’s expectation before they even land on the page — and Google pays attention to those signals.
Improve the content itself
Once the frame is set, you move into the substance. This is where pages usually drift: too much noise, too many filler lines, too many paragraphs carrying nothing. We’re going to clean that up.
Read through the page and ask, “If I cut this, would the reader lose anything important?” Anything that doesn’t genuinely help them should go. Keep paragraphs short — two to three sentences. Write like you speak. Make each block of text feel like one clear thought instead of a long run-on explanation.
Add internal links where they truly help someone take the next step. Link to deeper resources. Link to connected guides. Link where a curious reader might want more. And when you reference facts, data, or standards, link out to sources that make you sound grounded, not isolated.
Sort your images while you’re at it: compress them, rename the files, and write simple, honest alt text. You don’t need to go further than that for them to pull their weight.
Finally, fill any content gaps. Look at what pages above you cover. Don’t copy them. Just notice what questions or angles they include that you ignore. Add only what’s genuinely helpful — not what inflates the word count.
Make the page easier to read, then monitor how it performs
People don’t read pages that feel heavy. They skim. They follow clarity. They stick around when the page feels like someone talking to them, not at them. So tighten the spacing. Break up the heaviness. Cut the distractions and filler.
Once you’re done, give the page one slow, deliberate read. Scan your headings, your intro, your links, your flow. Make sure it feels like one consistent voice. Then watch how it behaves over time — impressions, clicks, time on page. You’re not chasing perfection. You’re building something that works and refining it as you go.
This is the whole game: clarity, simplicity, intention. When you do these basics with care, your pages start pulling their weight. Not in loud, dramatic jumps — in a steady, reliable way that compounds over time.