Once a page answers one question in the shape the results expect, on-page SEO is twenty minutes of housekeeping: a title that says what the page answers, one H1, headings that are the reader's questions, a URL a person can read, alt text that describes the image, and links to the topic's other pages. None of it rescues a page that answers the wrong question. All of it helps Google confirm what a good page is about.
Confirmation, not persuasion
I think of on-page SEO as 'confirmation, not persuasion'. You are not convincing Google that the page is about descaling. The page is about descaling. You are making that easy to confirm, in the places Google looks first: the title, the headings, the URL, the images, the links.
The rule: use the words the searcher uses in the places that describe the page, and then stop counting them. The consequence is that most of the old checklist goes. No keyword quota, no forcing the phrase into the first hundred words, no list of synonyms to sprinkle. Google reads subjects, not strings, as step 1 showed, and a page written for a person already contains the words a person would search.
| Element | Do | Drop | Espresso example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title tag | Say what the page answers. Subject early, under about 60 characters | Keyword variations, the year | Single or dual boiler espresso machine: which one for you? |
| H1 | The question, once | A second H1, or a different phrase than the title | Single or dual boiler: which one do you need? |
| H2s | The reader's questions, in order | "Overview", "Step 2", "Conclusion" | Can a single boiler steam and brew at the same time? |
| First two sentences | The answer | A history of espresso | "For one espresso drinker a single boiler is enough. For a household of milk drinks, the dual boiler." |
| URL | Short, readable, the subject | Dates, IDs, five hyphenated keywords | /espresso-machines/single-vs-dual-boiler |
| Meta description | One sentence on what the reader gets. Google may rewrite it | Leaving it empty, or a list of keywords | The practical differences, and which one fits a household that makes milk drinks. |
| Images | A filename and alt text that describe the picture, compressed | IMG_4521.jpg, alt text full of keywords | dual-boiler-steam-wand.jpg, alt "the steam wand of a dual boiler machine" |
| Links | Two siblings in the text, the question as the anchor | "click here", every link to the home page | To the grinder page and the descaling page |
The same page, twice. Keyword-first: title "Best Espresso Machine 2025 | Single Boiler vs Dual Boiler Espresso Machine Guide", H1 "Single Boiler vs Dual Boiler Espresso Machine: Best Espresso Machine Buying Guide", first sentence "If you are looking for the best espresso machine, the single boiler vs dual boiler espresso machine question is…", URL /best-espresso-machine-single-boiler-vs-dual-boiler-guide-2025. Topic-first: title "Single or dual boiler espresso machine: which one for you?", H1 "Single or dual boiler: which one do you need?", first sentence the answer, URL /espresso-machines/single-vs-dual-boiler. Same subject. The second is what a person would write, and Google reads it the way a person does.
Worked example: the old checklist and the short one
The twenty minutes
- Write the title as a person would ask the question, subject first, under about 60 characters. It is the line they click in the results.
- Make the H1 the question, once. It can differ a little from the title. It cannot be about something else.
- Turn the outline's questions into the H2s. If you built the blueprint, this is already done.
- Put the answer in the first two sentences. That passage is also what competes for the snippet and the AI answer.
- Give the URL the subject in three or four words, and never change it without a redirect. An old URL with links is worth more than a tidy one.
- Write a one-sentence meta description. What the reader gets. When Google does not rewrite it, this is your second line in the results.
- Name and describe the images. A filename that says what it is, alt text for someone who cannot see it, a compressed file.
- Add two links to sibling pages in the text, with the question as the anchor. Internal linking has the rest.
- Read the page once as the searcher and cut every word that is there for Google. A sentence that exists to repeat a keyword exists for nobody.
The habits to drop: counting keyword density, forcing the exact phrase into the first hundred words, one page per variation, the year in the title, exact-match anchor text, and FAQ blocks stuffed with keywords. Google reads subjects, not strings. Every one of those habits was built for a machine that could not.
When you need this, and when you don't
You need the twenty minutes on every page you publish, and one afternoon for your twenty most important existing pages. Titles and first sentences are where old pages usually fail.
You don't need schema markup or Core Web Vitals for this. Those are pass-or-fail checks, once, in Technical SEO in an afternoon. And you don't need a snippet strategy. A page that answers in its first two sentences is already in the running.
Next
- Next page: Writing with AI without sounding like AI. The draft itself, and how to split the work.
- SitePerfector's site audit runs these checks across every page you have: SEO audit.