Content Optimization

On-page content optimization is not "use the keyword N times." Modern engines understand language; your job is to cover a topic completely, clearly and scannable-y while staying technically unambiguous. This guide covers the body of the page: structure, language, and media.

Heading hierarchy#

Headings are the skeleton machines parse first and users scan first:

One <h1> stating the page topic - usually mirroring the title tag's promise.
<h2>s as chapters, <h3>s as sub-points. Don't skip levels for styling reasons; style with CSS instead.
Make headings informative in isolation. "Step 2: Configure the sitemap" beats "Going further". Heading text is weighted for relevance, drives featured snippet selection, and becomes your table of contents.
Phrase question-intent headings as questions. "How long does indexing take?" matches PAA queries verbatim - an easy AEO win.

Keywords, entities and natural coverage#

The mental shift from 2010-era SEO: engines map text to entities (things and concepts) and measure topical completeness, not keyword density.

Use the primary keyword in the h1, first paragraph, and title - then write naturally.
Cover the related entities a complete treatment would include. A page on "espresso extraction" that never mentions grind size, dose, or temperature reads as shallow - to models and people.
Use synonyms and variant phrasings the way a human expert does. Your secondary keywords from the cluster usually appear naturally as h2/h3 topics.

Readability and structure#

Engines measure user satisfaction; users bail on walls of text. The mechanics of scannable content:

Front-load the answer. Open each section with its conclusion, then elaborate (the "inverted pyramid"). This serves skimmers, snippet extraction, and AI citation simultaneously.
Short paragraphs (2–4 sentences), generous subheadings every 150–300 words.
Lists for steps and criteria, tables for comparisons. Structured formats are disproportionately selected for rich results.
Bold the load-bearing phrases - sparingly.
Write at the simplest reading level the subject allows. Expertise shows in precision, not vocabulary.

Images and media#

Images are content, not decoration - and they carry SEO weight:

<img
  src="/images/espresso-extraction-chart.webp"
  alt="Chart showing espresso extraction yield versus grind size"
  width="1200"
  height="675"
  loading="lazy"
/>

Alt text describes the image for accessibility and for engines (it's also how image search ranks you). Describe, don't keyword-stuff.
Descriptive filenames (espresso-extraction-chart.webp, not IMG_4302.jpg).
Explicit dimensions prevent layout shift - a Core Web Vitals factor.
Modern formats (WebP/AVIF) and lazy-loading below the fold. Next.js's <Image> component handles format negotiation, sizing and lazy-loading automatically.
Original images outperform stock. Original diagrams, screenshots and photos are E-E-A-T evidence and earn image-search traffic and links.

For video, add VideoObject structured data and a transcript - the transcript is indexable content the video alone isn't.

Freshness and maintenance#

Update content when facts change, and surface a visible, honest "last updated" date.
Query deserves freshness: for fast-moving topics, engines boost recently-updated pages. For evergreen topics, stability and accumulating links win instead.
On significant updates, re-request indexing in Search Console to shorten the refresh cycle.

A pre-publish checklist#

□ One h1; logical h2/h3 hierarchy; informative headings
□ Primary keyword in title, h1, first paragraph - naturally
□ Every subtopic in the cluster covered (or linked to its own page)
□ Answer-first paragraphs under question headings
□ Lists/tables where the content is enumerable or comparative
□ All images: alt text, dimensions, modern format, descriptive filename
□ Internal links in and out (next guide)
□ Sources cited; author byline present; date honest

Next: Internal Linking - the most underrated lever in on-page SEO.