Sample layout. Not a real client.
Trade, city: the problem in one line
- Starting point
- Rank grid before any change
- What changed
- The one or two changes that moved it
- Result
- Rank grid after, and the change in calls
On-page SEO services, tested one page at a time.
A service page can describe your work well and still leave Google unsure which search it answers. I edit one page at a time, starting with the title, and measure each change before repeating it elsewhere.
No long contracts. You talk to Simon.
Map pack: furnace repair La Mesa
A
B
C
- 17 years in SEO
- Engineering degrees
- 85% of clients in San Diego County
- No long contracts
Where service pages lose the search
- Every page title starts with the company name
- The main heading is a slogan, with no service named
- A plugin's green light was treated as finished work
How I test on-page changes
Scientific SEO
- 1 Measure Before any edit, I note one page's position and clicks.
- 2 Change one thing I change one element, most often the title or the opening section.
- 3 Measure again About two weeks after the edit, I compare the page's position and clicks with that record.
- 4 Keep what works I repeat the edits that moved the page up on similar service pages.
What on-page SEO covers
- Title tags and meta descriptions
- Headings and opening sentences
- Service page body text
- Image descriptions and file sizes
- Structured data on the page
- Internal links between pages
How on-page SEO works on a service page
On-page SEO is editing a page’s title, headings, text, images and links until Google and a reader can both tell which one search that page answers. It’s the part of organic SEO you control completely. It’s also the easiest part to test.
The parts of a page and what each one does
The right-hand column lists the fault most typical of home-service sites.
| Element | What it does | Common fault |
|---|---|---|
| Title tag | Names the page in search results and states its topic | Company name first, or one title reused on several pages |
| Meta description | Often shown as the text under the title. Google says it isn’t a ranking signal, but it affects who clicks | Missing, or copied across pages |
| Main heading (the H1) | Tells the visitor they landed in the right place | A slogan where the service should be |
| Images | Show the real work, and give Google text through the alt description | Stock photos with no description |
Titles, and why Google sometimes rewrites them
I usually start with the title, because it’s short, it’s visible in the results and it’s easy to test. A good one puts the service and the place first and the company name last. “Tankless Water Heater Installation in Carlsbad” tells Google and the searcher more than “Home” or “Welcome to Our Website”.
Google sometimes displays a title other than the one you wrote. It may build its own from your main heading or other text when it judges yours a poor description of the page, so I keep the title and the heading in agreement.
What the body of a service page needs
A homeowner wants certain facts before calling, and they have to be written by someone who knows the trade. There’s no word count that Google rewards. A page about electrical panel upgrades earns its place by covering what you know and a general writer doesn’t:
- the signs that the job is needed
- what pushes the price up or down
- whether a permit or utility sign-off is involved, and who handles it
- which cities you take this job in
- how to book, and how soon someone can come out
Which pages should exist at all is a separate question, and it belongs to content for SEO.
Things I won’t do to a page
I don’t repeat a phrase until the text reads badly or paste a block of city names into a footer. Google’s spam policies name keyword stuffing and hidden text directly. I also won’t write one paragraph and swap the city name across thirty pages.
How I test an on-page change
Say an HVAC company in La Mesa has a furnace repair page sitting on the second page of results. I record its position and clicks and rewrite only the title. About two weeks later I check again. If the page moved up, I use the same pattern on similar pages. If it dropped, I put the old title back.
One element on one page, with the rest left alone. Changing the title together with the text and the images would hide which change did the work.
What else decides whether the page ranks
No amount of editing makes up for a site Google struggles to read, or for a competitor with far stronger links. Slow pages are a site speed problem and structured data is schema markup, both technical work. Links between your own pages are site architecture. On a competitive search, a well-edited page may still need links from other sites before it moves.
Also in Organic SEO in San Diego
Questions owners ask
What a result looks like
Every engagement starts and ends with the same measurement.
On-page SEO across San Diego County
- San Diego
- La Mesa
- Carlsbad
- El Cajon
- Vista
- National City
My SEO plugin shows a green light on every page. Is the on-page work done?
No. A plugin checks whether a phrase you typed appears in certain places, such as the title and the first paragraph. It can't tell whether that phrase is one people search, whether another of your pages targets the same search, or whether the text answers the question. The green light means a checklist was satisfied. Whether the page ranks has to be measured separately.
Does the meta description affect rankings?
The meta description doesn't affect rankings directly: Google has said it doesn't use it as a ranking signal. It does often show it as the text under your title, so a clear one can win more clicks from the same position. Google also swaps in other text from the page when it thinks that fits the search better, so I write the description carefully and don't rely on it.
How long should a service page be?
As long as it takes to answer what a homeowner needs before calling, and no longer. Google doesn't reward a word count. A drain cleaning page may be complete in a few hundred words. A page about a full repipe has more to explain: pipe materials, wall access, permits, how long the water is off. I let the customer's questions set the length, and the answers have to be written by someone who knows the trade.
Will changing my page titles hurt the rankings I already have?
It can, which is why I record a page's position first and usually leave the title alone on a page that already ranks well. The real risk is rewriting every title on a site in one pass.
See what your service pages tell Google today.
The titles, headings and opening text of your most important pages are what I check first, so start by sending your website.
- A rank grid showing where you appear, and where you don't
- The technical and Google Business Profile issues that matter most
- What I'd change first, in plain English
Prefer to talk? Call (619) 675-7678, 9am to 6pm.