What is on-page SEO, and does a web developer do it?

Owners often assume their new website is “SEO ready” because the developer said so. But on-page SEO covers many tasks, and not all of them are part of a typical build. Knowing what is included helps you ask the right questions and avoid gaps.

Here is what on-page SEO means, who usually does each part and how to check it.

What on-page SEO includes

Google’s title link guidance and snippet guidance explain how titles and descriptions are used.

What a developer should do at launch

• Install and configure an SEO plugin or platform settings.
• Set a unique title and description for each main page.
• Use one H1 per page and logical headings.
• Create clean URLs and an XML sitemap.
• Add schema such as Organisation or LocalBusiness.
• Optimise images and page speed.
• Make sure search engines can index the site.

Our WordPress Starter website includes on-page SEO setup as standard.

What usually continues after launch

• Keyword research and new content.
• Improving pages that rank on page two.
• Updating titles based on Search Console data.
• Building internal links as new pages are added.

This ongoing work is often done by the owner, a writer or an SEO service.

How to check on-page SEO yourself

1. Search site:yourdomain.com and read your titles and descriptions.
2. Check each page has one clear main heading.
3. Look for images without alt text using a free checker.
4. Run a speed test on your main pages.
5. Use our schema generator to add structured data.

Example: a gap discovered

A furniture showroom’s new site looked great, but every page had the same title: the business name. The developer had built the site but not set up on-page SEO. Search results showed identical listings, and clicks were low. After unique titles, descriptions and headings were added for each category page, the pages became easier to tell apart in search, and clicks increased. A ten-minute check would have caught the gap at launch.

On-page SEO versus off-page SEO

On-page SEO covers your own pages. Off-page SEO covers signals from elsewhere, such as links from other sites, reviews and mentions. Both matter. A strong on-page setup makes every link and review more effective.

Questions to ask before you hire

Ask your developer which tasks are included at launch: titles, descriptions, headings, sitemap, schema, speed work and redirects. Ask who will write the page content and whether they will review it for search. Ask what reports or checks you will receive at handover. Clear answers mean you know exactly what is covered, and what you need to arrange separately with a writer or marketing partner.