Search engine optimization (SEO) can generally be broken down into two broad categories: on-page SEO and off-page SEO. Together, these processes work to improve visibility, increase traffic, and establish a digital presence. Learn more about the differences between on-page SEO and off-page SEO, why they’re essential, and how you can use both in your digital marketing strategy.
On-Page SEO vs. Off-Page SEO
Both on-page and off-page SEO are important for optimizing according to Google’s EEA guidelines, improving your website’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs), and establishing an online presence. Here are some ways they differ:
On-Page SEO
- Site elements that you have physical control over and can optimize.
- It focuses on creating quality content, improving user experience and increasing accessibility.
Off-Page SEO
- Off-site elements that are primarily controlled by consumers and other brands.
- It focuses on building authority, gaining exposure, and gaining trust through backlinks and mentions.
What is On-Page SEO?
SEO is the practice of optimizing your website to help it rank higher in online search results.
When someone performs a search through Google or other search engines, the results displayed are based on the keywords entered, the accessibility of the site, and other factors that drive the search engine algorithm.
SEO relies on organic (non-paid) traffic. To improve their search engine rankings, website owners must employ various SEO techniques.
On-page SEO is exactly what the name suggests: SEO techniques used on the web pages of a site. This is usually done at the time the website is designed, but can always be done at any time later.
On-page SEO includes activities such as:
- Insert the target keyword into the title
- Using internal links
- Optimize headlines
- Using HTML tags (title tags, heading tags, meta description)
- Include images with alternative text
The most important thing to remember about on-page SEO is that it needs to be reviewed and updated on an ongoing and constant basis.
The benefits of On-Page SEO
Expertise, Authority, and Trust (EAT) is the framework that Google uses for websites and pages, and that’s why on-page SEO is so critical. You need your site to show that you are an expert, have authority, and can be trusted.
By focusing on your website’s on-page SEO, you can reap several benefits, starting with improving your overall SEO ranking, especially at the local level. On-page SEO can help increase organic traffic, and when it comes to organic traffic, quality matters. By focusing on attracting visitors who use specific terms to search for products and services, you’re targeting the most desirable group.
On-page SEO increases your online visibility, bringing in new customers who may not have found your business before. By targeting specific audiences with your optimization efforts, you’ll ensure that online users who are in the purchasing decision stage are more likely to find you, improving your chances of making a sale.
Having strong on-page SEO also improves the usability of your website, as you focus on incorporating the types of words, phrases, and images that have the most appeal and address relevant search queries. You’re also building brand authority by demonstrating that your website meets their needs.
For small business owners, one of the biggest draws of on-page SEO is that it is cost-effective compared to other marketing activities, such as paying for ads.
Keep your On-Page SEO up to date
Search engine rankings take into account the last time a website was updated, so if you don’t update it regularly, this can affect your rankings, reducing your chances of people finding your website.
Things evolve quickly with search engines, and algorithms can change at any time, so staying up to date with on-page SEO will help ensure your pages appear current when search engines crawl them.
Keeping your on-page SEO up to date using the right techniques ensures that your website is sending the right signals to the algorithms and that you are maximizing your website’s potential. You can read more about this in our Small Business SEO Guide.
While it’s easy to promote products and services on your website, figuring out how to promote your business beyond your site can be much more challenging. When building a website, strategies for creating strong on-page SEO are often the focus, but the steps needed to improve your off-page SEO are often less clear.
What is Off-Page SEO?
While on-page SEO focuses on what happens on your website, off-page SEO focuses on how you’re building domain authority through the use of things like external links. It’s the culmination of all the different activities you can do online (and not on your website) to improve ranking on search engine results pages.
Off-page activities send signals to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy. Search engines like Google evaluate the quality of off-page SEO activities based on factors like relevance, authority, location, and variety.
The goal is always quality over quantity in off-page SEO. It doesn’t matter how often your business appears online if the sources are not considered reliable.
What makes up Off-Page SEO?
Linkbuilding
Link building is the process of getting your website linked to by other websites. One of the things search engines consider when ranking is how popular your site is, so this is partly calculated based on how many other websites link to yours.
However, search engines do not consider all links to be of equal quality. Factors such as how popular the linking site is, how new the link is, how trustworthy the linking site is considered, the number of other links on the web page, and more all play a role.
Be active online
Another way to build your off-page SEO is to be active online. Whether it’s posting on social media or participating in forums under your brand name, search engines look at how active you are. The more you interact using your brand name, the more you’re contributing to your off-page SEO.
Guest blogging
Guest blogging can also help by helping you establish yourself as a trusted source and building backlinks that direct people back to your website or social media pages.
Listings in business directories
Finally, ensuring that your local and business directory listings are regularly updated is a key aspect of off-page SEO. The more places your business appears online, the better it will rank in search engines.
The benefits of off-page SEO
It’s no secret that consumers are turning to the internet to help them make purchasing decisions, now more than ever. While the right combination of keywords can lead someone directly to your website, there are still countless opportunities for them to find you through other avenues beyond your portion of the web.
When considering the benefits of off-page SEO, the most obvious one is improving your ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher you rank, the easier it will be for people to find your business.
Additionally, higher rankings in a SERP mean better exposure for your business, which can then drive more organic traffic to your website.
Like on-page SEO, off-page SEO helps reinforce your experience and establish brand recognition. The more places people “see” your business, the more likely they are to remember your brand.
All of these activities contribute to establishing domain authority, which is the score that each search engine assigns to your website. The higher your domain authority, the better you will rank in search engine results.
Why are On-Page and Off-Page SEO important?
Both on-page SEO and off-page SEO are important for improving your website’s ranking in search results. However, they work together in a complementary way. On-page SEO helps search engines understand what your website is about and what it has to offer, while off-page SEO helps search engines see that your website is authoritative and trustworthy.
The best way to improve your website’s ranking is to focus on both types of SEO. You can adjust your focus on either type of SEO depending on your specific needs. For example, if you’re a new website, you may want to focus more on on-page SEO until you have a good foundation of content and structure. Once you have a solid foundation, you can start focusing more on off-page SEO.
Ultimately, the best way to achieve long-term SEO success is to take a balanced approach that incorporates both on-page and off-page SEO.
