On-Page vs Off-Page SEO | What’s the difference? And which one is more important?

On-page SEO vs off-page SEO

If you are a website owner, you might have heard about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and know that it is important for driving traffic to your website. You probably did a Google search to learn more about SEO, and Google likely threw a myriad of SEO terms in your face. As you sorted through the information and scanned over mile-long tech blogs on rankings, keywords, schema, and link building, you probably noticed two terms kept popping up: on-page SEO and off-page SEO.

What is on-page SEO?

On-page SEO is a technique for optimizing web content on individual web pages so that they rank higher than similar competitor web pages. Pages with on-page optimization are more easily searchable and findable on the internet, and consequently, they earn a higher rank and more relevant web traffic.

The reality is that there are many similar pages with similar content on the internet, and every time someone searches something in a search engine like Google, that search engine has to vet thousands of similar pages against each other and determine which one is most likely to provide the best, most thorough, and most relevant response to the query. Thus, the more optimized a particular webpage is to a particular query, the more the webpage will be favored by the search engine.

You can improve your on-page SEO by focusing on good quality, organic content featuring strategically targeted keywords, optimized titles, and keyword-rich meta descriptions.

Read more: 3 Reasons why creating valuable content for your website is a MUST

Examples of on-page SEO

On-page SEO techniques include:

• High-quality, thorough, organic content

• Keyword-rich text that is highly relevant to your target audience

• Optimized page titles

• Curated meta descriptions

• Optimized headings (Particularly H1 and H2 headings)

• Optimized content formatting (style, content layout, structure, etc.)

• SEO images

• Other multimedia elements (diversified content like videos, charts, graphs, etc.)

• URL optimization

• Internal links

• External links

• Core Web Vitals

  • HTTP vs HTTPS

  • Interactivity

  • Site interface

  • Website load time

  • General site functionality

  • Mobile friendliness

  • Visual stability

  • Sitemaps

What is off-page SEO?

Whereas on-page SEO drills down on optimizing one page at a time so that each page of a website is highly relevant to trending search queries, off-page SEO focuses on your website as a whole. In other words, on-page SEO focuses on what your website is about (topic and content) and off-page SEO focuses on how popular your website is overall. Off-page SEO is focused primarily on improving your domain authority – which is your overall website rank against relevant competitors.

Note: Websites with very high domain authority include websites like WebMD, Forbes, Psychology Today, Mayo Clinic, Healthline, etc. These websites have consistently proven to search engines that the content on their websites successfully provides relevant information in response to queries.

Examples of off-page SEO

Off-page SEO techniques include:

• Backlinks

• Reputable mentions

• Google Business Profile reviews (if applicable)

• Social media

• Guest posting / guest blogging / guest authoring

• Website design

• Social bookmarking

• Forum submission

• Influencer outreach

What is the difference between on-page SEO and off-page SEO?

On-page SEO is concerned with improving the rank of your web pages, particularly landing pages, services pages, and blog posts. On-page SEO focuses primarily on content optimization.

Off-page SEO is concerned with improving your entire website using techniques beyond the realm of your website. Off-page SEO is primarily focused on improving your website’s domain authority.

Which is more important: On-page SEO or off-page SEO?

Both are very important, however, most SEO specialists encourage website owners to focus on on-page SEO before off-page SEO – which makes sense. Off-page SEO efforts (such as securing backlinks, guest authoring, and influencer outreach) are more likely to be successful if your on-page SEO strategy is strong.

SEO Resources

If you want to take a deeper dive into the world of SEO and take ownership of your website’s SEO needs, consult this blog from the Digital Marketing Institute: The Complete Guide to On-Page and Off-Page SEO

The bottom line

Consistently posting relevant, keyword-rich content is essential for driving traffic to your website. If you don’t have time to invest in quality content that captivates your target audience, you might consider outsourcing. As a freelance ghostwriter, I help therapists, coaches, and mental health professionals by generating organic, hyper-curated content that speaks directly to their target audience.

Let’s talk! Contact me and request a free project quote today.