Key Differences & How Each Can Improve Your Rankings
Listen… We all want to be first on Google. But how are we going to accomplish this? Search Engine Optimization, of course! You may have heard from a marketing agency that your website needs SEO- both on-page and off-page. Huh? What’s the difference, and why do I need both?
Search engine optimization is the process of improving your search engine rankings by manipulating your website using various best practices. The goal is to increase your site’s organic traffic, and there are two elements to make this happen: on-page SEO and off-page SEO—these two terms we hear frequently during a search engine marketing (SEM) strategy. To your average Joe, these terms might as well be the very same thing. But, in reality, both efforts are vastly different and are essential to the success of SEM. To help clarify on-page vs. off-page SEO, our team at Stream Companies explains to business owners the purpose of each, and how your website’s Google rankings can benefit.
On-Page SEO
What is on-page search engine optimization? On-page SEO (“on-page”) entails improving your website’s features and content to rank higher on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). This could mean improving certain keywords in your content, adding new pages to the site, configuring internal links, providing calls-to-action, and more. Think of on-page as actions you take to:
- Improve the user experience to drive conversions
- Help Search Engines crawl and index your site more efficiently
- Rank higher on search engines
Think about it: People need to find your website first before they use it to buy your products or services! Once someone lands on your site, on-page SEO focuses on getting users to stay on the site as long as possible and complete a conversion. Google has confirmed that quality content is one of the top three organic ranking factors on the Google SERP, so having an on-page SEO strategy is critical to your site’s success.
Benefits of On-Page SEO
Once you’ve applied an on-page SEO strategy, your rankings on search engines will increase because of the following:
- You are delivering the best user experience.
- Search engines can successfully crawl your site and understand what each page means in order to deliver it as a search result.
- Your content is answering online inquiries better than anyone else’s content.
There are always areas of improvement for websites, too. Keyword phrases are constantly changing due to higher mobile search queries and voice-search becoming more prominent. On-page search engine optimization is a continuous cycle of developing new pages, optimizing old ones, and auditing the site for errors.
Off-Page SEO
Whilst on-page involves improving features on your backend, off-page SEO entails achieving backlinks to your website and ensuring all third-party listings are consistent. Google has stated that backlinks are in the top three organic ranking factors of a website. A prior Google Algorithm update prevented traditional black-hat outreach techniques that allowed people to pay for their links.
In today’s world, people use leverage such as:
- Guest blog posts
- Genuine community partnerships
- Infographics
- And more
Google views links to your website as a vote of confidence for deciding on the Google search results. If other websites are talking about your business, then you must be the best result to deliver to searchers, right? Therefore, SEO outreach is important, and having a diverse, quality backlink profile helps your rankings.
Another aspect of off-page SEO that improves your real estate on the SERPs is a consistent business listing across channels like Yellowpages, Google My Business, Yelp, and more. If your address is different across multiple platforms, search engines will see you’re delivering a false message to visitors on the web and be skeptical to rank you as the best choice for a search query.
Benefits of Off-Page SEO
- Receive brownie points in search engines’ eyes for a prominent community presence
- Develop online PR presence and reputation to visitors
- Deliver reliable business information to users
For ultimate website success, both on-page and off-page search engine optimization should be worked into your business strategy. At the end of the day, Google wants to produce the very best search results to a user. So, make sure your business is speaking Google’s online language and offering quality content to online visitors. Ready to get your website strategy started? Stream Companies is an integrated advertising agency that offers superior SEO services that generate new leads, more traffic, and better customers. Contact our team today to learn more!