What’s the Difference Between On-Site and Off-Site SEO?

It’s likely you already know that SEO refers to Search Engine Optimization and is the process of making your site better for search engines so that it will rank better. What you may not be so familiar with, especially if you are new to internet marketing, is the difference between on-site and off-site SEO is.

In the following post, as it is crucial if you want to have success in designing and building a website and then promoting it, we are going to look at the differences between on-site and off-site SEO.

What is On-Site SEO?

On-Site SEO is the term given to anything that is directly related to the site itself and involves making changes to and finetuning different aspects to make it much easier to find and understand by search engines. You will find that the first things you probably learned about when first dabbling with SEO all are almost on-site rather than off-site. This includes:

  • Keywords
  • Titles
  • Headlines
  • Content
  • Alt tag images
  • Inbound links
  • Site loading speed

All of these aspects of SEO can be controlled and adjusted by you and will help you rank better.

What is Off-Site SEO?

Off-Site SEO, on the other hand, as you may have guessed involves anything not directly on your site but that sets you as an authority in the niche you are working within. This is achieved by having other high rankings and reputable websites link back to yours. When Google’s algorithm that powers its search engine is determining the rank of a site it will look at the site’s authority.

While you can gain authority just from having a site online and active for a long time, this is not the best strategy. Some of the most popular and effective ways to work on off-site SEO include:

  • Review Marketing – make good use of online review sites to boost the number of people discussing your business.
  • Guest Blogging – a great way to get exposure is by writing a post for another site within your niche that has a level of authority.
  • Creating Shareable Content – create content that is engaging, informative and entertaining that people will want to share.

Stay tuned for our next article that will cover everything you need to know about Backlinks.

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