SEO Explained
On-site, Off-site and Technical
What is On-site SEO?
Any optimisations completed on your website constitutes on-site SEO. It is a wide umbrella that covers the most basic elements such as the title of your page to the more complex elements such as structured data and schema.
From the keyword research to the meta descriptions, there must be a carefully thought-out process and plan in place before implementation. Tasks can seem never-ending when it comes to optimising your website, and Google is constantly updating its algorithm. Therefore, the changes you make today that enabled you to rank number one may not work tomorrow; on-site SEO is a moving target.
What is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO also folds into the on-site implementations as it is the work that happens behind the scenes of your website. Changing headers, titles, and implementing keywords sound relatively easy once defined, however, there are clear mandates for effective on-site optimisations.
The technical aspect also has to be taken into account for URL structures, canonicals and re-directs, etc. Amongst a vast myriad of ranking factors, Google’s spiders do not like errors, slow websites, or deprecated links. Technical SEO digs into the detail and maintains the health of your website.
What is Off-page SEO?
Often one of the most misunderstood parts of the SEO process is backlinks. This is where if you take shortcuts, you can run into permanent issues with ranking well.
Off-page requires carefully selecting which areas of the internet you want your content marketed. Paying someone a small fee for hundreds or thousands of backlinks can be the death of your website and your brand.
Google’s relationship with your brand and website must be built on trust. Trust is gained by ethical link building which demonstrates to Google that you are providing valuable and unique content to the end user.
Do I need link building to rank well?
Think about a great product that you were recommended? Start to ask why the recommendation occurred and what was the impact of that interaction. This is the way Google calculates your brand’s popularity and where it should rank in the listings. If websites aren’t linking to URLs: products, services, or home page then Google simply won’t recognise you as an authority on the user’s search query.
Ranking well depends heavily on link building. A fully optimised on-page website will start the process of your ranking journey, but link building will put you on the first page.
