If you’re learning Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it’s important that you pay equal attention to both on-page and off-page factors. There’s a tendency for experts to focus on just one of the two. Some focus on backlink building, while others talk exclusively about on-page ranking.
The reality is, neither of them work very well in a vacuum. In order for SEO to work, you need both on-page and off-page optimization.
==> Why On-Page Optimization Matters
On-page optimization is more commonly neglected than off-page. However, on-page optimization can have a huge impact.
First off you have title tag and description optimization. In addition to helping you get ranked, these two tags will help you get clicks from your rankings. If you’re not regularly testing different versions of your title tags and description tags to see if it increases traffic, you’re probably missing out.
Then you have internal linking structures. Internal linking helps you flow link juice from one page to another in a way that makes sense.
Internal linking also helps visitors find where they want to go. Tools like the “related posts” feature or the “most commented posts” help new visitors find what they’re looking for.
Finally, Google Panda is now using artificial intelligence to gauge whether or not a website is a “high quality site.” It takes factors like design, the number of ads and even indicators of content quality into consideration.
Long story short, your on-page optimization matters – a lot.
==> Why Off-Page Optimization Matters
On the other hand, if you aren’t actively generating backlinks for your site, you’re not going to rank. Period.
Getting ranked involves getting a variety of different links. You want links from sites like yours, as well as sites more authoritative and less authoritative than yours.
You want sites to link to you with the right anchor text. However, you don’t want the anchor text density to be too high, or it’ll look artificial.
Getting your backlinking strategy right can be tricky. There are a lot of things to keep in mind; and it requires a lot of both time and energy.
Without strong backlinks, even the best on-page optimization in the world won’t make a difference.
==> Merging the Two
Search engines use backlinks to help determine the authority of a site. If your content is good, people will naturally want to talk about it – a “vote” in the search engine’s eyes.
In addition, search engines independently look at your site to gauge quality. They also use a variety of factors to try to figure out what your site is about. Placing keywords in the right places helps search engines do that.
A mix of both on-page and off-page optimization is crucial to success.