There are many components that go into a search engine optimization (SEO) campaign. A wide variety of factors are analyzed and cataloged by search engine algorithms, therefore requiring that SEO be applied to many parts of a given web property.
These parts include both on-page and off-page attributes. Neglecting one in favor of the other is a recipe for failure. Many SEO service providers focus on on-page work, as it is more visible to the client and on its own produces relatively quick, if potentially short-lasting, results. The off-page work, however, is just as important, and the two sides must be approached together in order to provide clients with the very best SEO available.
On-Page SEO Factors
When we think of SEO practices and techniques, many of us think about on-page factors. These include things like:
- Keyword research
- Including targeted keywords in page titles, URLs, and page content
- Keyword and traffic monitoring
- Content editing and revision
- Content development and publishing
- Metadata for both titles and descriptions
- Speed audits to improve mobile and desktop speeds
- Overall SEO audit of all content to avoid duplicate and missing data
As mentioned earlier, these factors do produce results in a relatively quick fashion, but in the SEO business, there’s always more than meets the eye. Many SEO companies focus solely on on-page work, and often do a lot of forward-facing SEO work in the early parts of a digital marketing campaign, then go into “maintenance mode”, which really means that nothing much happens on the SEO front.
Related: SEO strategies for eCommerce sites >>
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO is the other half of the SEO puzzle. These are not as visible to the client and are often overlooked even by seasoned SEO professionals. However, they are critical in developing robust websites that rank highly in search results and must go hand-in-hand with the on-page work. Off-page SEO includes such things as:
- Social signals
- Link building outreach
- Blog commenting and reader interaction
- News releases
- Backlinking strategies
- Code tweaking and analysis to improve page load times and time-on-site metrics
Combining Both On- and Off-Page SEO Factors
Most SEO providers only tackle on-page work when first working with a client. A flurry of activity happens and then those factors are never revisited. Off-page work may be neglected entirely. The truth of the matter is that both need to be implemented as a team, and revisited on a monthly basis.
A great SEO provider is continually looking for opportunities for improvement. This can mean keyword research or traffic analysis that reveals user behaviors when visiting a web property. Focusing on new opportunities and capitalizing on them must happen on a regular basis – monthly SEO plans from expert SEO providers are designed to benefit the client in this way. For example, analysis of traffic patterns may suggest that new keywords should be targeted. New content using those keywords can then be developed.
Another example is link building outreach, a service that many SEO providers do not offer to their clients because of the tedious work involved. By reaching out to other websites, offering links and content to those sites, the link-building strategy that ranks highly in search engine algorithms can flourish.
When the content on a given website is continually tweaked, refined, and added to, the search engines notice and attach favorable rankings to this behavior. True SEO professionals understand that their work is never done; revisiting on – and off-page SEO factors on monthly basis benefits the client, builds brand awareness, and improves search engine rankings.