Are you an inquisitive SEO novice? Then you will not be able to ignore these two terms: Onpage and Offpage optimization. But what makes the on-page-off-page difference?
1. What is SEO Onpage Optimization?
Onpage optimization refers to all search engine optimization (or SEO by Abbreviationfinder) measures that take place on your own website . This is the fundamental on-page-off-page difference.
In the blog post SEO, SEA, SEM we get to the bottom of the basics of search engine marketing. We learn that SEO deals with various ranking factors of search engine providers. Websites have to be optimized according to given ranking criteria . This is the only way they can appear among the top hits in the organic search area.
As the name “optimization” suggests, the terms on- and offpage belong to search engine optimization (SEO) activities. That means achieving good rankings in the search results – without paying Google any money in the form of ad advertising ( SEA ).
Google ranking factors relate to your own website and the links to other sites. This is where the difference between the technical terms lies. With the on-page optimization , all factors such as content, technology and structure of the website should be improved according to search engine criteria .
The most important factors of onpage optimization are:
- SEO texts
Unique and SEO-suitable content is one of the top Google ranking factors on your own website. Keywords are particularly important here.
- HTML code
Regardless of whether the arrangement of headings or the use of tags: the code behind your website must be correct and clean. The best thing to do is to ask a technical SEO expert .
- URL structure
The address of your site must meet certain requirements. It shouldn’t consist of automatically generated numbers and letters. Meaningful keywords in the URL are popular with Google. The URL of the chemical company BASF is a good example of a speaking URL:
https://www.basf.com/de/de/products-and-industries/chemicals.html
You should use URLs of this kind however optimize:
domain.de/id_863%
- Internal linking
The user should find his way around quickly. This is made possible by links within your website. Internal links can be links to sub-pages, linked menu navigation or so-called breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs are a kind of sub-navigation. A chain of links shows the visitor the pages he came from. They show the user the path to the current page, so to speak. Breadcrumbs provide internal linking, orientation and have a positive effect on Google. The link structure makes the onpage-offpage difference clear once again: what counts for onpage are the links within your own page, for offpage the links outside are important – but more on that later.
Breadcrumbs show the user the path and create internal links – on-page-off-page difference: the links on your own page count: Example of the product page of the Augsburg B2B company mobiheat
- Deep Links
The faster the visitor reaches the target page, the better. In other words: if the user reaches his goal with just a few clicks, that’s positive. When it comes to search engine optimization, one speaks of a low click depth and few deep links. Guide value: from the homepage to the target page in three clicks. - Loading time
Short loading times are particularly important to Google. Long loading times are often caused by large image or video files. You can easily check your mobile loading time using the Google loading times tool .
Loading times check on mobile devices: The loading time of the Augsburg company Ludwig Leuchten is currently 5 seconds for mobile devices and can be improved by 3 seconds through on-page optimization
- Mobile optimization
Your website must also be displayed in a user-friendly manner on mobile devices. Google recognizes the so-called responsive design by reading your website code. The Google Mobile-Friendly check from Google tells you whether your website is responsive .
2. What is SEO Offpage Optimization?
Offpage optimization refers to the search engine optimization measures outside of your own website . An on-page-off-page difference: the off-page optimization cannot be actively influenced. As a website operator, you are dependent on other sites and partners.
In order to understand off-page optimization, we have to recall the basic SEO principle. The goal of Google’s optimization factors is to provide the searcher with the best possible results. Therefore, Google – and other search engine providers – attach great importance to good and correct content.
Of course, the search engines do not read and evaluate every text. Hence, they rely on the evaluation of others. If a page is often recommended and linked by other pages , this means for Google and Co: That has to be good!
Similar to quoting, the value of a website content increases with the recommendations. Online we speak of backlinks and an external link structure . Good links outside of your own website are therefore the main goal of offpage optimization.
How does offpage link building work?
- Personal contacts
Offpage optimization can only be actively influenced indirectly. You should therefore use your contacts to request links from other websites. - Set your own links
If you link to many pages yourself, you can hope that they will see your page – and link back. - Social media
links in posts or comments also give you valuable backlinks - Business directories
Have your page entered in business directories. In this way you will be found online when searching for your industry and generate valuable backlinks.
3. On-page and off-page play together
Both onpage and offpage optimization are important for your search engine optimization. Small businesses in particular can achieve long-term cost-neutral success through continuous SEO . To do this, you have to stay on the ball at all times: both on your own website and externally.
Another on-page-off-page difference that affects your SEO success: On-page can be actively influenced, off-page mostly only passively. But: Stay away from so-called link farms and bought backlinks! Even if you can influence the external link structure in this way: Google will punish any attempt at fraud by so-called Black Hat SEO – and your ranking will soon be way down.
