Three core areas of SEO: explained
SEO is a complex beast, but many search marketers split it into three service areas: Technical, On Page or Content, and Off Page.
Arguments over which area is the most important have been going on for many years, and they will probably never stop. But step outside the echo chambers of LinkedIn, and you’ll see that to run a successful, long-lived SEO campaign, all three areas should be considered with equal importance.
Below, I’m going to give a basic rundown of what Technical, On Page, and Off Page are, and what they involve.
Technical
If SEO was a house, Technical would be the foundation on which everything else is built. You can’t run a successful, sustained SEO campaign with a website that isn’t up to scratch technically.
The main goal of Technical SEO is to create a website that can be found, navigated, and indexed by search engines, whilst maintaining a smooth and easy experience for visitors coming to the website.
What does technical SEO include?
Accessible on all devices - does the website have a mobile friendly design? Can it be used on all device types?
Architecture - do the websites pages follow a hierarchy that makes sense?
Crawlability and indexability - can the right pages be accessed and indexed? Can Google understand the content (has structured data been implemented?)
Usability - does the website load quickly, without errors? Is it easy to use?
Layout - is the website and its pages easy to follow and navigate?
Security - is the site safe to use? Does it have security protocols?
On Page
On Page encompasses anything that appears on the front end of your website. You might see agencies group ‘On Page’ and ‘Content’ together, or use these terms interchangeably. This area of SEO is all about ensuring the pages on your website meet search intent by creating genuinely useful, helpful, and relevant content that puts users first.
Displaying Experience, Expertise, and Authority are the best ways to get visitors to trust your website, and all of this can be achieved through strengthening your On Page strategy.
All On Page starts with comprehensive keyword research and brainstorming to identify topics for your landing pages and content. After this, you need to decide on the content that should be created to satisfy search intent and set your website ahead of competitors.
What does on page SEO include?
There are many areas of on page SEO that you should consider when approaching your website.
Informational content
Articles, guides, and other highly informational content to show your website is an experienced resource within its niche.
Hierarchical page layouts
The way your content is organised is as important as the substance of that content. Consider how headings, lists, and rich media are used throughout the content - is it skimmable, and easy to take in?
Transactional and commercial landing pages
Interesting, helpful landing pages that are clearly designed with the user in mind. Consider which information is displayed above the fold, and how users can navigate and access the information they need to make an informed decision about your products or services.
Prices
Images, diagrams, and videos
Specifications and details
Reviews and other trust signals
Relevant copy that incorporates keywords naturally and isn’t fluffy
Rich media
Videos, images, audio clips, and other rich media to enhance user experience where appropriate.
Internal links
Internal links and anchor text, helping crawlers to understand how pages are related, and providing useful additional information to users
Meta information
This should clearly define what can be found on each page (some bung this under ‘technical’, but I prefer it to sit with on page).
Off Page
Off Page (also called ‘Off Site’ by some) refers to anything happening outside your website that influences its performance. Simply put, links are a ranking factor, and Off Page is how these links are gained. When one website links to another, it passes PageRank, a system that Google uses to evaluate the importance of a page based on scoring the quality of links it receives (SEJ explains this better than me, here).
Off Page is all about building and shaping the reputation of your website and brand. Strong, healthy links, third-party reviews, and mentions of you across the web with positive sentiment show Google (and other search engines) that you are real, trusted, and credible.
What does off page SEO include?
Linked mentions
Unlinked mentions
Reviews
Other general types of chatter about your website and brand
The difference between Digital PR & Outreach
Under the Off Page umbrella, you’ll find Digital PR and Outreach. Some agencies group these under one title, however, I see them as being two different beasts with broadly the same goal.
Digital PR - This is about improving awareness of your brand across the internet, largely by generating a buzz around a story to gain coverage from online publications and highly authoritative websites. The tangible benefit of this activity is gaining backlinks from these highly sought after sources, as well as starting conversations across social channels and getting mentioned in other forms of media (podcasts, YouTube/TikTok videos, etc.)
Outreach - The more ‘traditional’ form of Off Page SEO, which involves gaining backlinks from niche relevant websites with the specific goal of improving rankings and website authority. You might see agencies referring to this as ‘link building’, and despite this being essentially what outreach entails, the term gives me black hat SEO vibes so I tend to avoid it.
So, where should you start?
Now you’re armed with a basic understanding of what each area of SEO involves, it’s time to get your hands dirty (or, to get on the phone to someone who can get their hands dirty for you).
The best place to start is by understanding where you want to be, and which parts of your site are holding you back:
Audit your website - use a tool (Semrush, SERanking, Ahrefs, and Moz are great examples) to identify the weak points of your website in each area - could content be better? Is your site frustratingly slow?
Conduct keyword research - what do you want to rank for, and how can you get there?
Review your competitors - what are competitors doing that you aren’t? How can you join the party in this space?
Prioritise tasks based on the resources available to you, and remember that it’s generally best to do it well once, then badly 50 times.
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