SEO Basics: A Comparison Of On-Page And Off-Page Search Engine Optimization Techniques

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization(SEO) techniques, you should be aware of some of the terminology used by SEO firms and web designers. You do not necessarily need to become an expert in search engine optimization, but you should at least be able to understand some of the language used. As you broaden your base of SEO knowledge, having that basic understanding will help you be aware of what things you can do versus ones you should probably outsource. It is amazing how many great looking sites, have poor SEO optimization.

There are two broad categories that make up your website’s SEO effort: Off-Page and On-Page

Off-Page Search Engine Optimization is anything you can do to make your site more relevent and perceived as important by the search engines. This includes link building techniques, but more important it includes “Great Content”. When it comes to link building the best quality links come from natural linking. Natural linking is done voluntarily by those who find your content useful and valuable. When these sites link to you, it usually is a one-way link, which is usually perceived as more valuable by the search engine’s since there was no “mutual exchange” of links.

On-Page Search Engine Optmization is one of the easier forms to implement because it is something you have control over. On-Page SEO is related to anything you can do on your website (ie pages) that make your site more easily indexable. This can include things such as your information architecture (basically, how your site is structured), navigation techniques, the use of flash, javascript, or other scripting that may make it hard for some search engine bots to access your content. The can also include coding techniques such as using Heading tags H1 etc. over some equivalent CSS tags. Another is to use W3C compliant (industry standards-based) HTML whenever possible.

It is amazing how easy you can find some great looking, beautiful sites that were made without any of these optimization techniques in mind (and there are hundreds of things you can do). In some cases, the design and implementation of these sites interferes with search engine indexing. Its also amazing to me how many people are still designing significant parts of their site using flash. It has its use, but not for the basic platform for your site.

Having a familiarization with the “lingo”, will help you understand what it means when your technical person or someone else’s speaks the talk. When choosing a web design firm and/or a SEO firm, be sure to ask very detailed questions on what they are doing for you (if any) with off-page versus on page SEO techniques.