On-site SEO vs. off-site SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) uses a set of techniques and tools to help improve a site's visibility by increasing the chances of it appearing higher in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

It is vitally important for all bloggers and webmasters to take SEO principles and techniques into consideration when creating and operating any type of blog or website.

Defining the SEO terms

• On-site SEO refers to anything you can do to improve your own website or blog so that search engines rank it highly
• Off-site SEO refers to anything that is not part of your own website or blog, but that contributes to your PageRank and therefore SEO

Examples of on-site SEO

• Meaningful, relevant, keyword rich page titles
• Images containing alt tags
• Keyword and key-phrase rich content

On-site SEO is hugely important for ensuring that your site or blog features prominently in organic searches, for your most important keywords and phrases. You can find out more about how SEO keywords and phrases by reading the article entitled "using keyword rich names to capture first page search results".

Examples of off-site SEO

• SEO marketing page on design-a-webpage
• Listing in DMOZ
• Backlinks from Twitter tweets
• Digg entries

Off-site SEO is where most, if not all, of your referrals will come from. Traffic filters through to your site from links back to your content and pages. The more your blog or site appears in references, tweets, social media, and so on, the more traffic you generate.

You can learn more about driving traffic and social media by reading the following articles entitled:

• How to build traffic with backlinks
• How to get bloggers to promote and market your stuff
• Startup SEO, social marketing & traffic building checklist

Relationship between on-site and off-site SEO

While on-site SEO and off-site SEO can be analyzed separately, it is important to note that they are intricately linked. Off-site SEO comes about because of interesting, note-worthy, relevant and engaging content on your site or blog. Content on your site or blog falls under the on-site SEO category. So off-site SEO is a direct result of on-site SEO.

That's not to say that off-site SEO always arises from good on-site SEO. In fact, you need to work hard at encouraging people to link back to you. You have to make an effort to build followings in the major social networks. There is a lot of time and effort that goes into building an effective off-site SEO campaign above and beyond the content you create.

You can learn plenty more about how to drive traffic using off-site techniques from the following articles and resources:

• How to drive server crashing traffic
• Insight marketing: The next big thing
• Link building, SEO and boosting traffic
• SEMRush

on-site SEO - off-site SEO smackdown

So which is more important - on-site or off-site SEO?

The answer is that off-site SEO ultimately plays a larger role in driving traffic and popularizing your site or blog. However, it simply isn't possible to run a successful Internet marketing/SEO campaign without good on-site SEO.

It may help to think of on-site SEO as laying a solid foundation for driving traffic. Off-site SEO, however, is where the real prize is. If you are unsure about the current quality of your blog or site's SEO then you may wish to undertake a comprehensive website audit, or learn more about the Internet, online marketing and SEO.