What is the Difference Between On-Page and Off-Page SEO?

Search engines judge a page by what it says and by what the rest of the web says about it. That split is the difference between on-page and off-page SEO.

For the full picture of how search works, see what SEO is and how it works. This guide compares the two types people confuse most.

What is On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO includes everything inside your site that influences rankings. You control it completely. That makes it the place to start. Five elements make up most on-page work.

• Content quality means pages that answer what people search for. Google's SEO Starter Guide puts helpful, people first content ahead of every other basic it lists.
• Titles and meta descriptions tell searchers and search engines what a page is about. Google says a good title is unique to the page, clear and concise.
• Headings and keywords give a page a logical structure and use the words your audience searches for in natural wording.
• Internal links connect your own pages. Google says most new pages it finds come through links. Internal links point crawlers to your other pages.
• Page experience means speed, phone display and clean URLs. Google says page experience matters most when many helpful pages compete for the same query.

Get these right and every page has a fair chance before another site links to it.

What is Off-Page SEO?

Off-page SEO is everything that happens away from your site to build its reputation. You influence it but you do not control it, which makes it slower and harder. Four activities make up most off-page work.

• Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. Google says it uses links as a signal when determining the relevancy of pages.
• Brand mentions put your name in front of new audiences even without a link.
• Social sharing spreads your content to more people. Google lists social media and communities as ways to promote content but warns that overdoing it can harm your site.
• Guest posts and press coverage earn placements on relevant sites. Google lists guest posts with optimized anchor text as link spam when the aim is to manipulate rankings.

Earn links instead of buying them. Google's spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking as link spam unless the links carry a nofollow or sponsored attribute. Google warns that violations can lower your rankings or remove pages from results.

How do On-Page and Off-Page SEO Differ?

Compare the two types on five points in the table.

Technical SEO also lives on your site. Some guides count it as on-page work. Others treat it as a third type. This site does the same.

How do They Work Together?

On-page SEO makes a page worth ranking. Off-page SEO shows that other sites agree. You need both.

Google says most new pages it finds come through links. Pages that no one links to are harder to find. Pages without helpful content give visitors no reason to return.

Helpful pages earn links. Links bring visitors and crawlers back to those pages.

What Comes First, On-Page or Off-Page SEO?

Start with on-page work. You control it. It forms the foundation and helpful content gives other sites a reason to link to you. Three steps put the work in order.

1. Make your important pages helpful with clear titles and a logical structure.
2. Fix the technical basics so crawlers can find and understand every page.
3. Promote your best content and earn links from sites your audience already uses.