{"id":3375,"date":"2019-07-05T07:26:01","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T07:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2022-09-05T19:24:02","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T17:24:02","slug":"off-site-seo-vs-on-site-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/seo-blog\/off-site-seo-vs-on-site-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Off-site vs On-site SEO: What\u2019s the difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_3-1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-image align_center\"><div class=\"w-image-h\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"458\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/DSM_Infographic_SEO6-1-e1563865026746.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"DSM Digital school of marketing - keyword stuffing\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/DSM_Infographic_SEO6-1-e1563865026746.jpg 650w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/DSM_Infographic_SEO6-1-e1563865026746-600x423.jpg 600w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/DSM_Infographic_SEO6-1-e1563865026746-300x211.jpg 300w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/DSM_Infographic_SEO6-1-e1563865026746-284x200.jpg 284w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/10-lessons-straight-from-seo-experts\/\">SEO<\/a> can be divided into two main groups: on-site SEO and off-site SEO.<\/p>\n<h2>On-site and Off-site SEO<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>On-site SEO <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>On-site SEO deals with the optimisation of elements on a website to improve its relevance and visibility to search engines. This can include optimising <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/why-you-should-be-using-negative-keywords-on-google-ads\/\">keywords<\/a>, user experience, code optimisation and the format of URLs.<\/p>\n<h3><em>On-site Factors <\/em><\/h3>\n<p>These are search engine ranking signals directly which are controllable by site owners.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/what-does-a-content-marketer-do\/\">Content<\/a><u> signals <\/u><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Relevance: Topic that is relevant to page content versus search term<\/li>\n<li>Freshness: Frequency of content updates<\/li>\n<li>Overall quality: Spelling, grammar and sentence structure<\/li>\n<li>Keywords: Naturally occurring keywords in the page content<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><u>Keywords <\/u><\/h4>\n<p>Keywords are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Words that users type into search engines to show what they are looking for<\/li>\n<li>Words used on web pages to show search engines what the page is about<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keyword research is a critical component of <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/show-how-get-seo-right\/\">search engine optimisation<\/a>. Keywords are usually broken up and grouped based on the number of words within query phrases.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Keyword research is a core component of SEO<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>It involves figuring out which words to rank for based on the most popular words and phrases that are searched on search engines. Researching keywords gives digital marketers a better understanding of how high the demand is for certain keywords. It also shows how difficult it would be to compete for those terms in organic search results, offering some direction for optimisation efforts.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Keyword research isn\u2019t just about identifying the popularity of a search term<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>It&#8217;s also about exploring the many ways that people use language to research an idea or topic. As such, researching keywords isn&#8217;t just important for SEO. It\u2019s also a major element of <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/why-linkedin-should-be-part-of-your-content-marketing-strategy\/\">content marketing<\/a> as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n<p>Keyword research can help you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find ideas for your next blog post,<\/li>\n<li>Learn more about the needs of your audience, and<\/li>\n<li>Keep up to date with the lingo of the ever-changing search landscape.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By researching the words people type into search engines \u2013 in addition to making use of this research to create targeted content it is possible to drive the right traffic to your site. This traffic is more likely to convert.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-video align_none ratio_16x9 has_iframe\"><div class=\"w-video-h\"><iframe title=\"Vimeo video player\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/285084772?autoplay=0&loop=0&autopause=0&color=00adef&portrait=0&byline=1&title=1&controls=1&muted=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><div class=\"w-video-icon\" style=\"font-size:1.5rem;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:#fff\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h6><em>HTML signals <\/em><\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Titles: Concise, descriptive HTML titles, containing the page&#8217;s target keywords<\/li>\n<li>Descriptions: These are unique HTML descriptions which are tailored to each page<\/li>\n<li>Headings: Concise, descriptive headings and subheadings<\/li>\n<li>Alt attributes: Descriptive alt text for images<\/li>\n<li>Lists: HTML lists for scannable content<\/li>\n<li>Architecture signals<\/li>\n<li>Accessibility: Website crawlability and accessibility<\/li>\n<li>Page speed: Web page loading time<\/li>\n<li>URL structure: Descriptive, clean URLs<\/li>\n<li>Internal links: These are the sources, destinations, and anchor text that relate to internal links<\/li>\n<li>Outgoing links: Outbound links to trusted websites<\/li>\n<li>Sitemaps: Presence of HTML and\/or XML sitemaps<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6><em>Domain signals <\/em><\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Registration privacy: Public vs. Private domain name registration<\/li>\n<li>Domain registrant: Record of domain name registrant<\/li>\n<li>Exact match domains: Especially quality of EMD sites<\/li>\n<li>Registration length: One year only vs several years in advance<\/li>\n<li>Domain extension: This is to do with generic and country-specific domain extensions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Off-site SEO <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Search engines look for websites that link back to your site as an indication of good content. For example, the more pages that link back to your website, the more valuable <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/why-should-care-about-adverts-ctr-google-ads\/\">Google<\/a> will judge your content to be. The assumption is that if a lot of sites want to link to your site, then you must have good content. However, this has been the source of many Black Hat SEO tactics in the past.<\/p>\n<p>Off-site optimisation is to do with the promotion of your website across the web to build brand awareness, improve rankings in search engines and attract visitors from third party websites.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/how-can-businesses-use-social-media-marketing\/\">Social media<\/a> is one of the best ways to gain high quality back links from authority websites. This includes social bookmarking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and many more. As offsite SEO works best when someone else is recommending your content. You must encourage visitors to use the social bookmarks throughout your site. This will help you build deep inbound links for your keyword rich page content.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Effective off-site SEO requires a balanced link portfolio<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This is because sources of information and references are important to search engines. For example, a link that contains your main keyword from a site with similar content and a keyword used out of context from an unrelated site will have different degrees of relevance.<\/p>\n<h3><u>Off-site Factors <\/u><\/h3>\n<p>This is influenced by visitor engagement, social media, and other off-site variables.<\/p>\n<h4><u>Backlink signals <\/u><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Strength is about the authority and trust to do with websites and web pages that link to your site<\/li>\n<li>Anchor text: Descriptive, natural, diverse anchor text<\/li>\n<li>Relevance: This is to do with the relevance of the topic of linking web page&#8217;s content<\/li>\n<li>Domain diversity: Backlinks from various domains<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><u>Reputation signals <\/u><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Authority: Domain and page authority signals<\/li>\n<li>Trust: Domain trust signals<\/li>\n<li>History: This is to do with the history of the acquisition of the backlink, violations of guidelines and penalties<\/li>\n<li>Reviews: This is to do with reviews on Yelp, Google Places, Yahoo Local, etc.<\/li>\n<li>User-interaction: Bounce rates and click-through rates<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><u>Social signals <\/u><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Social shares: This is about &#8220;Likes&#8221;, &#8220;shares&#8221;, and other endorsements of web content through social signals<\/li>\n<li>Reputation: Shares from reputable<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/contact-us\/\">Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>Want to know more about SEO? The Digital School of Marketing\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/seo-and-web-analytics-course\/\">SEO and Web Analytics Course<\/a> will teach you! For more information about this and our other online digital marketing courses, please visit our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/seo-and-web-analytics-course\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-758 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSM_Footer03-600x96.jpg\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing SEO and Web Analytics course registration\" width=\"600\" height=\"96\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-btn-wrapper align_justify\"><a class=\"w-btn us-btn-style_2\" href=\"#enquiry\"><span class=\"w-btn-label\">Enquire Today<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Blog Categories<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/blog\/content-marketing\/\">Content Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/digital-marketing\/\">Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/cyber-security-blog\/\">Cyber Security<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/graphic-design-blog\/\">Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/blog\/public-relations\/\">Public Relations<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/blog\/seo\/\">SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/social-media-marketing\/\">Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/web-design-blog\/\">Web Design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">You might also like<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"w-html\"><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/social-media-marketing-blog\/zero-moment-of-truth-benefit-social-media-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Use the Zero Moment of Truth to Benefit your Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/your-complete-guide-to-ppc-marketing-basic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Your Complete Guide to PPC Marketing Basics. Find out more.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/you-can-convey-a-lot-of-meaning-with-just-one-graphic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">You Can Convey a Lot Of Meaning With Just One Graphic<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/would-you-make-a-great-marketing-manager\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Would you make a great marketing manager?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/in-the-press\/win-with-bona-magazine-and-the-digital-school-of-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Win with Bona Magazine and the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/in-the-press\/win-a-digital-marketing-course-valued-at-r12-000\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Win a Digital Marketing Course Valued at  R12 000<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Top Selling COurses<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/courses\/digital-marketing-course\/\">Intermediate Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/courses\/advanced-digital-marketing-course\/\">Advanced Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/courses\/social-media-marketing-course\/\">Intermediate Social media marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/courses\/digital-brand-management-course\/\">Brand Management<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/courses\/graphic-design-course\/\">Basic Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-6\"><a href=\"\/courses\/advanced-graphic-design-course\/\">Advanced Graphic design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-7\"><a href=\"\/courses\/national-certificate-of-advertising\/\">National Certificate of Advertising<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-8\"><a href=\"\/courses\/national-diploma-of-copywriting-course\/\">National Diploma of Copyrighting<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-video align_none ratio_16x9 has_iframe\"><div class=\"w-video-h\"><iframe title=\"Youtube video player\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WyJsRLuvYQA?autoplay=0&controls=1&origin=https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za&loop=0&mute=0\" allowfullscreen=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><div class=\"w-video-icon\" style=\"font-size:1.5rem;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:#fff\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[416],"class_list":["post-3375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo-blog","tag-on-site-and-off-site-seo"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}