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On-Page vs. Off-Page SEO: What’s the Difference?

Rachel Handley
Rachel Handley
Last Updated: Jan. 06, 2025

On-page SEO and off-page SEO both involve taking steps to increase your visibility in search results. 

But they’re quite different.

Let’s go over the distinctions and how you can use both.

What’s the Difference Between On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO?

On-page SEO refers to things you can do on a webpage to improve its search engine rankings. While off-page SEO refers to things you can do outside your website to improve its search engine rankings.

Generally, on-page SEO makes your content better for users and search engines. 

It may involve: 

  • Writing unique titles for your pages
  • Adding links between pages on your site
  • Optimizing images on your site

Off-page SEO is mainly about improving your website’s reputation.

It may involve:

  • Getting other websites to link to your site
  • Promoting your brand on social media
  • Managing your reviews on external platforms

Why Are On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO Important?

On- and off-page SEO help you get more organic (unpaid) visibility in relevant search engine results pages (SERPs). 

This can lead to more high-quality traffic to your website/location.

Google considers both on-page and off-page factors when ranking search results. So, you typically need to balance on-page and off-page SEO if you want to rank prominently.

When Should You Use On-Page SEO vs. Off-Page SEO?

Generally, you should focus on on-page SEO before off-page SEO. 

Why?

Because on-page SEO helps Google understand your pages and ensures users have a great experience on your website. So, it’s foundational to your success. Plus, you have control over your on-page SEO efforts since it involves making direct changes to your website.

Off-page SEO is less straightforward. And it can be harder to get results because you’re often relying on other people to endorse your website.

But all else being equal, Google will likely rank the website with the better reputation over one with a worse reputation. So, off-page SEO may be necessary for gaining (and maintaining) a competitive edge.

On-Page SEO Factors

Let’s explore things on your website that can affect its organic search rankings. 

Here are some of the most important on-page SEO factors:

Title Tags

A title tag is a piece of HTML code that’s used to specify a webpage’s title. It tells search engines what the page is about to help them understand what kinds of queries it should rank for. 

Here’s an example of a title tag:

While they don’t have to, search engines may display your title in the SERP. 

Like so:

This means that your title tag is an on-page SEO factor that can influence your organic search rankings and clicks.

Here are some best practices to follow when writing title tags:

  • Make sure your title tag accurately describes what the page is about
  • Keep your title tag between 50 and 60 characters to make the most of the space that’s typically available in the SERP
  • Include your primary keyword near the front to emphasize its importance
  • Avoid keyword stuffing (i.e., unnaturally forcing in keywords), which can harm your rankings

It’s a good idea to review your title tags periodically to ensure they’re high quality and follow best practices. Use a tool like Semrush’s On Page SEO Checker for this task. 

The tool lets you know if any title tags:

  • Are missing or duplicated
  • Don’t contain the target keyword(s) for the page
  • Demonstrate keyword stuffing
  • Don’t match the title that Google displays in SERPs (this may suggest that your title is too long or poorly written)

Meta Descriptions 

A meta description is a piece of HTML code that’s used to provide a summary of the webpage.

Like this: 

This description can appear in the SERP. Like so:

Meta descriptions don’t directly influence your page’s rankings. But they can affect how many people click your results.

So, make sure these summaries appeal to your target audience and compel them to click. And keep them to around 105 characters to reduce the risk of your text being truncated.

URL Slugs

A URL slug is the unique part of a webpage address that should help search engines and users understand what the page is about.

For example, the URL slug for this post is on-page-vs-off-page-seo.

Customize your URL slugs so that they’re descriptive yet concise. Make sure to separate words using hyphens—not underscores or other characters.

In many cases, it’s a good idea to use the page’s primary keyword as the URL slug.

Tip: Organizing your content into well-named subfolders will also make your URLs more search-friendly. For advice on doing this, read this guide on website architecture best practices.

Heading Tags

Heading tags are important in on-page SEO because they help search engines (and users) understand the structure and content of your pages.

Every page should have one H1 tag that includes the main title. (And this title should match or nearly match your title tag.)

You can use subheadings (H2, H3, etc.) to split the rest of your content into sections. 

They should work in a hierarchical structure. Like this:

Make sure all your headings accurately describe the content beneath them to help users scan and navigate your page.

Content Quality

To perform well in search, you should focus on creating original, accurate, and helpful content. A big part of doing that is making sure to address search intent—the underlying reason or goal behind a user’s search query.

You can find keywords and analyze their intent with a tool like Semrush’s Keyword Magic.

Here’s how:

Navigate to the tool and enter a keyword related to your chosen topic.

Then, choose your country and click “Search.”

The tool will provide a list of keywords that contain your starting term or a close variation.

The “Intent” column shows the type(s) of search intent behind the keywords, which can be:

  • Informational (I): The user wants to find information
  • Navigational (N): The user wants to find a specific website or webpage
  • Commercial (C): The user wants to research a brand, product, or service
  • Transactional (T): The user wants to complete an action (e.g., make a purchase)

To learn more about search intent, click the “View SERP” icon in the “SF” column.

By looking at the top-ranking results (and any SERP features), you can get a good idea of what searchers want.

For example, the SERP for “glasses” suggests that searchers want to buy eyeglasses:

Once you have a better understanding of intent, you can start writing. 

Keep quality in mind by:

  • Showcasing expertise
  • Citing credible sources when necessary
  • Providing content that’s truly unique
  • Using proper grammar and punctuation
  • Incorporating keywords naturally

AI-powered tools like Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant can help you write and optimize content. 

Just head to the tool and start a new document. 

Open the “Set a new goal” section and fill out the details.

Then, click “Get recommendations.”

The tool will provide SEO, readability, originality, and tone of voice suggestions based on the top-ranking content.

Follow these recommendations as you write your content.

Click any highlighted text to discover the issue and get help.

Or use the Smart Writer to get assistance from AI at any time.

Image Alt Text

Alt text is an image description that’s stored in a webpage’s code. It allows search engines and people using screen readers to understand what the image depicts.

Like this:

Keep alt text short but informative, and consider incorporating keywords where relevant (and natural).

Internal Links

Internal links are hyperlinks that point to other pages on your website.

They’re important in on-page SEO because they help search engines (and users) discover all your content and understand how it fits together.

For example, this post links to:

  • “https://trafficthinktank.com/internal-linking-best-practices/” with the anchor text “internal links”
  • “https://trafficthinktank.com/search-intent/” with the anchor text “search intent”

This helps Google understand that:

  • “https://trafficthinktank.com/internal-linking-best-practices/” is the most relevant result on the site for someone interested in internal linking
  • “https://trafficthinktank.com/search-intent/” is the most relevant result on the site for someone interested in search intent

Run a site audit to review and optimize your internal links. A tool like Semrush’s Site Audit can help you with this task. 

It reveals pages that aren’t linked to at all and those that have too few incoming links.

Page Experience

Page experience refers to a user’s overall experience of interacting with your webpages. 

Users want webpages that are fast, secure, and easy to navigate. So, these are the kinds of pages that search engines want to rank.

Page experience is often considered a technical SEO tactic (rather than an on-page SEO tactic) because many issues are resolved at a sitewide level. But it’s still a good idea to make sure your individual pages deliver a great experience to users. 

You can get recommendations with Semrush’s Site Audit tool. It performs over 140 on-page and technical SEO checks to flag issues with:

  • Slow load speeds
  • Broken images, links, and pages
  • Non-secure pages

And much more.

Off-Page SEO Factors

Now, let’s explore things outside your website that can affect its organic search rankings. 

Here are some of the most important off-page SEO factors:

Backlinks

Backlinks are links to your website from other websites.

They can help Google find and understand your content (much like internal links). But more importantly, they may be treated like endorsements.

Basically, the higher the quality and quantity of backlinks you have, the more authoritative your website/webpage is perceived to be. And the higher it might rank.

Tip: You can check your existing backlinks with Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool.

The process of trying to get useful backlinks is called link building. 

It generally involves finding a publisher who might want to link to you (e.g., because you have a statistic that’s relevant to their article) and sending them a persuasive pitch asking for a link.

While you can do this manually, using link-building tools makes the process more efficient. For example, Semrush’s Link Building Tool can help automate and streamline your outreach. 

Use it to:

  • Find link-building prospects (sites that might link to you) based on your competitors and target keywords
  • Source contacts’ email addresses
  • Create and use email templates
  • Track the status of your emails and links

Google Business Profile

If you have a local business, creating and optimizing your Google Business Profile (a free business listing) can help you appear in Google Search and Google Maps. And it can help you reach more potential customers.

Here’s an example of what this type of result can look like:

Here are some quick tips for success:

  • Claim and verify your profile
  • Enter complete and accurate information (e.g., address, opening hours, and photos)
  • Encourage customers to leave reviews
  • Respond to your reviews
  • Post about important updates (e.g., events and new products) 
  • Keep your profile up to date

Tools like Semrush’s Map Rank Tracker can be helpful in monitoring how your off-page SEO efforts impact your local rankings over time. It shows where your business ranks for the keywords you specify in your target locations:

Social Media

Social media SEO is the process of optimizing your social profiles and posts so they appear higher in search engines and social media platform search results.

And it can indirectly benefit your website’s search performance because appearing on social media can boost your authority and brand awareness. This may contribute to more traffic from search engines over time. 

Here are some key tips:

Managing multiple social media accounts can be time-consuming, but tools can help streamline the process. For example, Semrush Social lets you schedule posts across multiple platforms, analyze your results, create content using AI, and much more.

NAP Citations

Name, address, and phone number (NAP) citations are mentions of information about your business—often in the form of online directory listings—that allow search engines to verify your information. And they can increase your business’s online prominence.

To keep track of your business listings and ensure your information is consistent everywhere, tools like Semrush’s Listing Management let you check your current citations across multiple directories from one dashboard. 

Search for your business in the tool.

Then, scroll down to see whether your citations are present and correct across platforms.

If you sign up for a subscription plan, you can fix all these listings at once and easily update them when necessary.

Reviews and Ratings

The reviews and ratings you get on third-party platforms can affect your off-page SEO because they may appear in search results and affect your reputation.

In local SEO, reviews are especially important.

Why?

Because they can affect your local rankings.

Plus, Google can use the contents of customer reviews to match your profile with relevant search queries.

Like this:

If you have a local business, managing online reviews is crucial for building trust with potential customers and improving your local SEO. Semrush’s Review Management tool helps you keep track of your online reviews and even lets you respond to Google reviews using AI. 

Start Building Your SEO Strategy

There’s a lot to consider when balancing on-page and off-page SEO, but tools can save you time and help you make better decisions.

Signup for a free 14-day Semrush trial to try tools like:

Find Keyword Ideas in Seconds Boost SEO results with powerful keyword research.