On-page and off-page SEO

On-page SEO is everything you adjust on your own page, such as text, headings and internal links, while off-page SEO is everything that happens away from it, mainly backlinks and mentions of your brand elsewhere on the web.

Both act on a different part of the same trust. On-page SEO shows a search engine that your page holds the answer, off-page SEO shows that other sources find that answer valuable too. A page can be perfectly optimised on-page and still lag behind, simply because nobody outside your own site refers to it.

What you handle yourself with on-page SEO

• Page title and meta description. The first impression in the search results, worked out in writing meta descriptions and page titles.
• Heading structure. A clear H1 and logical H2s help both the reader and the search engine follow the text, above all on a long page where quick scanning matters.
• Internal links. References to related pages keep visitors on your site and spread authority. See using internal links.
• Alt text and speed. Technical details on the page itself, such as a well-described image and a fast loading time, count towards on-page SEO as well, even though they are sometimes handled separately.

What you build up with off-page SEO

• Backlinks. Links from other sites remain one of the strongest trust signals, read wat is een backlink for the basics.
• Brand mentions. A mention without a link adds to how search engines and AI models judge your brand, because they read the web more broadly than the link structure alone.
• Reviews and press. Independent sources writing about you weigh more heavily than what you claim on your own site, since those sources have no stake in a positive verdict.

So the two complement each other. A company that works on on-page SEO alone builds a page that is correct and carries little weight as soon as a competitor has built good backlinks as well.

Would you rather not work out yourself which part is lagging? Have it sorted through outsourcing SEO and GEO.