If you have a product or service to sell, you need traffic, the more the better. Traffic is the term for a steady stream of prospects and possible customers. Whether you have an off or online business, your online presence needs to be seen.
One way to ensure a constant flow of targeted prospects is to pay for them.
There are multiple online advertising platforms where you can purchase as much traffic as you desire. This can get incredibly expensive, and lies outside the realm of financial possibility for a lot of small business owners. The second way to make sure the right people are getting in front of your offers is to keep the search engines happy.
Search engine optimization (SEO) describes your efforts to keep Google, Bing, Yahoo and the other Internet search engines sending you regular, targeted, free traffic. When you market your online presence in a particular way, search engines rank you higher for certain keywords and related search terms than your competitors. This means your on-page SEO needs to be right.
However, your off-page search engine optimization is important as well. Let’s look at the differences between on-page and off-page SEO, so you can make sure you are addressing both of these critical traffic magnets.
On-Page SEO
Everything you do on your website influences the search engines, negatively or positively. This is what we are talking about when we refer to on-page SEO. Your title tags, meta keywords, image captions and the very text that exists on your website are all responsible for letting the search engines know exactly what your business is about, what you have to offer, and what search terms and phrases should be sending people to your site.
Off-Page SEO
This refers to search engine influencers that do not happen on your website. External factors like your social media marketing efforts, PPC campaigns and backlink generation all happen away from your website. However, they can strongly influence search engine results. While traditionally on-page search engine optimization was the premier focus of website owners, off-page SEO is extremely important as a traffic driver as well.
For the most free, organic search engine traffic, businesses large and small need to address both on and off-page search engine optimization. The most consistent, dependable traffic will always be paid. However, free traffic means keeping your marketing expenses low, and is possible when you get your on and off-page SEO efforts right.
