On-page SEO vs Technical SEO: What's the Difference?

The difference between On-page SEO and Technical SEO lies in the usage and purpose. It is easy to get confused as they aim for the same goal ultimately. Understanding the difference between these two SEO aspects is important to develop a proper SEO strategy for your business. 

So, buckle up if you want to learn the difference between On-page SEO and Technical SEO in detail. Without beating around the bushes, let’s get into the topic.

On-page SEO is the part where you optimize every individual web page to attract more organic and relevant traffic. The traffic will come through the improved ranking in the search engine. This aspect of On-page SEO activities focuses on the content quality of the webpage. It ensures that the search engine and the readers can understand and engage with the content.

So, what does On-page SEO actually do? Here are the crucial parts that On-page SEO covers:

• Content Quality: On-page focuses on creating valuable, relevant, and engaging content that can satisfy the user’s search intent. It includes using targeted keywords naturally that help both the readers and SEO.
• Keyword Optimization: It places keywords strategically in the headings, titles, meta descriptions, and throughout the content. It helps search engines understand what this webpage is all about.
• Meta Tags: It optimizes the meta title and the description to improve the CTR from Search Engine Result Pages (SERP).
• URL Structure: Used clean and descriptive URLs that indicate the web page’s content and also include relevant keywords.
• Internal Linking: On-page SEO ensures smooth navigation and increases user experience by linking relevant web pages to the content. It maintains the flow of links and keeps your reader engaged.
• Image Optimization: This is a very crucial part of the On-page SEO approach. It focuses on using alt text, descriptive file names, and proper image size to load the page faster. 

The prime objective of Technical SEO is optimizing the backend of the webpage. It makes sure that the search engine can crawl, index, and rank the page properly. Unlike On-page, Technical SEO works around a website's infrastructure and codes. It ensures the web page’s accessibility and performance.

Now you may wonder: “Do does Technical SEO work?” That’s a valid question. We have sorted the points technical SEO works on so that you can understand its mechanism.

• Site Speed Optimization: Technical SEO ensures that the loading time of every page on the website is minimal. The faster the page loads, the better it performs with the readers. It reduces the loading time by optimizing images, using browser cache, and using efficient codes. Will you stay on a website if it takes 5 sec to load? Probably not.
• Mobile Friendliness: A large number, actually maximum internet users are online using their mobile phones. So, you must optimize your website and make it mobile-friendly. It will provide a fluid and flexible experience for the mobile users.
• Crawlability: It includes tasks that structure your website to make crawling and indexing your webpage easy for the search engine. It includes using proper robot.text files, eliminating crawling errors, and XML sitemaps.
• SSL/HTTPS: You must secure your website using the HTTPS encryption method. It will protect your user data and boost trustworthiness. It has a positive influence on the SERP rankings.
• Structured Data Markup: Using SEO-rich texts like schema markup will help the search engine understand the content of your website easily. It will result in enhanced search results like rich snippets.
• Canonicalization: It works to prevent duplicate content by using canonical tags. It signals the preferred version of the web page to show in the search results.
• Fixing Broken Links: We often see a 404 error message when you try to navigate across the website. This has a serious negative impact on user satisfaction and SEO performance. These parts focus on ensuring every button of the website leads to a valid web page.

From the definition and working method explained earlier, you can already guess the difference between Technical SEO vs On-page SEO. To make things easier, here we have prepared a table of differences that will give you an overview of the entire topic.

This table summarizes all the functional and technical differences between On-page SEO and Technical SEO.

Both of these techniques ultimately serve the same goal and often work separately. However, sometimes, you need to prioritize one over another. It happens occasionally, but you should know which one to focus on when the time comes. We have arranged and sorted the scenarios separately so you can understand them easily.

Prioritize Technical SEO

Here are the main scenarios when you need to put Technical SEO over On-page SEO:

• Launching a New Website: To make sure that the site is performing from the start, you need to focus on site architecture, load time, and mobile-friendliness.
• Experiencing Crawling or Indexing Problems: If a search engine can’t crawl or has a hard time crawling your website, focus on resolving the responsible technical issues.
• Website  Speed and Performance are Too Low: Slow loading time, server errors, or unresponsive pages should be resolved ASAP before getting any penalties from the search engine.
• Shifting to HTTPS: If your site is not secured already, migrate from HTTP to HTTPS. This will improve user security and have a positive impact on the SEO.
• Detecting Duplicate Content Issues: If you find any duplicate content, you need to address it quickly. You can use canonical tags or 301 redirects immediately to save yourself from getting penalties.
• Major Update or Redesign: You must keep an eye on the technical SEO when you go through a major redesign or update that changes the structure of your website. If you ignore it, there can be consequences regarding your SRP rankings.

Prioritize On-page SEO

There are also some situations where you must prioritize On-page SEO over Technical SEO.

• Content Needs Optimization: If your content is not ranking or doesn’t have enough traffic, you need to optimize your content first. Properly optimize keywords, meta tags, and focus on your overall content quality.
• Targeting New Keywords or Audiences: When you are expanding your audience and targeting keywords for content, On-page SEO is the main objective you need to focus on.
• Improving User Engagement: If your website has a high bounce rate and low engagement, you should focus on On-page SEO. You can work on the content headlines, internal links, and improve the content layout for better results.
• Creating New Content: When you are publishing a new page or content, prioritize On-page SEO. It will increase the chance of performing well in the SERP from the first go.
• Revising Existing Content: Every once in a while, you need to edit and update your old content to keep it relevant to the current information. In this case, On-page SEO gets more priority.
• Local SEO Efforts: If you are focused on local SEO, you need to put On-page over Technical SEO. In such cases, optimizing location-based keywords, business details, and local content is more important.

Combining Technical and On-page SEO is a common practice that is effective in improving overall site performance. If you can successfully implement Technical SEO with On-page, your website will achieve a higher rank in the search engine and, at the same time, serve a great user experience.

Now, you may ask, “How can I combine these two aspects of SEO together?” It may seem complicated, but actually, it is not that hard. You just need to follow some simple steps to combine both SEO aspects for a strong and enhanced result. We have made a step-by-step guideline for you to make this process easier.

A Proper SEO Audit

First of all, you need to find out the problems to start working on a solution. For that, initiate a comprehensive SEO audit to find out the exact problems. You can use some tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, and SEMrush to perform a complete audit of your website. 

In the process, you will be able to identify technical issues of your website like crawling errors, slow loading speed, broken links, and many more. Some on-page issues, like missing meta tags or keyword gaps, will also come to light.

Work on Critical Technical SEO Issues

To start fixing your website, work on critical technical issues first. Make sure there are no crawling or indexing issues in your website. If the search engine can’t crawl properly, your webpage will not be indexed. Also, fix all broken links and create a clean XML sitemap. Don’t forget about optimizing the robot.text files.

Then, focus on site loading speed. You can compress images, minimize the use of CSS and JavaScript, and leverage browser cache to increase loading speed. A fast-loading website contributes to both on-page and technical SEO, increasing user experience and reducing bounce rates.

Besides, website security is also a crucial factor. A secured website is the foundation of reliability and credibility. So, make sure your website has HTTPS encryption to secure user information.

Establish a Solid Site Structure

Using a logical URL structure with clear categories and subcategories is always recommended. It increases the user experience by making it easy to navigate through your content section. It also helps the crawling system of the search engine. In addition, create a robust internal linking system that redirects a reader to other relevant content on your website. It will help in distributing the link equity throughout the site. It also influences on-page relevance and crawlability.

Optimize On-page Elements Simultaneously

At the same time, conduct proper keyword research to identify relevant keywords and use those naturally in your content. Use these keywords in headings, meta descriptions, content body, and even in the URLs. Use compelling and keyword-optimized headings using H1, H2, and H3 properly. You can structure your content in a clean and organized manner using these tags.

Finally, increase the overall quality of your content. Your content should be valuable, engaging, and informative that can satisfy the user’s search intent. You can use relevant and optimized images and videos with alt text for both SEO and accessibility.

Implement Structured Data Markup

Adding structured data adds to the outlook of your website in the SERP, making it more attracting to the users. Use schema markup according to your business and website content. It will result in rich snippets that increase the click-through rate dramatically.

Optimize Responsiveness

You never know which device the reader is using to browse your website. So, you have to make sure that your website is friendly and responsive for all devices with different screen sizes. Most people use mobile phones to browse the internet. So, your website must be mobile-friendly.

In a nutshell, there are many functional differences between On-page and Technical SEO. They target different aspects of SEO, but in the end, they have the same goal. Both aim to enhance your website ranking and user satisfaction. So, if you can use these SEO strategies simultaneously, you will surely get great benefits.

Is Technical SEO hard?

Technical SEO can be challenging if you don’t have a technical background. You need to have a clear understanding of website architecture, server configurations, and coding. So, if you are not a tech guy, technical SEO is not for you.

What is on page SEO score?

It is a metric that indicates how well your webpage is optimized for search engines. The performance is measured based on keyword usage, meta tags, headings, internal linking, URL structure, and image optimization. The higher the score, the better your performance is.

Why is onsite SEO important?

Onsite SEO is important because it helps optimize every webpage for search engine rankings. A better rank boosts visibility and organic traffic of people who are already interested in your business. It is easy to convert them into clients and increase your business growth.