What are the 4 types of SEO?

Four types of SEO exist: on-page, technical, off-page, and local. Each addresses different ranking factors. Google uses all four determining positions. Winners balance all four; beginners typically focus one, miss others.

Type 1: On-Page SEO

Everything within your pages optimizing for keywords and search intent.

Keyword optimization: research keywords (search volume, intent, competition), naturally weave throughout content (title, headings, body, meta description). Avoid keyword-stuffing (obvious, penalized). Natural integration (keyword appears organically in helpful content).

Content quality: answer search question thoroughly. "How to write better content?" article should comprehensively address writing techniques. Depth, original insights, examples matter. Surface-level content ranks nowhere.

Meta tags: title tag (60 characters, keyword-rich), meta description (160 characters, click-worthy), H1 tag (main page heading, keyword-relevant). These small elements signal relevance to Google, improve click-through rate.

Internal linking: link related articles together. Article on "web development timeline" links to "web design process," "project planning." Internal links distribute authority, help users navigate, signal topical relevance.

User experience signals: low bounce rate (people stay), high engagement (time on page), scroll depth (reading whole article). Google measures these, rewards. Good UX = good rankings.

Strength: directly controllable. You own these factors.

Weakness: commoditized. Everyone optimizing on-page. Differentiation harder. Need exceptional content to stand out.

Type 2: Technical SEO

Everything affecting how Google crawls, indexes, ranks your site.

Site speed: pages loading slow (>3 seconds) reduce crawl budget, hurt rankings, cause bounce. Optimize images, compress code, enable caching. Core Web Vitals (Google's metrics) increasingly important.

Mobile-friendly: majority traffic mobile now. Sites not mobile-optimized ranked lower. Responsive design (site adapts mobile) standard.

XML sitemaps: file listing pages, helps Google discover, crawl efficiently.

Robots.txt: file instructing Google which pages crawl, which skip. Focuses crawl budget on important pages.

Structured data: schema markup (code telling Google what content means—article, product, recipe). Helps Google understand content, enables rich results (star ratings, images in results).

HTTPS/SSL: secure sites ranked higher, unsecured lower.

Internal link structure: clean hierarchy (logical URL structure, clear navigation). Flat structure better than deep nesting.

Duplicate content: exact copies tanking rankings (or consolidating signals). Avoid duplicates, use canonical tags if necessary.

Crawl errors: broken links, 404 pages, server errors preventing crawling. Fix these.

Strength: systematic, measurable. Fix issues, rankings improve predictably.

Weakness: unglamorous (not "creative"), easy ignore. But critical foundation. Bad technical SEO undermines good on-page content.

Type 3: Off-Page SEO

Everything outside your site affecting rankings.

Backlinks: other sites linking you = authority votes. More quality links = higher authority = higher rankings. Quality > quantity (few links from authority sites better than many low-authority links).

Brand mentions: online mentions of brand (even without links) signal authority. "Best web dev agencies" article mentioning agency without linking still valuable.

Social signals: shares, likes, comments signal popularity. Indirect ranking effect (Google sees engagement).

Author authority: author with credentials, published works, citations seen as authoritative. E-E-A-T factor.

PR and media: mentions in press, media outlets, industry publications signal authority.

Strength: hard to fake (backlinks come from others). Legitimate authority builders.

Weakness: hardest to control. Can't force sites linking you, must earn through quality.

Type 4: Local SEO

Optimization for geographic-specific searches ("web developer Portland," "plumber near me").

Google My Business: claimed, optimized business profile (address, hours, phone, reviews, photos). Critical foundation for local ranking.

Local citations: business listed on directories (Yelp, Yellow Pages, local directories). Name, Address, Phone consistent across all (NAP consistency signals legitimacy).

Local content: location pages ("web dev Portland," "web dev Seattle") targeting local keywords.

Local backlinks: links from local businesses, chamber of commerce, local news.

Reviews: customer reviews on Google, Yelp, industry sites. More reviews, better ratings = higher local ranking.

Location keywords: content mentioning city, neighborhood, region. "Serving Portland" signals local presence.

Strength: less competition (local markets smaller), high-intent (people searching local ready hire), easier dominate.

Weakness: limited by geography. Nationwide SEO requires different strategy.

Relative importance by business:

E-commerce: On-page (product pages, descriptions), Technical (site speed, mobile for shopping).

Local services (plumbing, HVAC, web dev): Local SEO (Google My Business, location pages, reviews) essential.

SaaS/B2B: Off-page (backlinks, authority) crucial. Technical solid. On-page strong (educational content, demos).

Content/blog: On-page (quality content) paramount. Off-page (links, mentions) growing. Technical standard.

Balanced approach:

Start foundation: technical SEO (site speed, mobile, structured data). Prerequisite for everything else.

Build on-page: keyword research, quality content, internal linking.

Earn off-page: produce linkable content, build relationships, earn backlinks, media mentions.

Specialize local: if local business, optimize Google My Business, local citations, location pages.

This balanced approach separates pros from amateurs. Beginners focus on-page only (visible, understandable). Professionals balance all four (comprehensive advantage).

Real example: web dev agency 2025.

On-page: write "guide to web development process," optimize for keyword, good structure.

Technical: ensure site fast (Core Web Vitals), mobile-friendly, proper schema markup.

Off-page: pitch guide to industry publications, earn backlinks from design blogs, PR mentions.

Local: optimize Google My Business (Portland, OR), create "web dev Portland" page, collect client reviews.

Combined: on-page content + technical foundation + authority backlinks + local optimization = comprehensive ranking advantage. Single approach insufficient; balanced wins.

For Vispaico: web dev services balance on-page (content about dev process), technical (fast, mobile site), off-page (industry links, PR), local (Google My Business, location pages). Music promotion: on-page (blog about music production), technical (podcast/video site speed), off-page (artist platform links, music media mentions), local (emerging, less relevant).

Common mistakes: ignoring technical (site broken or slow), neglecting off-page (only publishing content, no promotion), forgetting local (if local business). Balance is key.

Verdict: Four types SEO: on-page (visible, understandable), technical (invisible, critical), off-page (hard to control, high-impact), local (geography-specific, high-intent). Winners balance all four. Beginners focus one, miss others. Comprehensive approach—technical foundation, strong on-page content, earned authority, local optimization—separates winners from rest. No shortcut; hard work required. But balanced approach wins.