The Types of SEO
SEO is a broad field. Knowing its main branches helps you see the big picture and choose where to focus first.
The main branches
- On-page SEO — optimising content and HTML on your pages.
- Off-page SEO — building authority through backlinks and mentions.
- Technical SEO — crawlability, speed, indexing and site health.
- Local SEO — ranking for “near me” and city searches.
- E-commerce SEO — optimising product and category pages.
- Content SEO — planning and writing content that ranks.
Where to start
For most beginners, the highest-value order is: get the technical foundations right, publish helpful content targeting real keywords, then earn backlinks. You will learn each of these in the parts ahead.
Pro tips
- You do not need to master every branch at once. Start with content and on-page.
- Local businesses should prioritise Local SEO early.
- Technical SEO becomes more important as your site grows larger.
Common mistakes
- Trying to do everything at once and burning out.
- Chasing backlinks before the content is worth linking to.
- Ignoring technical health until rankings mysteriously drop.
Summary
SEO has several branches — on-page, off-page, technical, local, e-commerce and content. Beginners get the best results by fixing technical basics, publishing helpful content, then earning links.