The world of SEO has changed almost beyond recognition in the last few years. New algorithmic updates, a focus on user experience, and an increased opportunity to game the system have all led to new best practices for search engine optimization.
We know that on-page SEO is important, but off-page SEO is just as crucial to the success of your website. A recent Moz study found that 84% of the ranking factors for search engines are off-site. How does this impact your business? It means that you won’t see the results you desire regardless of how much work you put into optimizing your website for search engines unless you also invest in off-page techniques to improve its visibility and authority.
As traditional link-building methods are becoming obsolete, businesses are looking for new strategies to improve their off-page SEO performance. Of course, every business’s ultimate goal is to ensure that your site appears at the top of search engine results. Whether you’re a blogger or website owner, you can do plenty of things to optimize your site and its content for search engines.
If you’re hoping to reach more users with your website and drive more traffic, you need to check off these crucial off-page SEO checkmarks — starting now. The fields of search engine and social media optimization are constantly redefined. Still, right now, we’ve got a rare convergence of factors, making it easier than ever to succeed with off-page SEO. If you take this moment as an opportunity, not a fad, your site can see real growth next year.
Off-Page SEO Basics
What is Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO is the process of optimizing a website for higher search engine rankings through the creation of high-quality backlinks. Backlinks are incoming links to a website from another site. Search engines use the number and quality of backlinks to determine the importance and relevance of a website.
Off-page SEO is a long-term strategy used to build a website’s authority and reputation. Off-page SEO aims to get other websites to link to your website. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher your website will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Why Off-Page SEO is important for your website?
If you’re still not convinced of the importance of off-page SEO, here are some key benefits: First, off-page SEO is much easier to execute than on-page SEO. You don’t need to spend a lot of time and resources on your website’s design or the creation of new content. It’s also a scalable marketing strategy, which means you can quickly increase the number of backlinks to your website to boost its visibility in search engine results. Finally, off-page SEO has a long-term impact on your website’s traffic and rankings. With on-page SEO, you may see results within a few months, but it’s not something you can expect to last for years.
Difference Between ON-Page SEO & Off-Page SEO
While both on-page and off-page SEO is essential for a healthy website, they are very different. On-page SEO refers to the elements you can directly control on your websites, such as the content, URL, titles, and meta descriptions. On the other hand, off-page SEO refers to the links that are linking back to your site. Since they are external to your website, you don’t have much control over them. The big difference between the two is that on-page SEO is permanent, while off-page SEO is temporary. This means that you can’t rely on off-page SEO to generate traffic to your website in perpetuity. The backlinks to your website may disappear or change over time, so you need to constantly work on acquiring new links to replace them.
10 Off-Page SEO Techniques that Work
Off-Page SEO Tactic #1: Link Building
The first and most important off-page SEO tactic is link building. These links on high-authority sites point to your website, passing link juice and boosting your site’s authority and ranking. There are different types of links that you can use to improve your off-page SEO. The best links are contextual, homepage or subdomain, and citation links. You can also try guest articles and interviews to get backlinks. You can also use broken link building to your advantage. To do this, you find broken links on high-authority websites, contact the webmaster, and suggest replacing the broken link with a link to your website.
Off-Page SEO Tactic #2: Brand Building
Another key off-page SEO tactic to boost your site’s visibility and authority is brand building. With this, you try to increase your brand’s visibility across all channels, including social media, your site, and the press. You can build your brand in many ways, but the most important thing is consistency. You can start building your brand by creating an editorial calendar. This helps you plan out your content to publish new blog posts consistently, which is important for your long-term growth. You can also expand your content horizons by publishing on other platforms and building relationships with influencers. You can even start your podcast if you have the time. Finally, you can use paid brand-building tools to help you scale your content efforts.
Off-Page SEO Tactic #3: Content Marketing
Content marketing is one of the best ways to build authority with your brand. Whether you’re creating blog posts, eBooks, white papers, or videos, creating quality content is one of the best ways to improve your off-page SEO and engage your target audience. When creating content for your website, you want to ensure that it’s valuable for your readers. This means that you need to write about topics relevant to your industry and solve problems for your readers. You also want to ensure that your content is optimized for search engines. This means that you want to include the right keywords in your content and use appropriate titles, meta descriptions, and images.
Off-Page SEO Tactic #4: Press Release
Press releases are an excellent tool for building links to your website. However, many businesses don’t use them to their full potential. You can start by creating an authoritative article that mentions your product or service. You can then distribute your press release to a wide range of distribution networks that will publish your article and a backlink to your website. You can also submit your press release to online and offline publications that accept press releases. Press releases are 100% proven SEO tactics and a great way to increase brand awareness.
Off-Page SEO Tactic #5: Local SEO (GMB and Citation)
One of the best ways to improve your off-page SEO is to focus on local SEO (also known as GMB or citation building). With this strategy, you want to focus on getting links from high-authority sources in your area and claiming your business information on sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and YellowPages. Getting links and reviews is critical to your success. You can start by compiling a list of local blogs and websites relevant to your industry. You can also add your business information to various citation websites, such as YellowPages and Yelp. Make sure to follow their guidelines for maximum success.
Off-Page SEO Tactic #6: Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking sites are a great way to drive traffic to your website and build links. This is because many bookmarking sites let you add a backlink to your website when you submit a new bookmark. You can start by finding the most relevant bookmarking sites for your industry and reading their guidelines to learn how to get your link on their site. You don’t need to create brand-new accounts for each bookmarking site. Instead, you can leverage the power of social media management tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social to manage your links and automate your social bookmarking efforts easily.
Off-Page SEO Tactic #7: Forum Submission
Asking your readers to join your forum is a great way to build links to your site. You can create your platform and invite other forum owners to add a link to your site when they approve your membership. You can also look for existing forums in your niche and start a conversation. This is a great way to build links and simultaneously engage with your target audience. After a bit of time, you’ll notice that your forum link is being clicked on.
Off-Page SEO Tactic #8: Blogger Outreach
One of the easiest ways to get quality backlinks is through blogger outreach. This involves finding bloggers in your niche who don’t currently link to you and reaching out to them with a personalized request. Successful blogger outreach campaigns can significantly impact your search engine rankings. Beyond link building, blogging outreach is a way to strengthen your relationships with other bloggers, make new connections, and create high-quality content for your audience. You can use a tool like BloggerLinkOut to identify the best people to reach out to and a tool like Aweber to create a personalized outreach email.
Off-Page SEO Tactic #9: Guest Posting
Guest posting is another classic link-building strategy still relevant in the modern SEO landscape. Guest posting is when you write a piece of content for another website, and that website links back to your site, helping it to rank higher in the results. Each guest post you publish, combined with the links back to your website, can positively impact your search engine rankings. However, not all guest posts are created equal. To get the most out of your guest post efforts, you need to find high-quality websites in your niche and pitch them a piece of content you’d like to write for them.
Off-Page SEO Tactic #10: Web 2.0 Links
Web 2.0 links are another link-building tactic that’s been around for a while, but they’ve become even more effective in recent years. A web 2.0 link is a link that uses HTML rather than a simple hyperlink. You can create web 2.0 links manually or use website builders that allow you to add them automatically. These links have become more critical to your search engine ranking because regular hyperlinks are no longer as impactful. In addition, with web 2.0 links, you have more control over what you link to and more flexibility in the anchor text you use.
Best tools for Off-Page SEO
There are many great tools available to help with off-page SEO. Here are a few of the best:
1. Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a free tool that can be used to track the traffic to your website. This can be very helpful in understanding which off-page SEO techniques are working and which are not.
2. Alexa: Alexa is a free tool that can be used to track the traffic to your website. This can be very helpful in understanding which off-page SEO techniques are working and which are not.
3. Moz: Moz is a paid tool that offers a free trial. It can be used to track your website’s traffic and see which keywords are bringing people to your site.
- Ahrefs: It is both a free & Premium tool that allows you to see the backlinks pointing to your website. This can be very helpful in understanding which off-page SEO techniques are working and which are not.
Looking For an Off-Page SEO Expert?
I am a professional SEO consultant with over three years of experience in the industry. I have a proven track record of helping my clients increase their organic traffic and rankings. If you are interested in improving your off-page SEO, I would be happy to help.
I offer various SEO services, including link building, social media, and content marketing. I also provide consulting services to help you develop and implement an effective SEO strategy for your business.
Please contact me if you want to learn more about my services or discuss your specific needs. I am always happy to talk to prospective clients and provide a free consultation.