What is Off-Page SEO?
What is Off-Page SEO? Off-Page SEO is a set of techniques and tactics that we do outside of our website to gain trust, authority and improve our search engine ranking.
Some of the techniques are:
- Link Building
- Digital PR
- Influencer Outreach
- Social Media Marketing
It is one of the most difficult aspects of SEO, as getting authoritative links and building relationships is a challenge.
For this reason, I’m going to discuss some techniques that can help you.
By the end of this article, I’ll show you how you can improve your website rankings with effective and actionable tactics.
Is Off-Page SEO still important?
The short answer is yes.
The long answer:
Google heavily considers off-page SEO factors when it comes to ranking websites.
It helps them identify trustworthy and niche websites.
Think of it as a recommendation.
If they link back to your website or mention you anywhere else, then Google takes that positively.
Backlinks are one of the most important factors with experience, authority and trust coming in second.
Basically, the more trusted and relevant websites linking to you the better.
There are studies that support this:
(Source Backlinko)
Of course backlinks are important, but other factors still play a role.
In short, off-page SEO helps you improve your organic ranking as well as your brand awareness.
And yes, it’s still important.
Let me clarify a few things before I move on to the factors that search engines count.
Starting with…
Off-Page vs On-Page SEO
It is important for one to know the SEO aspects well before starting to practice it.
There are differences between them, the main one being the following:
Off-page SEO involves actions that occur outside of your website.
While on-page seo refers to optimization that happens inside your website.
Here are some tactics they use:
Both are equally important for an SEO strategy.
Off-Page SEO techniques
There are many techniques you can apply to develop a strong SEO strategy.
Among the most common ones are:
I will cover three of the most essential ones.
Starting with…
Link building
Link building is the most important technique.
It is the essence of off-page SEO since it is about getting backlinks.
It is almost essential for any SEO strategy if you want to improve your organic search engine rankings.
There are various ways in which you can build relationships and gain links.
Such as…
Earn quality and relevant references
It is good to have backlinks but it is extremely important that they are relevant and of high quality.
It doesn’t matter if you have 20 links from major websites if those websites are not relevant to what you are offering.
For example:
Consider that you are a business that sells jewelry.
If you get a link from a website that is famous for posting football news, then visits to your website will be minimal.
You want links from quality websites with good traffic and of course relevant subject matter.
One of the ways to get such links is…
Guest posting
Guest posting is the process of writing articles for various types of online publications.
It allows you to target topically relevant websites that already have an established audience.
But not only that.
You can reach audiences who don’t know you or your brand.
In addition, with guest posting you showcase your credibility and expertise.
And finally, you can build quality and relevant links.
It’s generally favorable for off-page SEO, as you can see.
But finding a place where you can guest post is difficult.
The trick?
Google this:
Your keyword + ‘write for us’.
Unlinked mentions
Another notable way is Unlinked mentions.
Many times, when people or brands mention you online, they forget or simply don’t link back to you.
You can contact them to ask them to link back to your website.
But how can you find such unlinked mentions?
In 2 ways.
Google search:
”intext:yourbrand” or ”intext:yourname”
Also, you can go to Google alerts and set an alert whenever someone mentions you:
Just enter your company name in the text box below and you’re ready to go.
Important note: Equally useful for backlink acquisition are different SEO tools that you can use for free.
Digital PR
Digital PR is usually one of the more difficult off-page SEO techniques, as you have to contact news websites and journalists.
It is a strategy by which you increase your online presence through relationships with online publications.
Some good practices for digital pr are:
- A preference for branded anchor texts.
- Target News Websites.
The use of branded anchor texts is particularly beneficial for off-page SEO because:
They improve brand authority, credibility and visibility.
In terms of content distribution, a good strategy is to target news websites, as it is difficult to reach them with simple requests for guest posting.
You can also use websites like HARO (help a reporter out).
Initially, if you used HARO back in the day you’ll know that it’s moved on a different website now.
And while it’s still useful depending on your needs, it has it’s setbacks.
You have to answer promptly to the journalists questions that interest you. It is quite time sensitive.
Also, the question, must be relevant to what you specialize in.
Of course, if you skip it’s setbacks and difficulties, you can build a good link profile with it’s help.
Content Marketing
The last technique I’m going to talk about is Content Marketing.
It’s an equally essential technique for an off-page SEO strategy.
Although we can get links through content marketing, it’s not the only positive thing about it.
By producing infographics, social media posts, articles and podcasts, you give your audience more chances to engage with your brand.
And what’s the best way to do that?
With the help of…
Social Media Marketing
With Social Media Marketing you are likely to increase brand mentions as well as the engagement of your audience.
It’s critical to be consistent on social media and post according to your social media calendar.
This way you will be more likely to increase brand mentions, which in turn, signals search engines positively.
Where can you share your content?
From infographics on pinterest to articles on linkedin, you have several options for where you can share it.
While at the same time, it is possible to place links through your articles and posts.
Although social media backlinks don’t affect your website’s ranking in organic results, they can rank your social media accounts higher.
Overall the positives of social media in off-page SEO are:
- Increase brand awareness, engagement, trust and visibility.
- Generating leads.
- Driving traffic to your website.
Whether it’s for backlinks, or to prove your expertise and increase trust, social media positively influences your off-page SEO strategy.
Influencer outreach
Finally, with Influencer outreach you can get in touch with influencers in your field to promote your products or services.
Influencers have a high reputation and an audience that trusts them.
They can comment, make unboxing videos or simply give feedback on your product.
Then, when they share it with their audience, you not only diversify your link profile but also boost your credibility and authority.
Also, you can build a relationship with influencers that in the long run, could be beneficial for both parties.
Other positives of influencer outreach are:
- Dedicated audience
- Exposure to new audiences
- Social signals
Therefore…
Off-Page SEO is an important part of an overall SEO strategy, significantly affecting the visibility and ranking of your website in organic search engine results.
With the proper application of techniques such as link building, digital PR and content marketing, you can boost your online presence and attract an increasingly targeted audience.
Thank you for reading and if you want to learn more about SEO you can check out the rest of my blog articles!