Search Engine Optimization is not a single strategy or tactic. It is an umbrella term for a wide range of techniques. Marketers use these to improve the visibility and ranking of a website in SERPs. Having an effective SEO strategy is essential for any business.

After all, if your website isn’t appearing at the top of SERP then it does not matter how great your product or service is. That’s why it’s essential to use every available method when creating an SEO plan. Now let’s take a look at what off-page SEO is, why it’s important, and how you can do it.

What is Off-Page SEO?

Off-page SEO (also called “off-site SEO”) is a set of activities taken outside your website to impact rankings in search engine results. It refers to activities taken beyond a website to improve its organic ranking, drive more traffic and maximize visibility.

There are several elements of off-page SEO you can undertake such as link building, content promotion, getting reviews and creating social signals.

• Link Building involves acquiring links from other websites to build trust and authority with search engines.
• Content Promotion involves publishing content on third party sites that link back to your website so you can gain additional exposure.
• Social Signals refer to promoting content or business pages through channels such as Twitter or Facebook, increasing brand awareness and potentially higher rankings.
• Reviews are a great way to help others trust your business. In fact, reviews are one of the most important factors Google considers when evaluating your site’s E-A-T.

The aim of off-page SEO is not only to gain higher rankings in SERPs but also to increase online visibility across various platforms. And when your online visibility increases, so do your website’s traffic.

Why Is Off-Page SEO Important?

Off-Page SEO helps build a website’s recognition and domain authority in the eyes of Google.

“The top results on Google have an average of 3.8x more backlinks than those that appear in positions 2-10.”

While Google changes its search algorithms and ranking factors frequently. Still, there is one thing that’s not going to change which is reputation. Think of it like a credit score. The more trust you have, the better your ranking will be. Now to build a reputation you need to have Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T)

When determining which websites will feature at the top, Google places significant importance on off-page SEO metrics. It also helps build trust among potential customers. If multiple sites are linking back to yours, you have a good reputation and are producing quality content.

Types of Links for Off-Page SEO

I started my career from off page SEO. And believe me I really hated this. Because all I was doing back in 2017 was building different types of links for 8 hours a day. But today things have changed. You don’t need to build hundreds of links just to rank in Google.

Now it’s about Quality instead of Quantity. Before you start building links, you should know what links matter today so that you don’t fall into spam traps. The following are three main types of links that you should know about.

Natural Links

Natural backlinks, also known as organic links, come from external websites and point to your website without you having to ask for them. They occur naturally in creating quality content that other webmasters find useful enough to link to.

For example, a marketer is searching for a digital marketing guide and finds a great resource on your website. He then links it to his blog post, creating a natural backlink.

In SEO terms, natural backlinks are invaluable. Because they serve as a signal of trustworthiness and credibility. Not only do they help with ranking your website better in organic searches but they also help build relationships between websites which can bring further referral traffic as well as social engagement.

Google’s algorithms pay great attention to natural backlinks. They factor heavily into ranking pages on SERPs. The higher the number and quality of natural backlinks pointing at your page, the higher probability you have of appearing first in the ranking.

Manual Link Building

Manual link building is acquiring backlinks (inbound links) from relevant websites using different link building strategies. It’s also referred to as “white hat SEO” because it follows the guidelines set by major search engines.

The main purpose of manual link building is to build relationships with other webmasters in your niche. When done properly, it will help establish your website as a credible source for users looking for information about a given topic or industry. This relationship-based approach considers that humans interact before machines (Google algorithms).

There is one thing to remember. Manual link building always takes time, effort and patience. Building meaningful relationships isn’t something that happens overnight. But when done right, it pays off in terms of improved page ranking & organic growth long term.

Self-Created Backlinks

Links created yourself such as adding a backlink in an online directory, forum, blog comment signature, or press release could be termed self-created backlinks. These backlinks can be highly beneficial if done right. When creating these types of links, consider the following:

• Relevant Content: Make sure that the content you’re linking from is relevant to your own website’s topic. This will help ensure visitors stay on-site longer and engage with your content more often.
• Quality Sites: Select websites with higher domain authority (DA) ratings. This reflects how well their pages rank in SERPs. Aiming for sites with higher DA ratings can yield better results within a shorter timeframe.
• Anchor Texts: Write anchor texts which comprise attractive words. These should be keyword rich but remain meaningful. Adding ‘Click Here’ style bits isn’t always wise as some may view it negatively due to its lack of relevancy & artificiality versus ones tailored around industry keywords etc.
• PBNs: Avoid PBNs. Because Google’s algorithm is increasingly sophisticated, it can easily detect artificial links created to manipulate rankings. Getting backlinks through organic means like guest posting or link building outreach is much better.
• Overall Traffic: Check the traffic of the website before building a link. If it is low, the backlink won’t be of much use as it is unlikely to drive any extra traffic toward your site.

How To Do Off-Page SEO for Any Website?

Off-page SEO is an important part of any SEO strategy. If you are a small or local business, I would say focus on the following strategies. Because these are the most cost efficient ways to bring long term results.

• Guest Posting: Reach out to blogs related to your industry, pitch them an article and build a link in the resource section at the end of the post.
• Directory Submissions: List your business in relevant directories and review websites. This helps build authority for your site & increases its rankings and brings in extra visitors who may otherwise not have found your website.
• Forum Posting: Participating in forums related to your industry can help build relationships & increase brand awareness and get valuable backlinks from other forum members.
• Blogging: Regularly creating high-quality and informational blog posts can help attract potential customers and increase search engine traffic.
• PR: Getting your business on local news channels websites or in newspapers can help increase visibility & build trust with potential customers.
• Social Media: Sharing content on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram help to reach a larger audience and bring in more leads & traffic.

These are 100% working strategies that I’m still using to get higher rankings for my clients. With these strategies, you can build links, increase website visibility and improve website rankings.

Ending Thoughts

At the end of the day, off-page SEO is just as important as on-page optimization. No matter what type of business you run or what industry you work in. By focusing on creating quality content and quality links from reputable sources, you can give your website a much needed boost in rankings and gain more visibility online.

So if you want to maximize the success of your website’s digital marketing efforts then make sure you prioritize both on page and off page optimization strategies. But in case you need help with your SEO strategy, feel free to reach out to us. We would be more than happy to help you.