Most SEO advice focuses on actions taken within your site to improve its search engine traffic, such as content writing, keyword optimization, image optimization, and so on.
However, even if you do all these effectively, your website’s discoverability will remain limited unless you invest in off-page factors that help you promote your content and expand your audience base. This article discusses some of these factors and explains how to deploy them to drive qualified traffic to your website.
What is Off-Page SEO?
SEO techniques are broadly divided into three categories: on-page, off-page, and technical SEO.
The main difference between on-page and off-page SEO is that the former focuses on improving the quality and relevance of your site’s content. At the same time, the latter employs techniques that enhance the popularity and trustworthiness of your site.
Technical SEO is quite different; it refers to activities directly impacting how search engines index and crawl your site. Thus, it includes techniques such as site speed optimization, structured data, site security, etc. But all these are not our focus in this article.
The goal of off-page SEO is to get more users to discover your site and view it as a reliable and helpful source of information. This is important because it helps you rank higher in search results, drive more organic traffic, and increase your brand awareness and credibility.
Off-Page SEO Techniques
1. Link Building
When people talk about off-page SEO, they often talk about link building alone, even though there are other techniques. This underscores how important it is to get other websites to link to your pages.
Qualified backlinks are like an endorsement badge or a vote of confidence, demonstrating that your site is credible. Hence, when you acquire inbound links from more authoritative websites, their visibility and influence rub off on your website.
Some link building strategies include email outreaches, guest blogging, broken link building, thought leadership, and more. However, publishing link-worthy content is the most powerful way to acquire relevant links.
2. PR Strategy
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Continuing from the previous section, even if you publish link-worthy content, you still have to promote it, right? This is where PR comes in as an efficient strategy in off-page SEO.
For instance, publishing a press release announcing a major news update from your company is a sure way to generate backlinks. Effective PR requires you to establish meaningful relationships with journalists and bloggers so they can take an interest in your company and product.
You must conduct in-depth research to ensure that the publications you are targeting have the right audience for your content.
3. Social Media
Today, a social media account is probably more important than a website for businesses, at least for small businesses. There’s nowhere else you can get the level of interactions that social media affords you when you have an engaged audience. Google even encourages this as an SEO strategy.
Maintaining an active presence and responding to customer comments can enhance brand exposure. Thus, it becomes a fertile ground for off-page SEO. Sharing snippets from your latest posts, including links for your audience to read more, does a lot of magic.
4. Influencer Marketing
One of the privileges afforded by a strong social media presence is that it expands opportunities for collaboration with influencers. Endorsements and product placements from people with the ears of your target market go a long way.
These influencers are personalities who have established a reputation for expertise or social influence in their field. This approach to social proof at scale is a particularly smart way to boost your off-page SEO when you’re looking to penetrate a new market.
5. Off-Page Local SEO
What if yours is a local business that can’t afford the services of a major influencer? Then it would be best if you firmed up your local SEO. This should normally begin by setting up your Google My Business profile and registering on other listing services.
However, this is a one-off activity, and it’s not the end. Once your profile is well-optimized, you should focus on acquiring organic and positive user reviews. You might have to nudge customers by placing buttons requesting reviews (without putting them off).
Conclusion
Off-page SEO is a critical component of any successful SEO strategy. Increasing the quality and quantity of links to your website can improve your ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) and attract more visitors. This can lead to increased leads and sales and improved brand awareness and reputation. If you want to take your website to the next level, include off-page SEO in your plans.
