Facing difficulties to rank in Google despite working so hard? Your off-page SEO may be the reason. SEO is divided into two parts: on-page SEO and off-page SEO. Many see off-page SEO as synonymous with link building, but is it right?
Off-page search engine optimization is not only about links. It is much more than that. For instance, brand mentions are an important aspect of off-page search signals. As content marketers and smart bloggers, we generally start with on-page SEO. But we do not stop at that point. Because, to a great extent, the things that matter to Google mostly happen away from your website.
Based on your marketing objectives, the time you spend on the off-page search engine optimization will differ. Dr. Pete Meyers from Moz observed that several website owners spend nearly 30% of their time on different off-page factors and about 70% on the on-page factors. For other website owners, those percentages are changed.
Off-page informs Google what others think about your site. For instance, if you have got a lot of important links pointing to your pages, search engines will assume that your website has great content- the type that offers value for the users.
Or else, why would people waste time linking to it?
People only cite, reference, and share the content they like. Even in a brick-and-mortar business, if your product is affordable and helpful, you will get a lot of word of mouth referrals from your existing customers.
Search engine optimization can be scary, mainly when you do not know what steps to take to rank your fresh content pages in the top 10 Google search results. But, if you can create a basic understanding of off-page and on-page optimization, you will be ahead of your competitors. If you want to learn more about Off Page SEO you can visit Digital Marketing Courses in Bangalore.
What is Off-Page SEO?
“Off-Page SEO” can be defined as all the activities that you and others do away from your site to improve the ranking of a page with the search engines. Though many associates off-page SEO with link building, it is much more than that. Many activities that do not result in a standard link on other websites are vital for off-page optimization.
On-page search engine optimization happens within the website, whereas off-page SEO happens outside the website. If you write a guest post or leave your comment, you are involved in off-page site promotion.
Backlinks and other off-site signals still form the base of Google’s algorithm. There is a clear correlation between Google rankings and total backlinks.
And Google has gone on the record saying that they use PageRank still now.
That said: links are just one part of off-page SEO. Google themselves state that they use various other off-site SEO signals to size up your site.
Why does Off-page SEO matter?
Off-page SEO is immensely valuable as it tells the search engines that your website is important to others online. Every link that you receive acts as an endorsement from other sources that says your website is of good quality.
This allows external sources to play the role of tiebreakers for sites that have a similar quality of on-page SEO, so search engines know the best to rank sites on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Off-page SEO involves link building from various sources. There are two types of links:
- Do-Follow Links
A do-follow link is a default type of link that lets Google bots or spiders to give the link juice or value to the link or a webpage that is connected to. For example, if a renowned fashion magazine, let us say, for instance, X adds an article to their sire and offers a do-follow link to pertinent business at Buzztowns or guest posts more sites, let us say Y, then it means that X is offering some of their value to Y. This value assists Y attain a better PageRank and rank better on the Search Engine Result Page. The best method to use a do-follow link is to add an important keyword as the anchor text.
Google checks the number of do-follow links you receive to get your site and from the number of various domains from where you get it. The more the number of do-follow links from relevant and multiple domains, the more the value that is passed.
This is how a do-follow link looks:
<a href=”https://www.xyz.com”>XYZ</a>
- No-Follow Links
A no-follow link means Google bots and spiders will not follow such type of links. They will not pass any value or link-juice to the page where it is linked to. As no link juice is passed, no-follow links will not have any kind of effect on the ranking. No-follow links were launched to stop the webspam.
Factors that influence link value for Off-page SEO
You also must think about the equity or value and the authority passed by a link.
While you could entice lots of low-value links from untrustworthy or spammy sites, they will not help your business rank high in the search results. That is why it is important to focus on your off-page SEO link building efforts on trusted sites with great link equity.
The factors that affect the equity passed by a link include:
- Anchor text to link to your website
- Freshness or age of the link to your website
- Number of links on the linking page
- The relation between the linking website’s subject matter as well as yours
- The trustworthiness of the linking website
- Authority of the linking site as well as the linking page
If you use tools like SEMRush, Ahref, and more, you can evaluate the potential link value of a website.
How to do Off-page SEO for your SEO campaign
Now, that we have proven how important Off-page SEO is for a website’s success, we can explore the specifics of how to improve off-page SEO activities.
Link building- The most popular method of off-page SEO is backlinking, which focuses on generating natural links to your page. Getting reputable sites to link back to your site has two main advantages: driving traffic to your website and assisting determine your rank. Links from reputable websites are enormously beneficial to your site.
These advantages occur because links are the main way to navigate the internet. Links enhance your users’ experience. With links, your users can navigate to other information that they find relevant.
Links are the simplest method to measure the authority, expertise, and trust of a website. That is the reason why Google includes links as a part of the search engine ranking factors.
But how do you convince others to link to your site? You can try any of the below-mentioned off-page search engine optimization strategies to begin.
Blogging- Blogging is one of the best ways to start generating linkable content for your brand. There is no other thing on the web with a continuous flow of long-form content than the blogs. On your blog, your audience can comment as well as share your content, making it simpler to get noticed and start creating natural links as well as brand mentions.
And with repeated posts, you will become a well-informed leader in the industry. Your audience will first look at you for information about any recent trends and updates, as well as how-to-guides and informational articles.
Social Media Marketing- While social media links do not have any impact on the ranking, social media websites are still one of the best options on the web to generate brand awareness.
Brands with a solid presence on social media feel approachable and open, which is something that is becoming more and more important for businesses these days.
If a brand is not approachable, not only it is considered as abrasive, its trustworthiness also becomes doubtful when users cannot access information about it.
Instead of acting as some aloof entity, let your brand come out as a friendly, neighborhood corner store. How can you do this? You can do this by staying active on social media websites and by writing a blog where you can help your audience get a feel for your brand’s style.
Also, create content that is easy to read and relevant, and respond sincerely and positively to comments on both your social media pages and blog. Doing this will make your brand feel like a group of people rather than a robot.
Influencer marketing- How can off-page SEO affect online opinions?
Due to the emphasis on links as a process of accomplishing off-page SEO, people tend to believe generating links is the only goal of off-page SEO. The real objective of off-page SEO, however, is to improve rankings so that people can contact, find, and purchase from your brand. With the help of Off-page SEO, customers will build a positive engagement with your brand, whether that be through reviews, social media, brand mentions, or links.
Off-page SEO can be a tricky process, though, because those processes are ones that are difficult to control. There is no definite way to plummet the credibility of your brand- or your rank- than with black hat SEO processes like paying the employees to post good and positive reviews or purchasing links to your website.
And since you cannot control off-page in the same manner that you can control the on-page SEO elements of your website, off-page SEO can turn into a disappointing waiting game where all you can do is just hope that the response received from your audience is positive.
If it is negative, reassess your SEO strategy. Find out what is working and what is not.
Ways using which you can fight negative reviews are:
- Implementing changes that will solve the valid worries of those negative reviews
- Reaching to customers, asking them for a review after every purchase
- By doing these two things, you will enhance your products and services and create more reviews
Social bookmarking- It is the process of submitting your content to sites like Tumblr, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and many others. These websites segment their content to appeal to specific niches, which you can use to appeal to audiences in specific demographics whom you want to target. Before you submit any content, though, ensure to research about your audiences and the rules of every site.
You should not spam these communities. Instead, you should try to offer actual value to the audience with your content.
Conclusion
Off-page SEO might seem difficult compared to on-page SEO as many off-page SEO factors are not under your control, but that is the whole point. The tougher something is to earn, the more reliable it is.
It is significant to note that online and offline marketing activities can influence all the above several factors.