Everyone who has a website should know at least some basic SEO, if they wish to get good rankings in search results and increase their organic traffic- which, of course, means increasing their conversions, sales, etc. It is a very broad subject, but still easy enough to get the basics right. In our previous articles, we have talked about SEO and on-page SEO in detail. Now we will talk about off-page SEO: what is it? Why is it important? How to do it properly, and of course, what to avoid…
So, without taking any longer, let’s start- here’s all you need to know about off-page SEO…
What is Off-Page SEO?
Before talking in detail about what off-page SEO is, let’s take a quick look at what SEO is. (if you haven’t read our article about SEO, we strongly advise you to do so first, before you continue.)
SEO (search engine optimization) is basically a series of optimizations you do for your website so it gets better rankings in organic search results. These optimizations can range from changing the name of the images to revising your content, to getting links from outside sources to modifying the HTML code of your web template… SEO is a very broad subject and is usually branched into two main categories: on-page SEO, and off-page SEO.
On-page SEO is simply all the modifications you perform on your website- modifying images, URL structure, page names, headlines in your content, etc. (you can find more information on this on our on-page SEO article.)
Off-page SEO is, as you may guess now, is any operation that takes place outside the website, with the main aim of getting quality links to your website from valuable sources, which, is a way of telling the search engines -mainly Google of course- that your site is providing enough value for users to be referenced by trusted sources. There are a lot of ways of doing off-page SEO including social media marketing, link-building, guest blogging, etc. We will talk about all of them in detail in the next section.
Main Off-Page SEO Elements
As we have said, there are a lot of ways of doing good off-page SEO. Some of the main methods are the following:
Link Building/Backlinks
Backlinks are essentially links you get from other websites, pointing to your pages. Getting links from authority sites is a great way to establish your own position as an authority. These links -ideally- work as a “vote of trust” from other websites to yours, and search engines basically think if your site is good enough to get a link from a trusted source, it should be moved up in search results as well. Keep in mind that people sometimes use the term “link building” interchangeably with off-page SEO, which is more or less what it is, as with most other tactics here you are trying to do the same thing: get more links pointing to your website. Link building is the most important aspect of off-page SEO.
Social Media
We live in a digital world, and social media is our main platform of communication. It is just what it is. So, no one with a website should overlook its importance. And, just as it plays a major role in our lives, it plays an important role in off-page SEO as well. Although social media is not a direct ranking factor (getting links from social media platforms do not directly affect your rankings), maintaining a strong presence in social networks will put you on the radar of more people. And if you consider the fact that those networks are sort of search engines in a way, appearing among the top in people’s social media searches will broaden your audience. And while we are talking about links, sharing quality posts and getting on the radar of more people will certainly increase the chances of your content getting shared on other sites -imagine sharing a post and it gets viral!- which will help your with off-page SEO.
Guest-Blogging
Guest blogging is where, you, as an authority on a subject, write a blog post for a different website in your niche. This post may include a link to your own website, providing you a backlink, which obviously helps your reputation with the search engines. If you do this regularly, you will get better results.
You can say that guest blogging is a way of link-building as well -and you’d be right- but it should be mentioned separately as it also helps you build more trust as an authority, and develop a relationship with a new audience.
Brand-Building
By now, everyone knows that Google rewards brands. Which means, if you create more and more awareness as a brand, it will most certainly help your search rankings. Regularly checking your brand searches -searches made directly using your brand name, products, domain name, etc.- is a good way of keeping track of how much are you recognized as a brand. Remember if you are popular enough as a brand, you will be getting a lot more links, without actively working for them!
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing can certainly be a great off-page SEO tactic- when used correctly, it can help you build your brand -remember what we have said about branding before?- and it can certainly help you to amplify your content so you can easily broaden your audience.
Social Bookmarking
The practice of social bookmarking can simply be described as submitting your content to social sites such as Reddit, Tumblr, etc. As these sites are categorized in certain niches, you should be able to easily find your own. Thanks to this you can reach a lot more people, which might at the end help you with both link-building and of course, branding. But, remember not to spam others with your content!
Customer Reviews
Customer reviews play a crucial role in off-page SEO as well. They help people who want to know more about your brand, and they also help Google -and other search engines- better understand what your site is all about. In other words, a business that has a series of great reviews/comments on Google is certainly one step ahead of its competitors as a brand.
How to Do Off-Page SEO?
First of all, make sure you have your on-page SEO right. Unless your website is all good-looking and functioning as it should, you would not want to invite more users to it, would you? If you got everything -or at least the basics- on your on-page SEO checklist, it’s then time to start doing off-page SEO.
Constantly maintaining a strong social media presence is a must. SEO, whether on-page or off-page, is never a one-time thing, but more like a series of never-ending operations that go on as long as your website is online. Recognize the social networks that are right for you, and post on them consistently. Check out our detailed post to learn more about social media marketing.
For link building, some important things to keep in mind are:
- Authority of the site you are getting them – The higher authority the source website has, the better it is.
- Relevance – Aim to get links from websites with the same -or at least relevant- topics as your won.
- Unique domains – The number of root domains linking to your website is more important than the total number of backlinks you get. So, keep domain diversity in mind.
Backlinks could be natural, in which publishers mention you organically, without any effort on your part, or built links, for which you should reach publishers.
Speaking of built links, it is important to know that certain practices might lead you to get penalized by Google. Yes, backlinks are effective and quite important, but the thing is, they are so easy to abuse, which is a practice that Google is strongly against. Buying backlinks is always advised against, as they are seen as an unfair SEO practice. Just keep in mind that you should prioritize quality over quantity, create unique and helpful content, and reach the right people for publication; and all should be all right. And remember that Google is smart enough to detect spammy backlinks!
Keyword research is as important for off-page SEO as it is for on-page SEO. So, whenever you are creating content for off-page SEO, remember to use relevant keywords with decent search volumes. If you want to know more about this, please check out our detailed article on keyword research.
These are more or less the basics to keep in mind. We also advise you to use an SEO tool to keep track of your link-building operations. There are a lot of free or paid SEO tools that you can use both for on-page and off-page SEO.
Why Off-Page SEO is Important?
Off-page SEO is all about increasing your authority. And since search engines prioritize websites with more authority -for understandable reasons- off-page SEO is a must. Just doing on-page SEO will certainly get you somewhere, but remember if you don’t work for increasing your site authority, you will remain at least one step behind your competitors who do.
FAQs about Off-Page SEO for a website
Q: How many backlinks does a website need to rank high?
A: There’s no one answer to this question since there are many factors that contribute to a website’s ranking. So, if you’re looking to improve your website’s ranking, you’ll need to focus on building high-quality backlinks. How many backlinks you’ll need to build depends on the competitiveness of your industry and the quality of your website. If you have a new website or a small business in a non-competitive industry, it won’t take as many backlinks to rank high. However, if you have an established website in a competitive industry, it will take more work and more backlinks to achieve a top spot.
Q: Is Off page SEO still important in 2023?
Off-page SEO is still an important aspect of search engine optimization and it will continue to be important in 2023. As search engines continue to refine their algorithms, the focus on building high-quality backlinks and promoting your brand on social media will remain essential to improve your website’s visibility and rankings.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be mentioned that although on-page SEO is generally seen more important -and for good reasons- to get the best results, you should always pay off-page SEO equal attention. Once you think you got your basic on-page SEO right, then it is usually time to focus on some solid off-page SEO. And, keep in mind that off-page SEO operations -as long as done correctly- help you create brand awareness and broaden your audience as well, so they should never be overlooked.