In just a moment, we will explore 5 proven and powerful off page SEO techniques that can dramatically improve your search engine rankings and ultimately bring more quality traffic to your website. Consider that:
- 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine. (Source: BrightEdge)
- 39% of purchasers are influenced by a relevant search. (Source: Think with Google)]
- 76% of people who search on their smartphones for a product or service nearby visit a business within one day. (Source: Think with Google)
But first, let us very quickly look at what off page SEO is, and why it is so important.
What is Off Page SEO?
Off page SEO (also referred to as off site SEO) refers to activities performed outside of your website, which aim to improve your search engine rankings. Essentially, off page SEO relies on two things to tell search engines what others think about your site:
- Backlinks, which are links from other sites (called “referring sites’) to yours. The more credible and authoritative the referring site, the more valuable the backlink.
- Brand mentions, which is when your business is mentioned on another site. Again, the more credible and authoritative the site, the more valuable the brand mention.
Why is Off Page So Important?
Consider this simple example: Joe, who lives in Bradenton, Florida, is looking for a good electrician to install some new lighting (Joe would love do this himself, but his wife made him promise he wouldn’t after the last home improvement “incident”).
And so, Joe does what a whopping 63,000 other people do each second: he heads to Google! Once there, he puts “Bradenton electrician” in the box, clicks search, and a second later sees a list of relevant websites. He clicks one that catches his attention, and a week later his new lighting is installed (and thanks to Joe’s wife, there was no further “incident”).
But what happens behind-the-scenes? How did Google decide which websites to show Joe, and in what order? That is where off page SEO enters the story!
Google’s incredibly complicated (and enormously expensive) algorithm scanned its inventory of websites — and there are a lot of them! — and picked the ones that it deemed as the most relevant for anyone searching for “Bradenton electrician.” Here is the key point to remember: off page SEO is a VERY big part of this determination.
Granted, off page SEO is not the only factor. Google looks at a multitude of things such as when a website was registered (the older, the better), whether a website has responsive design (displays fast and properly on mobile decides), and the list goes on. However, as noted above, off page SEO is a very large and important piece of the puzzle.
To put this another way: imagine two electricians in Bradenton who each have websites: Stan’s Electrical Contracting and Mary’s Electrical Solutions. Let us also say that in every way, Google sees both websites as being equally great EXCEPT for one thing: Mary’s off page SEO is amazing, and Stan’s is lousy.
As a result, Mary’s website will always show up higher than Stan’s. The only way for Stan to outrank Mary in the search engine results, is if he implements some proven and powerful off page SEO techniques. Let’s look at some of these next.
Off Page SEO Techniques that Really WORK
Here are 5 off page SEO techniques that are all high effective, and — of extreme importance — safe and ethical as far as Google is concerned:
1. Build Quality Backlinks
Backlinks are links that point back (hence the term!) to a website. Think of backlinks like “endorsements” or “votes” for a website. All else being equal, a website with more and higher-quality backlinks will outrank a website with fewer and lower-quality backlinks.
Generating an inventory of backlinks from credible and authoritative websites takes time and research, and should be viewed as an ongoing effort vs. a one-time project.
2. Focus on Social Media
Regularly publishing original, relevant, and engaging content to various social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc.), generates multiple benefits that combine to boost SEO, including:
Promotes extensive content distribution (when more people share content across social media, it generates “social signals” that indicate posts are useful to your target market).
- Enables longer lifespan of posts.
- Improves online visibility and organic traffic.
- Increases brand recognition and recall.
- Enhances brand reputation.
- Helps you build relationships with influencers.
Before we move on to the next technique, let us address an important question: when it comes to SEO, are brand mentions on social media as good as backlinks? For many years, the answer was simply “no.”
However, in recent years there is growing speculation that brand mentions on social media are, in fact, something that Google takes into consideration when it evaluates and ultimately ranks websites. The best evidence for this conclusion is that Google has filed a patent that refers to “implied links” (i.e., brand mentions).
The takeaway from this is clear: either Google currently takes brand mentions on social media into consideration, or it plans on doing so in the very near future. Either possibility means that this definitely belongs on the list of essential off page SEO techniques!
3. Publish Authoritative Information
Another highly effective off page SEO technique is creating and publishing authoritative information, such as white papers, infographics, survey reports, and other digital documents.
Not only does this boost SEO (by generating backlinks and social media mentions), but it can be highly influential when engaging prospects, and ultimately accelerating the sales cycle.
For example, let us return to our handy homeowner Joe. His next project is to put a new deck in his backyard, and he has promised his wife that he will hire a professional (phew!). He uses Google to search for potential contractors, and comes across an interesting survey report that looks at “The 5 Biggest Factors that Determine Whether Homeowners are Happy With Their New Backyard Deck.”
He downloads the survey report, learns some very valuable new information, and sees that the survey was commissioned by a company called “Deckmasters.” He gives them a call, and a month later he has a beautiful, brand new deck — and Deckmasters has a happy, loyal customer thanks to their survey report!
4. Get Interviewed
One of the best, easiest, and most enjoyable ways to generate backlinks, social media mentions, and overall brand visibility is to get interviewed.
For example, a local paper may be running a story (or interested in running a story) about how local businesses are responding to changes in the economy. Or, a large company that develops software that helps businesses manage and file their taxes may want to profile some customers to learn about their experiences and insights.
5. Guest Posting
Guest posting is another highly effective off page SEO technique. This involves reaching out to various credible and relevant websites, and offering to supply them with content for their blog (which they may call a “Knowledge Center” or something else along those lines).
Each website has its own editorial guidelines regarding word count, subject matter, and other variables. It is important to understand these rules and (especially!) to get them ahead of time. This will save a lot of time, effort, cost, frustration, and disappointment down the road.
Also, keep in mind that if you supply a website (or multiple websites) with quality content that satisfies their editorial guidelines, then you build relationships that will lead to more opportunities down the road. Indeed, you will likely find that webmasters reach out to you and say something like: “Hi there, we loved your blog last month so much, that we were hoping you could write something for us this month.”
The Bottom Line
All of the off page SEO techniques described above will improve your search engine rankings — and depending on where you are now and what your competition is doing, the results could be remarkable and stunning.
To learn more — and like our pal Joe to avoid any unpleasant and unexpected “incidents” that can happen when you take the DIY SEO route — contact Noble Webworks today. Your initial consultation with us is 100% free. Improve rankings, get more targeted traffic and grow your revenue with our Advanced SEO services with Epic content and conversion rate optimization. Contact us today and let’s get started!
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Is off-page SEO still effective for SEO?
Answer: Yes, off-page SEO is still effective in 2024. It plays a crucial role in improving search engine rankings by building website authority and trust through backlinks, social signals, and brand mentions.
Question: What are the different techniques used in off-page SEO?
Answer: Off-page SEO techniques include link building, guest blogging, brand mentions, social media marketing, influencer marketing, and local SEO through Google My Business and citations.
Question: How to increase page rank by using off-page SEO?
Answer: To increase page rank with off-page SEO, focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites, engaging in guest blogging, gaining brand mentions, and maintaining a strong social media presence.
Question: What is the most important factor of off-page SEO?
Answer: The most important factor of off-page Answer: SEO is the quality of backlinks. High-quality backlinks from reputable sites significantly impact a website’s authority and ranking in search engine results.
Question: How to do off-page SEO step by step?
Answer: Start by analyzing your backlink profile, conduct link-building outreach (e.g., guest blogging, broken link building), engage in social media marketing, gain brand mentions, and ensure your local SEO is optimized through Google My Business and citations.
Question: What is an example of an off-page SEO?
Answer: An example of off-page SEO is guest blogging. Writing and publishing articles on other websites with backlinks to your own site helps build authority and drive traffic.
