What is Off-Page SEO?
SEO has been greatly misunderstood by businesses with the desire of ranking and how to gain outstanding exposure on search engines.
On a daily basis, our clients at My IT Guy ask us plenty of questions about SEO. They often think that this process consists in simply ramming potential keywords into a sentence and enjoying the results within a month or two. Well, this is not the case!
In the old days of the Internet, when the first search engines appeared, SEO wasn’t as dynamic as it is today, demanding a minimum “price” to successfully rank. Nowadays, SEO has critically evolved. A proof of this are the many digital marketers adopting the role of web designers when needed.
There is an important saturation of the online space your business is in. So, there is the need to do a relevant research in order to determine which are the best measures to take. Here, a solid plan will always encompass both On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO elements.
Many understand the basics of On-Page elements, but what about Off-Page SEO?
In Simple Terms, What Is Off-Page SEO?
Also known by some marketers as external SEO, with Off-Page SEO we are referring to the external references that our websites enjoy in search engines. As you might imagine, Off-Page SEO cannot be managed at will due to its external nature.
Instead, we need to create the ideal conditions for the organic generation of these external references. Having a relevant website linking to our business is considered as positive Off-Page SEO. Any content created for these post must be relevant to the subject matter and be unique, unused content. The same for viral posts in social media that redirect to our websites. The more positive, relevant backlinks a website has yields a positive effect on SEO as these external references help us compete on search engines.
The Importance of Off-Page SEO
Both On-Page and Off-Page SEO coexist to bring the best possible results for websites that are trying to rank in search engines. Without one, the other cannot simply work as expected. The elements that are part of this complex optimization process are closely related.
We can commit and do things right in terms of On-Page SEO, making every single page on our website efficient, light, accessible, and responsive. But truth be told, if our website doesn’t get external references, coming from other websites with a minimum of online exposure, we simply don’t exist for the search engines.
Best Practices and Tools for Off-Page SEO
Without a doubt, the best practices to improve Off-Page SEO are the White Hat ones. The “White Hat” term refers to those techniques and methods are entirely respect the search engines’ policies and terms of use while focusing on the most important thing: the real audience.
- Organic Link Building Through Content: When people find a worthy piece of content online, there is a high chance of them sharing the link with friends, family, and co-workers. This also happens on social media.
- Directory Listings and Forum Participation: Reputable directory listings and forums can be a great way to optimize Off-Page SEO. This is especially true when forum participants and moderators engage a discussion on the link.
- Polished Presence on Social Media: Be aware of neglected social media profiles. Search engines’ crawlers relate these profiles with the websites that we want to rank and deliver a score over that factor.
It’s also extremely important to focus on the competition’s performance as they may work as a key reference for your own Off-Page SEO strategy. In order to effectively monitor their moves, we have SERPs Software and SpyFu Keyword Research Tools.