Why your business cannot afford to ignore Off-Page SEO!
Alright, so I've written about On-Page SEO and now, we're moving to Off-Page SEO. If you haven't read my blog on On-Page SEO, you can check it out HERE. Ok, we're done with housekeeping. Let's continue on with off-page SEO. You might be asking what is Off-page SEO. That is the question and we're going to discuss this today. So let's get right to it.
What is the difference between On-Page and Off-page SEO?
You're probably wondering what is the difference between these two.
On-page SEO has to do with actions you can take inside your website to improve your SEO ranking. For example. You want to increase your website speed or make your website more mobile-friendly. You will run a speed test on your website. You can design your website so it displays well on a mobile device. These are actions you can control and take to make the requested outcome. That is on-page SEO.
Off-page SEO are actions you can take outside your website to boost and increase your ranking. Some examples of these external actions are Social Media, Influencer marketing, or blogging. We'll explore those later in this post.
Off-page SEO doesn't need any direct action from you. Well indirectly. For example, you asked someone to link your website to theirs for more information on a topic. That is Off-page SEO. Beware though, always think of the intent behind a request like this. More on that later.
With one you have full control of the actions you take on your website. With the other you're relying on outside action of which you have no control over.
Why is Off-page SEO important?
Off-page SEO is super valuable for many reasons. I'll touch on them here. It's a strategy that tells search engines how important your website is to other websites. A quote from Neil Patel " Off-page SEO simply tells Google what others think about your site". When you have good links pointing to your site, search engines will assume you have valuable content.
This strategy has the potential to increase your brand awareness online and organically. Think of this as word on mouth or referrals that we used to do back in the day before everything went online.
What are some benefits of off-page SEO
Increased Ranking - Do your off-page SEO right and you'll increase your ranking. This means more traffic! and you'll rank higher as well.
Greater Exposure and visibility - This one is pretty straightforward. When you content is shared by other websites, you benefit as your exposure increases. This means more links, more traffic, and more visits.
Establish Authority and Trustworthiness (EAT) - Your content resonates with more people. You're soon establishing yourself as the authority. You become known as the authoritative voice. A subject matter expert in your area of expertise. Your expertise becomes evident in the quality of content you produce. Before you know it, other related websites will start to refer your content to others.
Off-page SEO strategies you can apply now
Link building is one of the best ways you can use to apply off-page SEO to your website. What this all means is that you are building links back to your website. The more links to your website, the better your off-page SEO strategy is working for you.
Someone references your article or blog on their website. This reference comes in the form of a link to your website. That link is a backlink for you and that is great! Kudos, you've aced the entire concept of off-page SEO.
Keep in mind there are good links and bad links. Obviously, you want to stay away from the bad ones. In the past, intentionally adding your website just so you can get a link back to your website was an absolute no.no. It still is.
Think of your intent. If your intent is malicious, then that is a bad link you're trying to create. Please stay away from doing that.
But, if you want to add your website to a referral directory because you are providing value, then that is a good link.
So what makes up a good link?
A good link is a link that when someone goes to it, it provides value. Meaning that it goes back to a source with high-quality content that provides a ton of value to the reader. Yes, my friend, that is a good link.
Another example. I reference sites like Moz.com and Ahref.com on my website. Both sites are known for their authority on the subject of SEO.
I'm sending my readers to their websites because of their in-depth content on SEO. They have high quality and educational content when it comes to SEO. My website referral to their website will be considered a quality link for these sites.
I may be a small business owner compared to other ginormous sites! But my content teaches my readers on SEO, which is related to what they do.
How can you get these links?
You can go about getting good links organically. Bloggers and readers who love your content, will start to share it with their audiences. This can be through shareable links on social media, their websites, or other medium. This way of getting links is also known as Natural links.
Blogging - Write great content on an area you are an expert at. People are going to like what they read and share it. Simple as that.
Social Media - I see a lot of posts that have the share icons at the bottom of the article or where it pops over from the left. These provide an easy and quick way to share your content to other platforms. This increases your exposure that someone will refer to your content in some way.
Brand Mention/Awareness - When a brand is known for what they do, people are more ready to share those brands with others. This goes back to being the authority, the expert, and trustworthy source.
When people know you for what you offer, they may not have a direct link to your website. But, the fact that they know what your brand is and what it stands for, is all you need. Your brand will be passed on to others who will check your website to connect with you.
Final Thoughts
You can't have a complete and effective SEO strategy without applying On-page AND Off-page SEO. Both are equally as important as the other. Think of off-page SEO as a strategy you want to see happen organically, the natural way. No gimmicks here. With time, it will pay off.
Stay consistent with your content. Show up on social media. Engage with your audience and soon the result of your actions will cause you to benefit from Off-page SEO.
Have you implemented any of these off-page search engine optimization elements? What was your result?
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