Though on-page SEO is essential, did you know that off-page SEO is also vital?

Backlinks and other off-page factors are essential Google ranking factors.

Actually, a 2020 study indicated that there is a relationship between Google rankings and backlinks.

Now, backlinks are just part of off-page SEO.

Google states that there are many other off-page SEO aspects that you can use to fine-tune your site.

This usually entails enhancing the user and search engine perspective of a website’s relevance authority, trustworthiness, and popularity.

Other notable places achieve this on the web.

People, sites, and pages that promote or link to your site will effectively establish your content’s quality as good.

This essentially means that off-page SEO is one of the most essentials parts of a successful digital marketing strategy.

If you want to rank well and enhance your firm’s visibility in 2021, you should consider looking beyond your website.

This guide takes a look into what off-page SEO is, why it is vital, as well as the techniques you can use to rank on search engines and drive growth on your website as expected.

What Is Off-Page SEO?

In short, off-page SEO involves all optimization techniques that take place away from your site.

Most people only know of link building.

But there are many techniques that you can use to gain a competitive advantage.

Factors such as citation building, social media, content marketing, and brand building all play a critical role in a detailed off-page SEO strategy.

In other words, the strategy covers any options that you utilize that do not entail making any changes to your site, like publishing content.

The off-page signals help both users and search engines get a clear view of your site’s relevance and authority.

Importance Of Off-Page SEO

Websites without off-page SEO strategies find it hard to rank for certain competitive terms.

Think of it as a method to build your website’s authority.

And without it, you will not rank better than those who are using the strategy.

There are over 100 ranking factors that determine your site’s position in SERPs-both off-page and on-page.

Off-page factors show search engines how the world views your site.

A well-maintained, useful, and top-notch site is more likely to have references or even backlinks from other sites.

The links are a vote of confidence.

And the more you get, the more authoritative you become in your industry.

But why is that important to Google?

The search engine strives to give the best results possible depending on user intent.

What Google displays in SERPs are usually the best results for the readers.

So, by implementing various off-page tactics, you are showing Google that your site offers value, hence moving you up in search results.

Also, the chances of a high-quality site having social media mentions such as Tweets, hashtags, or likes are very high.

If your site’s link is bookmarked or shared in online communities, it will create more traffic and generate deep-rooted socially approved links.

Off-Page SEO Techniques

Link-Building

Google sees backlinks as endorsements.

If a site is valuable enough to be referred to by another site, the search engine takes this as a sign that the site is trustworthy and more relevant.

This is one of the main reasons why link building is at the core of off-page SEO.

That said, note that not all links offer the same value.

Some backlinks have more influence on search engines than others.

Here are some factors that influence a backlink’s value.

• Linking website’s authority – Links from authoritative websites are more valuable.
• Relevance – Links from pages that are related to your industry or content are more valuable
• Anchor text – Anchor texts that are relevant to your content on the linked page also have more value.

That said, quality links are very difficult to get.

But that does not mean it is impossible.

Actually, there are smart ways to earn valuable links.

A good example is the broken-link building method.

This is where you contact a webmaster to alert them of broken links on their site.

At the same time, you suggest other sites that can replace the link.

Here, of course, you will talk about your site.

To use this technique, find relevant sites in your industry that have resourceful pages.

You can get them by using the following search queries in Google:

• Your keyword + links
• Your keywords + resources
• Keywords inurl: links

For instance, if you have a dating site, search for dating+ links.

To quickly find broken links on the pages, use Google’s tool known as Check My Links.

Content Marketing

If you write a guest post on another website, that is an example of content marketing.

Also, if you publish an infographic that other sites link to, that is content marketing. 

The main secret of using content marketing for off-page SEO is that creating good quality content makes it easier to concentrate on off-page aspects.

This essentially comes from sharing and promoting the content you are creating.

It should be something valuable that other authoritative sites will want to link to.

Some content marketing options that work include:

• Blog posts
• Infographics
• Surveys, studies & research papers
• Whitepapers & eBooks

Let people know about it if you have great content.

You can use BiQ’s Keyword Intelligence tool to assist you in identifying trending topics and finding the right keywords to use.

Also, BiQ’s Content Intelligence will help you understand what is important to cover.

All you have to do is head to Google and type the keyword you are targeting.

Browse the first ranking websites and then analyze it on Content Intelligence with the keyword.

You will get to discover what your competitors have done the best and which areas you can do quite better.

The “Optimized” sections tell you a list of activities they have done well.

The items listed here usually makes your ranking go up well.

From here, you’ll get an idea of what you should write about in your content with your keyword.

Social Media

For some time now, there has been a connection between the engagements a piece gets on social media and how well the parent side page or website is performing in search engines.

A recent research indicates that it is not just the comments, but everything.

From likes, responses, click-throughs, image comments, and so on, as long as it relates to high organic rankings.

The more social media users engage with your content, the more backlinks for that piece you will most likely get.

If your content is good enough, social media platforms offer a great way to get free exposure just through sharing the content.

Guest Posting

Before influence and social marketing came to the forefront, blogging was the real deal.

Among the few old marketing tactics still delivering today, blogging or what is referred to as guest posting is an efficient off-page SEO tactic.

According to recent statistics:

• Blogging is the second most preferred content for marketers.
• 60% of digital marketers utilize blogging in their social media campaigns.
• Sites that use blogs get 400% more indexed pages.

It is because of this type of effectiveness that blog posts on blogs such as robust influencer marketing tactics are still very effective.

If you post a guest post on a highly ranked blog, get a backlink to your site, either in your bio or in the article itself.

Not sure how to land guest posting opportunities?

Here are some actionable tips to follow:

• When you send the introductory email to the blog, make it your goal to build a human connection with the editor.
• Pitch subjects or topics that are in tandem with what the blog is looking
• Include links to a few of your published work online
• Explain to the editor how their readers will benefit from your post

The objective here is to repeat the same tactic from one well-ranked blog to another one using your published guest posts as a pitch.

And as you do that, do not forget to include backlinks to your site.

Content Syndication

Content syndication is a tactic of republishing content on sites so as to reach a wider audience.

Now, while I will concentrate on text-based content only in this example of how content syndication affects off-page SEO, any form of digital content can be syndicated.

This includes videos, images, and infographics.

That said, syndicated content can be any content republished in totality, articles shortened and edited, or excerpts of articles.

The technique usually benefits both parties.

The brand/person behind the main content gets exposed to a broader audience.

While the site where it is syndicated gets more content.

This type of off-page SEO approach is a great idea for sites that need to publish and firms that want to expand.

However, you must be careful to avoid duplicate content.

By appropriately tagging content to direct search engine bots to the main version or stopping them from indexing the content, you will avoid any negative side effects.

Local SEO

There are two main aspects of local SEO.

1. Google My Business

Though Google My Business is essential to local businesses, very few business owners know that optimizing your website to make it rank on a map pack is off-page SEO!

GMB is not your site.

And as mentioned earlier, anything that is not on your site is off-page SEO.

According to recent research, over 45 percent of all search engine searches are seeking a local business.

And 4 out of every five consumers use Google to locate information.

You can be sure that if your business is not appearing in local GMB results, you are losing out big time.

You can use Google My Business Help to learn tricks and tips to help you list your business and to use the channel optimally.

Also, BiQ’s Keyword Intelligence tool can help you look for local terms to use.

The fantastic keyword tool will show you the list of relevant keywords the local people are using.

You can use keywords that have high search volume in your content so that your site can rank higher locally.

Grid My Business can also help you identify the search queries you rank for on the local search or not.

It is a grid-based local rank tracking tool that is specially designed to track and compare your Google My Business ranking performance against the top 20s in the local SERP through a specific search query.

All you need to do is input the business or location you want to scan along with a relevant search query and you’ll see what are your local search rankings for it. 

NAP Citations

A citation is simply a mention of a brand online.

This is not just the business name but also the Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP).

If you are a local brand looking to rank well in a specific location for certain terms, both as part of the map pack or the standard SERPs, you cannot afford to ignore citations.

In fact, they are one of the most important off-page ranking factors.

You can use these tools to audit your brand’s citations, clean up duplicates, manage reviews and find new opportunities as well.

Customer Reviews

This is purely about monitoring your reviews online on various platforms such as Yelp, Yahoo Answers, Quora, etc.

You can also post on forums in a Q&A  format to engage users as you direct them to your site.

The more genuine and helpful the data you give out, the better your approach.

Just track down areas online that are relevant to your niche or where people might be talking about and then address any concerns empathetically.

According to Google’s guidelines, client reviews influence local ranking and immensely enhance organic traffic.

This is evident in a 2017 local park SEO survey, which indicates that review signals account for 13% of local ranking factors.

Conclusion

Apply these extremely vital tactics, and you will notice your rankings improve over time.

And as your rank increases, it means more leads and traffic to your site.

This will definitely have a healthy effect on your conversion rate.

Obviously, handling off-page SEO alone is not enough.

But it goes a long way in complementing on-page SEO.

It is only when you apply every method you can be certain that you have done everything possible to ensure your site is visible on the worldwide web.

Also, note that none of the aspects mentioned in this guide is more important than the other.

They vary depending on your niche, local competition, and other factors as well.