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Like many business owners, you may have no idea what off-page SEO is or why it’s important.
As you delve into the world of marketing your brand online, you will find that there are different types of SEO, all of which contribute to making sure your most important marketing asset — your site — rises up the rankings and is seen by your target audience when searching for the products and services you offer.
Off-page SEO is one of the most important aspects of a successful strategy. You want your site to rank well on Google so that your brand is visible to your target market, and to do that — you need to look beyond your website.
Today, we will dive into what off-page SEO is and why it is so important for the growth of your site.
What Is Off-Page SEO?
Off-page SEO refers to different techniques you can use to get your website to rank higher in the search engine results page (SERPs) by getting other sites to link back to your pages. This can be accomplished through various promotion methods, such as getting shares on social media, getting your page linked to from other related websites, and other links to your pages from elsewhere on the web.
The Difference Between Off-Page SEO and On-Page SEO
Two of the most important SEO techniques are off-page SEO and on-page SEO. Here are the differences between the two.
- Off-Page SEO: This type of SEO is not always directly in your control. It happens when another site links back to your website. Think social media marketing or having an influencer promote your business on their blog or webpage.
- On-Page SEO: On-page SEO consists of several measures to optimize your website with keywords and internal linking strategies in order for it to rank higher in search engine results. On-page SEO is largely in your control, as these are changes you can make to your site at any time.
Why Is Off-Page SEO So Important?
Off-page SEO is so important because it tells search engines that your website is important to other people on the web. When you receive a link, search engines see that as an endorsement from another site. That endorsement tells the search engines that your website is a quality site.
Search engines use on-page and off-page SEO to determine how websites are ranked. The more indicators Google receives that your site is of value to your visitors, the better.
3 Types of Off-Page SEO Links
When setting up an off-page SEO strategy, the most important thing to focus on is ensuring that your website provides valuable content to which other sources want to link. From there, it is important to distinguish between the types of links that refer back to your page.
1. Natural Links
Natural links happen when someone decides organically to link to your content. Natural links do not involve any action on the part of you or your team. Instead, someone has simply come across your page and found value in it, so they link back to it.
2. Built Links
You receive built links by reaching out and promoting your website to other website owners, influencers, etc. When deciding who to promote your website to, keep in mind your target market and what they see as valuable content. If your link is on a website your target market wouldn’t follow or is entirely unrelated, the link is potentially useless.
3. Self-Created Links
As the name implies, self-created links are links that you create yourself to try to fool search engines into thinking that your links are relevant. Self-created links should be avoided as search engines see them for what they are and can penalize your site accordingly.
How to Improve Off-Page SEO
Now that you know more about off-page SEO, let’s talk about ways you can improve it.
Link Building (Backlinking)
Backlinking is the most popular off-page SEO method used to generate natural links to your page. By getting reputable sites to link back to your site, it will help your ranking.
Blogging
While blogging is largely considered an on-page / content creation SEO strategy, it is a great way to generate a variety of valuable content that others will want to link to from off-site. The more your audience comments and shares your blog, the easier it is to get noticed and start getting natural links.
Social Media Marketing
Although social media links don’t directly impact your rank, they are still a great strategy to develop awareness for your brand. In addition, having a solid presence on social media makes your brand seem more trustworthy.
Influencer Marketing
Having someone well-known endorse your brand is a sure-fire way to gain the trust of your audience, and links from reputable influencers can definitely boost your site’s rankings.
Future Proof Your Business With The Best SEO Portland Has To Offer
Your local competition and global chains are working to one-up their competition and gain new customers. To survive in a more competitive online world, making sure you utilize the very best SEO practices is essential to find success.
It’s important to remember that SEO is not a one-and-done process. SEO is always ongoing and the search algorithm constantly changing. With all of the responsibilities required with running your own business, you might not have the time to manage this all on your own.
That is where we come in.
At Stoute Web Solutions, we specialize in creating custom website care plans, managed WordPress hosting, SEO, and web design services. Based in Portland, Oregon, we are ready to help your business grow and specialize in working with small and medium-sized businesses with affordable SEO services and web design.
If you would like to take your business to the next level, please reach out to us to schedule a consultation today.
