Search engine optimization, as you may or may not already know, is a process to improve the visibility of a website for search engines. Optimizing your website for search engines is done with the aim of bringing more traffic and conversions to your site. The higher your website ranks on search engines like Google or Bing, the more visitors and traffic it will receive.
SEO can be further broken down into two categories: on-page SEO, and off-page SEO. The first, on-page SEO, that deals with SEO tactics to optimize your own webpages, is the most known or common type of SEO. Off-page SEO on the other hand is about the tactics you do outside of your website. While the guidelines or rules for on-page SEO are more clear and straightforward – content, HTML fixes such as meta and Alt tag, titles, URLs, loading time – off-page SEO treads on more murkier waters. It’s all about link building and we all know how tough Google has been on cracking down on link exchanges and other schemes.
So, how are you supposed to do off-page SEO without getting penalized? Read on…
If done correctly, off-page SEO can be as important as on-site SEO, or even more. How, you ask? It all comes down to quality content.
As mentioned previously, off-site SEO deals with all the optimization that goes on beyond or out of your website. This can be done in a series of ways, such as through blogging and social media, for example (more on that later).
Why is Off-Page SEO important?
Off-Page SEO is important because search engines consider them to be a more reliable sign because the content is coming from an outside or third party source. The amount that your brand is mentioned on sites other that its own website, be it on social media, forums, or other blogs, goes to show that the product is interesting (or that their content is share-worthy).
Shares, likes and comments are accounted for by search engines as a ranking factor
We know now how important off-page SEO is. But how can it improve MY website’s ranking and traffic? Here are four ways how:
- Blogging: Although you have your own blog and are managing the content, it is considered an off-page SEO tactic. Blogging is not only a great way to create new content on a regular basis, but gives Google the task of crawling and indexing a new page. This gives you a new opportunity to rank for another keyword, and to include links to your site and others. Writing about industry trends, how to’s and news will keep your audience engaged and give them another reason to visit your site. Creating a blog is extremely easy with platforms such as WordPress. Whether it is for yourself or for a client, the benefits of blogging are clear.
- Social Networking: Believe it or not, social media is a great way to boost your SEO rankings. Each +1, like or retweet is seen as a positive sign about your brand, and gives search engines like Google an affirmation that your website is a source of credible information. This helps improve your ranking. Signing up on social media sites does not only give you exposure on popular networks such as Facebook and Twitter, but allows you to interact with people and promote your website at the same time. If you are not on these sites, consider getting some help from social media experts.
- Press Releases: Contrary to popular belief, a press release is not just reserved for big companies releasing important breaking news stories. Through media such as images and video, as well as anchor text links and backlinks, you can drive traffic to your site. A press releases are a great way to expose your website to a series of news portals, which will pick up the story and, according to the news site that picks it up, can give tremendous exposure to your brand. Writing a press release is a highly technical thing that needs optimization of its own, so be sure that whoever writes it, knows more than just ‘a thing or two about’ how to write press release.
- Social Bookmarking: By submitting your pages and blog posts to popular bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit, Delicious and StumbleUpon, you can promote your site off-page and reach a greater number of users. Do not post ALL of your pages and blog articles here, however, be selective. Not doing so can be considered spam. Publishing your content on these sites sends a positive message to search engines.
As you can see, off-page SEO is as important as on-page SEO. Both need to be done in a conjoined effort to prove effective. But like how it is said, easier said than done. If you need help in implementing these tactics consider our services. We are a Vancouver SEO company that does both off-page and on-page SEO. Given the fact that SEO has gotten considerably more difficult and technical, it is best to get help from those who know SEO inside out. Keyword research, link building, content marketing, blogging, promoting your content on social media and Press Release writing are some of the things we do.
