Building an off-page strategy is a critical function of your hard-working SEO machine. By combining both on-page and off-page SEO, you help to increase brand awareness, build positive brand sentiment, improve site visibility, gain more traffic to your website, and—hopefully—boost conversions.
In this article, though, we are going to focus solely on developing a strategy for off-page SEO. That is, optimizing your brand’s online and offline reputation through:
- Content on other sites
- Relationships with people
- Links from another website
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Why Does Off-page SEO Matter?
The reason off-page SEO matters is because search engines like Google consider the events that happen away from your website just as important as the updates you make on your website.
You can think of anything happening off the page as “votes of confidence” for your brand and your websites, such as when someone mentions your brand on social media or a blogger in your niche links to content on your site. This activity gives signals to search engines that your brand and your content are valuable, and that it should rank your website pages higher because of it.
Great, so How Do You Build an Off-page Strategy?
Keeping in mind the reasons why off-site SEO matters, you can create a plan of action around those same three elements we mentioned earlier:Â content, relationships, and links.
Content
When you think “content,” remember that anything your customers can interact with is considered content. For example, did you ever think of phone calls with your customers as content? It can certainly influence their perception of your brand.
Here are some other examples:
- Building or construction signage
- Email communication
- How-to videos on YouTube
- Compelling images on Instagram
Relationships
Establishing, growing and nurturing relationships with your customers, influencers, and industry leaders are critical to the success of your off-page SEO strategy. If someone discovers you through the how-to video you published to YouTube and then visits you on social media to learn more, you certainly want to give them an inviting space where they can start and continue a relationship with your brand.
Cultivating relationships with influencers and thought leaders is just as important. Visit relevant discussion boards, blog sites, and forums, and look for opportunities to comment. Leave insightful feedback, too; don’t just use this activity as a way to promote yourself. You want to gain the attention of industry leaders and influencers, and interact in a mutually beneficial way, so you can build trust and encourage people to learn more about your brand.
Links
By creating effective content and building relationships, you will create an environment where people naturally want to seek out the content on your website and share it with their audiences. Links are important, but you need to build the foundation first from content and relationships.
Are All Links from Other Websites Valuable?
While link building is an important step in SEO, it’s important to note that not all links passed to your site hold the same value.
For example, links to your site from spammy websites or other “undesirables” can actually hurt your site. On the other hand, any time you get a link from an educational, government, or well-respected news site, you can bet the link is worth a great deal more. That being said, the more high-quality links to your website, the better.
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Final Word About Off-Page SEO Strategies
Some people think off-page SEO is all about getting backlinks for your website, but it actually depends on other factors, too. Like ensuring customers perceive your brand in a positive light and giving them helpful information in the moments, they need it. This demands a deep understanding of your customers, their pain points, and what makes it difficult for them to convert. Armed with this knowledge, you can improve your products and services, as well as how you deliver customer service, so people are organically inclined to talk about your brand, recommend your brand to others, and share your content with their own audiences.
How good are you with the on-page and off-page SEO strategies? Try answering these SEO Online MCQs and find out now!
Want to Learn More?
Every company needs a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to compete in today’s hyper-competitive digital world. This means there is a high demand for skilled marketing professionals. If you want to boost your career in this exciting field, check out Simplilearn’s Search Engine Optimization Training Course today. If you want more comprehensive training, enroll in our Digital Marketing Specialist Master’s Program to take your career and company to the next level.