“What is off-page SEO and why is it important?
On-page SEO is all about optimizing elements that are “ON” the page, whereas off-page SEO is concerned with the same thing but with elements located outside the page. Off-page SEO is basically search engines examining what others are saying about you.
“But why would search engines want to know what others are saying about us”
This is because what other websites are saying about you will help search engines recognize your authority and credibility, giving them confidence that you and your content are trustworthy.
How do search engines know what others are saying about you?
Easy. Through Hyperlinks.
Consider that you choose to publish an article on SEO. How does Google know that what you are saying is reliable and deserving of attention? By evaluating the links you receive from other websites.
Let’s say some big-name SEO agency ends up mentioning your blog post on their websites through “Hyperlinks”. Google will see it as a sign that your content is valuable and worth highlighting to users. If not, the big-name SEO agency wouldn’t have mentioned you in the first place.
These links are called Backlinks (Also as incoming links and inbound links) and Off-page SEO is mostly about building these backlinks and optimizing them to show search engines that we know our onions.
There are two different kinds of backlinks:
- No-follow backlinks
- Do-follow backlinks
No-follow backlinks and why we use them
links with the no-follow attribute instruct search engines not to follow the link or give it any weight when determining search engine rankings. When linking to external websites that we do not want to endorse, no-follow links come in handy.
For an instance, when linking to a website that sells products from a health and wellness website, you might use a no-follow link if you don’t know much about the product or don’t want to recommend it to your visitors. This helps stop search engines from interpreting the link as a recommendation and potentially affecting the search rankings of your website.
Do-Follow backlinks and why we use them
It is the opposite of what No-follow links stand for. Do-follow links indicate that the linked website is supported or recommended by us and that the link should be followed and weighted in search engine results.
Before we get into how to get these backlinks, keep in mind that off-page SEO isn’t limited to backlinks. Another aspect of off-page SEO is the promotion of your website and content on social media and other online platforms. This can assist you in becoming more visible and connecting with a larger audience, both of which can help your SEO.
So how can we get these backlinks?
with Social Media.
Yes! You can get backlinks from social media. Focus on creating high-quality content that is valuable to your audience they will share and link to your content. You can also use social media to spread the word about your content and attract the attention of other influencers that share your content with their following.
Since social media are all about connecting with one another, don’t forget to use them to build a network with other professionals in your industry. This can help you to establish relationships that may lead to backlinks down the line.
with Forums
Find forums that are relevant to your industry or field, then join and participate. You will gain more respect from the group’s members and more sway if you do this.
Explore the possibilities for promoting your website or content in pertinent forum threads. Always abide by the rules and guidelines of the forum, and only post information that is relevant to the discussion.
With Guest Blogging.
Guest blogging is self-explanatory. It is writing blogs for other websites as a guest. When writing the content, you can subtly link to your page or website in a helpful way. There are websites that accept guest posts, and if you are successful in creating high-quality, worthwhile content while adhering to their rules, they will undoubtedly accept your post.
Broken link building
A broken link is also what its name implies. They are broken links, which means that they lead to pages that no longer exist or to pages that generate 404 errors.
We find a broken link and offer to replace it with a link to a relevant, high-quality resource on our own website, resulting in a backlink.
The Skyscraper Technique
The skyscraper technique is a link-building tactic that entails identifying successful niche content and producing even better material. The goal is to produce “skyscraper-worthy” content.
To employ the skyscraper technique for link building, do the following:
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- Find a piece of content from your niche that has done well (e.g. a blog post that has a lot of backlinks).
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- A longer, more in-depth version of the original content or a brand-new angle on the topic could be created to make it even better.
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- You should inform the people who linked to the original article about your content.
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- These people are more likely to link to your content if it is truly “skyscraper-worthy,” which can improve your website’s search engine rankings.
Does this mean that every backlink is important?
When evaluating the worth of a backlink, Google considers a variety of factors. Some of these factors include relevance, authority, and the quality of the content on the linking website. Google considers the link’s anchor text in addition to the overall number of links pointing to the website. Backlinks from trustworthy and pertinent websites are generally valued by Google higher than links from spammy or subpar websites.
I hope this has made it easier for you to understand the fundamentals of off-page SEO. Remember to put these principles into practice when writing content as well!
