Often clouded in mystery and not regularly spoken about in the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) community, off-page SEO forms one of the most critical elements of your websites overall SEO and search engine rankings.
The thing is, off-page SEO doesn’t have to be complicated. There are a large number of SEO professionals and SEO companies who refuse to discuss off-page SEO.
Some of these professionals perform dodgy tactics, and some of these SEO’s steer clear of off-page all together.
In this post, we are demystifying off-page SEO and outlining some clear, safe methods to increase your off-page SEO profile.
What Is Off-Page SEO?
Off-page SEO is the complete opposite of on-page SEO. Off-page SEO refers to the safe efforts made off your website and off your website page(s) to increase your website’s position within the algorithm of search engines. In essence, off-page SEO is everything you do off your website to make it resonate stronger in the organic search results.
Is Off-Page And Off-Site SEO The Same Thing?
Often used interchangeably, off-page and off-site SEO are essentially the same thing. Both off-page and off-site search engine optimisation refer to the activities and efforts made off the website itself to make the website rank higher in the Google search algorithm. Off-page or off-page SEO should never be confused with technical SEO.
It sounds weird, right? Shouldn’t all of the factors that make my website rank be done on the website itself? Well, the answer is no. Off-page SEO provides your website with trust, authority and relevance that are important signals for search engines like Google.
Let’s take a look at some of the key things you can do to increase your websites off-page SEO and help your website rank higher in Google’s organic results.
Off-Page SEO Key Factors
#1. Outreach Efforts
Outreach efforts are one of the most important elements of a website’s off-page SEO strategy. Outreach in the off-page SEO field refers to reaching out to similar or industry relevant websites to see if they would like to link back (this is referred to as a backlink) to your website through a submitted piece of content.
In terms of off-page SEO outreach, it is important to find real websites who you can offer some form of value to. By providing another website (and readership) with value, you will be more likely to be successful in your outreach efforts.
Typically speaking, a quality website within your industry or niche will be happy to allow you to post an article or blog (sometimes referred to as a Guest Post) if it provides value to their website or readership.
In addition to providing a quality piece of content or blog to their website, they may provide you with a backlink to your own website.
Outreach efforts can be time consuming and some websites aren’t interested in allowing other businesses to post content on their website, however they can be extremely valuable to obtain legitimate inbound links.
#2. Brand Mentions
Off-page SEO is all about spreading the word of your brand, business and website. The more your brand is mentioned across the world wide web, the more credibility and authority your website has.
This doesn’t mean you should go and perform any spammy activities to have your brand mentioned in thousands of places, however it does mean you should make efforts to market your business in places off-site.
The more you can get your brand or business mentioned on other legitimate, real websites – the better. We always recommend looking for industry relevant websites, forums and social media platforms to spread the word about your business.
#3. Directory Listings
We recently published an article about the best business directories for Australian businesses to be mentioned on. These business directories provide businesses with a number of off-page SEO benefits.
Firstly, these business directories usually allow you to advertise your business for free on these directory pages.
These Australian business directories are locally based and allow you to get your business in front of customers who browse these websites looking for Australian based services and products.
In addition to this, these business directories allow you to backlink to your own website.
You are able to obtain quality and relevant backlinks for your website, which will increase your off-page SEO profile in a healthy, natural way. Directory listings are one of the best ways to spread the word about your business and website.
#4. Quality Inbound & Relevant Links
The number of quality inbound links that are geographically and industry relevant to your own website are integral off-page SEO factors.
When it comes to backlinks, there is an old saying “one good quality backlink is worth more than a thousands bad ones”. The key for any website or business is to ensure their website has a number of quality backlinks pointing to their website as provides Google with key trust signals; which are important ranking factors in the organic search results.
This doesn’t mean you should ever purchase or obtain large numbers of dodgy backlinks, you need to ensure you are receiving high-quality natural backlinks.
#5. User Behavioural Signals
User behavioural signals are another critical off-page SEO element. Often not spoken about, user behavioural signals are best monitored with your Google Analytics profile.
Within Google Analytics, and by cross referencing your Google Search Console profile, you are able to manage what users are doing once they land on your website.
If your website is appearing for a particular keyword search term, but once a user lands on your website, they leave – search engines take this into account.
User behaviour signals let Google know if your website is relevant for these particular keyword search terms and will place your website within the search engines accordingly.
It is critical to ensure your website is appearing for relevant search results and, further to this, it is important to ensure users find the information they really need when landing on your website.
Is Off-Page SEO Important?
Ensuring that your website is ranking properly in search engines goes beyond the website itself. For any business who wants their website to resonate and rank well in the organic search results, they need to ensure they are conducting a proper off-page SEO strategy.
Off-page SEO forms one of the most important parts of your website’s overall Search Engine Optimisation.
How Long Does Off-Page SEO Take?
When it comes to off-page SEO, it is important to note that off-page SEO is an ongoing process. In fact, proper off-page SEO is one of the most time consuming and labour heavy aspects of any SEO campaign.
The best time to start spreading the world about your business is yesterday, and the second best time is now. For any business wishing to rank their website higher in the organic search results, they need to be conducting off-page SEO on a monthly basis.
Timeframes to see results on your off-page SEO depend on a number of different components and results certainly won’t be instant. However, as with all things SEO: while good quality SEO takes time, the pay-off is definitely worth it.
Should Off-Page Be Included In My Search Engine Optimisation Strategy?
Some SEO agencies only offer particular SEO services. There are a number of SEO companies who only offer content production and on-page SEO services, however if you are looking to achieve real results, you need to find a company that offers off-page SEO as well.
As we have outlined above, off-page SEO is crucial for any website. We have an entire team that works on our clients off-page SEO results as part of our range of SEO packages. Included in every SEO package is a large number of hours that go into your off-page SEO every single month.
When selecting to work an SEO agency, you need to ensure they are including off-page SEO in your SEO campaign.
Avoiding Dodgy Off-Page SEO Tactics
If you are diving into the world of off-page SEO and backlink building, you need to be extremely wary of dodgy tactics and dodgy providers. It must be made clear that you should never engage dodgy off-page providers that can offer you 1,000 backlinks for $5.
Beyond this, you need to ensure your off-page SEO tactics are all completely inline with Google’s best practices and only performed with white hat off-page SEO methods.
There are no short-cuts with off-page SEO. It is a lengthy and time consuming process to increase your websites off-page SEO profile.
The Costs Of Off-Page SEO
Building out your off-page SEO profile forms a major part of any SEO budget. As most businesses are aware, SEO in general can be expensive. We dive deeper into the costs of SEO here for those who are interested in SEO budgets.
Since off-page SEO involves a large number of hours dedicated to outreach and connecting with other industry relevant websites, it can be a major contributor to your overall SEO budget.
It is always best to speak with SEO experts who understand the exact cost it will take to increase your overall off-page SEO profile and website’s presence online.
Final Considerations When Forming An Off-Page SEO Strategy
Off-page SEO is one of the most important aspects of any successful SEO campaign. It should be considered by all businesses, no matter what stage they are at in their online journey.
Increasing your website’s off-page SEO efforts is time consuming, and you need to steer clear of dodgy tactics, however the process is relatively simple if you follow our steps. You need to allocate a decent amount of time and budget. Businesses should also have an understanding of the best places and ways to increase their backlink profile.
Work With The Off-Page SEO Experts
The single best way to get started with off-page SEO is to speak with an experienced SEO provider who can help you map out a plan that works for your business and your website.
If you are looking for a SEO provider that offers high quality off-page SEO services, contact the team at Australian Web Experts today. We have a range of off-page SEO experts on our team who can help increase your website’s online presence and get you ranking higher in the organic search results.
