Do you feel that On Page SEO efforts such as keyword optimization are enough? Then, are you confused because your website is not yet number one on the SERP? Well, that means you still forget the role of Off Page SEO.
If you have used keywords and tried various On Page SEO efforts on your website but still haven't gotten a high ranking, then what you need is an Off Page SEO technique. If you have optimized the keywords in your content but haven't gotten a high ranking yet, then you need to optimize off-page SEO.
In the following guide, we will explain the meaning of off-page SEO, the difference from on-page SEO, and how to optimize it. This is in accordance with the notion of Off Page SEO itself, which is a system that is able to increase page rankings and popularity by optimizing the website.
Off Page SEO is an optimization that focuses on external support for websites. What's the full explanation? So, in this article we will not only explain what Off page SEO is but also how to optimize Off Page SEO and the difference between On Page vs Off Page SEO. Come on, see more!
What is Off-Page SEO?
Off Page SEO is an SEO optimization step that is carried out outside your website. This optimization will support On Page SEO efforts that focus on improving your website's internal factors. To apply Off Page SEO techniques properly, you must use various platforms. Starting from other websites, social media, to online forums.
In short, Off Page SEO is not enough just to do link building as many believe. We'll explain this further in the How to Optimize section.
Off-page EO is all SEO tactics that are carried out outside the website and are not included in content production activities. The goal to be achieved from implementing off-page SEO techniques is to make users and search engines see your site as relevant, credible, and trustworthy.
So far, the thing that has always been associated with off-page SEO is link building. In fact, in practice you can do many other off-page SEO optimization methods such as content marketing, promoting through social media, and utilizing forums, which will be discussed further in the How to Off-Page SEO Optimization section.
How important is Off-Page SEO?
Off-page SEO is one of the determining factors for website ranking on Google. Search engines will consider a site that has high domain authority as a trustworthy site. Internet users also prefer credible sites, they will be happy to share, leave a review or refer your site.
It can improve brand reputation and build trust in your domain. Sites with higher domain authority tend to rank better than sites with low domain authority. Therefore, it is important to implement off-page SEO techniques to rank better in organic search.
While link building isn't the only off-page SEO technique that determines site ranking, it is by far the most important signal. There are several other off-page SEO techniques that will be discussed in this article.
What is the difference between Off-Page and On-page SEO?
The following is a brief table of examples of On-Page SEO vs Off-Page SEO:
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Do link building |
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Increase social media engagement rate |
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Optimizing local SEO |
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Pay attention to meta tags |
Make use of online forums |
You have got an idea of what to do to make your website number one, right? In essence, SEO optimization must be carried out internally and externally through various platforms. Then, what's the importance of all those external efforts, huh?
Why is Off Page SEO Important?
The reason is simple: because Off Page SEO also determines the assessment of your ranking on Google. Google itself uses many factors to assess a website which includes internal and external factors. These factors are then calculated using a formula owned by Google and not much is clearly published.
However, some research, such as that conducted by Moz, a company engaged in the field of SEO, shows that Off Page SEO can affect up to 50% of Google's ratings. That is, if you ignore Off Page SEO because you think On Page SEO is enough, then you need to do it from now on.
It doesn't stop there, Off Page SEO is also useful for building website credibility. Because Off Page SEO efforts are carried out on various platforms, if successful, your website will be found more often, especially in relevant niche markets.
In the end, this condition will increase your credibility in the eyes of netizens and Google. As a result, it will be easier for you to get high rankings because you are trusted by Google.
How do I practice Off-Page SEO?
The following are five Off Page SEO techniques that you can try:
1. Run Link Building
The first and most important way to optimize Off Page SEO is link building. Link building is an activity to get links from other websites (backlinks).
Backlinks are one of the main factors in Google's assessment because the number of links from various relevant websites indicates that the website is a trusted source.
In fact, the number of backlinks on a website will indeed make the website occupy the best position in search results. Websites that are ranked first on average have 3.8 times more backlinks than those in second to tenth positions.
However, make sure that you install quality backlinks, yes. If you have a lot of backlinks, but they come from websites that are mocked and irrelevant, then Google will consider them spam.
Therefore, here are some Off Page SEO link building techniques that you can try:
- Link building from content — Create quality content such as complete guide articles, infographics, to statistics. That way, other websites will make you a referral.
- Guest blogging — Post your quality articles on other websites which have backlinks to your website.
- Ego bait - Mention the name of the person or brand in your article so that it attracts the person to provide a backlink.
- Broken link building — Work with other websites to use your content as a substitute for other content that has broken links.
- Link reclamation — Reclaiming backlinks on your website pages that have experienced a 404 error and have been fixed.
Then, what are the link building factors that must be considered?
a. Domain Authority and Page Authority
The quality of these backlinks is measured by a scale called Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA).
DA is a score to predict the chances of a website ranking on Google. Meanwhile, PA is a score that shows the opportunity for a website page to be ranked at the top of Google. Both have a scale from 1-100.
To get quality backlinks, look for websites with DA and PA that are similar to your website. Even better, you are looking for a website whose DA and PA are higher than yours. You can check DA and PA using Moz or Ahrefs tools.
b. Dofollow links
Dofollow links will prompt Google to follow the destination link and will ultimately strengthen the SEO value of the destination website. Conversely, the Nofollow link will ask Google not to detect the link. This type of link is not useful for your Off Page SEO efforts.
Fortunately, by default the link will be automatically set as dofollow. So, to make sure your backlinks are useful, you can check them using the Google Chrome NoFollow extension. If it's still nofollow, you can contact them to consider using dofollow to point to your website.
c. AnchorText
Anchor text is a piece of text containing a link that will direct visitors to another page. Anchor text can help Google understand the context of the website information or the page it is targeting. In other words, the anchor text for a good backlink will contain keywords according to your target.
For example, if you have an online shop website that sells shoes, apply online shop SEO tricks such as backlinks with the best shoes anchor text. Unfortunately, you can't always control the anchor text in backlinks.
d. Relevance
Try to do link building on websites that are still in the same niche as you. Because, backlinks from websites with the same niche have more value in Google's eyes. For example, if your website is in the culinary niche, you should get backlinks from culinary websites as well.
e. Traffic
The last factor you need to pay attention to when link building is traffic. If your backlink comes from a website with high traffic, the chances of your link being clicked are also getting bigger. To see estimated traffic from a website, you can use tools like Ubersuggest or Ahrefs.
2. Increase EAT
EAT stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. EAT is an indicator of the quality of a website according to the Search Quality Evaluator. With EAT, Google knows how to trust a website. This means that Google can ensure that the search results displayed are the best and most accurate.
E-A-T includes important Off Page SEO factors. This is because Google is increasingly aggressively fighting hoaxes or misinformation in search results. Especially, in the health sector because it can be fatal.
In addition, “providing fast and accurate results” is Google's main selling point. If Google can't fulfill it, of course people will leave it and switch to other search engines. Therefore, you should increase EAT as a way to optimize Off Page SEO. How to?
a. Strive for Brand Mentions
A brand mention is when another website mentions the name of your website or brand. There are two types of brand mentions: brand mentions with a link pointing to you and brand mentions without a link.
Interestingly, the two types of brand mentions both have a positive effect on your E-A-T, as stated by Gary Illyes as Google's Webmaster Trends Analyst. However, of course brand mentions with links are better overall. Because, apart from increasing EAT, you will also get traffic contributions from the website.
There are several ways to increase your brand mentions, namely:
- Do guest blogging. You can mention websites without links, for example during introductions and closings.
- Try contacting the website owner. You try to work with other websites in creating content using a brand name
- Become a resource person. You can become a resource person for articles, undergo media interviews, podcasts, to webinars that tell about your brand.
- So viral in cyberspace. Strive to create unique content that matches trends in society and concerns your brand.
b. Get Backlinks from “Seed Sites”
Seed sites are websites that Google trusts because they have a good track record, such as Wikipedia and several websites with .GOV, .EDU domains and news portals. Getting backlinks from seed sites can skyrocket your website's EAT. However, of course it's not easy because your article has to be special to get it.
Another strategy, you can try to get backlinks from websites that get backlinks from seed sites. Although not directly, it will still have a positive effect on your EAT, you know.
So, here's a quick overview:
- Seed sites → to your website = best
- Seed sites → other people's websites → your website = that's fine too
c. Get Positive Reviews
Consumer reviews or reviews are also very important in your Off Page SEO efforts. The Google Quality Rater emphasizes that positive reviews are strong evidence that a business has a good reputation. Whether done on Google My Business, or other review sites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp, Traveloka, Zomato, and GoFood/Grabfood.
The way to get consumers to leave positive reviews is to provide a good customer experience. For example, always friendly to consumers, quickly responding to consumer questions on social media, and the like.
In addition, you can also get positive reviews from:
- How many awards you won. For example, journalism awards, blogger awards, article writing contests, and the like.
- Expert positive review of your website. For example, your blog discusses the topic of gaming and gets compliments from IGN or Gamespot in one of their articles.
3. Pay attention to Local SEO
If you have a business website, you can also use local SEO as a way to optimize Off Page SEO, you know. Local SEO is a method to show your business in Google local search. Examples like this:
Then, why should you pay attention to local SEO? This SEO strategy makes it easier for customers to find your business because it displays your full business name with address and contact details.
Apart from that, local SEO also allows visitors to rate your services and business products. With these indicators, Google will be sure to recommend your business to more people. You will also get more visitors. Win-win solution!
Here are some ways to optimize local SEO that you can apply:
- Complete your Google My Business profile. Starting from the complete location, telephone number, operating hours, to photos.
- Local keyword research. The goal is for you to use the key that local residents are looking for. To do research, you can use free SEO tools like Google Trends.
- Get backlinks from local websites. For example, the websites of your business partners, clients, suppliers, and the like.
- Add your business bio on various platforms. Starting from the website, social media, to the marketplace. The reason is, the more often your business bio appears in cyberspace, it means that your business is getting popular.
4. Increase Engagement on Social Media
Do you often promote website content on your social media? Well, it turns out that one of these content marketing practices can have an indirect effect on your Off Page SEO, you know. The condition is that the engagement rate, such as the number of comments and likes, must be high.
According to research, the higher the engagement rate on the post, the higher your ranking on Google. Why is that?
The reason is simple: when audiences find content interesting and useful, engagement for that content will be high.
This engagement activity will be recorded in the social media algorithm and will continue to encourage your content to be promoted to other users. For example, through the feed.
Well, this will certainly increase the popularity of your website. In effect, you have the opportunity to get backlinks, brand mentions, and reviews. Therefore, here are some tips to increase social media engagement rates that you can try:
- Creating quality content — your content must be relevant and able to answer audience questions thoroughly.
- Post at the right time — post content at the time when your audience is most active. According to CoSchedule, the best time to post is around 8am and 2pm.
- Use relevant hashtags — make it easier for your target audience to find your posts.
Take advantage of Online Forums
Off Page SEO techniques through forums are actually starting to be abandoned. Because, many are abusing the forum as spam backlinks. So, instead resulted in Google's punishment. Usually, website owners just enter a website link every time they reply to a comment without paying attention to the context. Sometimes they just make topics just for website promotion.
So, if you really want to use this method, make sure to provide a link that is relevant to the discussion on the forum. In addition, you must actively answer questions and create posts that raise the latest issues without only focusing on link placement.
That way, you'll be seen as an expert by forum members. Of course, this also has a positive effect on the popularity of your website and maybe they will provide backlinks to your website too.
Come on, optimize your off-page SEO!
Off Page SEO is an important effort that you must do so that your website gets a top ranking on Google.
Some of the Off Page SEO efforts that you need to do are:
- Link Building
- EAT Website Optimization
- Local SEO Efforts
- Improved Social Media Engagement
- Active in Various Online Forums
By learning Off Page SEO, the credibility of your website will increase and your ranking in search results will be better.
Conclusion
Every day Google receives billions of searches for various information that users need. Therefore, there's nothing wrong if you also add information about your business to Google's features, one of which is Google MyBusiness or Google My Business.
The method is quite easy, you only need to add basic information, photos, and of course what is certain is your website address. Thus the discussion regarding the notion of off-page SEO, the difference with on-page SEO, and how to optimize it.
The goal of off-page SEO is to increase trust in your site, so that the site's performance in organic search gets better. In addition, don't forget to optimize your internal website with on-page SEO. We have provided a complete guide and how to optimize on-page SEO that you can learn in depth.
Hopefully this article can help you understand how to optimize Off Page SEO. If you have questions, you can leave them in the comments column. Good luck..!!