When discussing Search Engine Optimization (SEO), there are two primary methods to enhance your website’s search ranking: on-page SEO and off-page SEO. On-page SEO involves making changes directly to your website to improve its ranking, while off-page SEO focuses on actions taken externally (on other websites) to achieve the same goal. Both strategies are crucial for ensuring your website’s visibility in search results; however, this guide will concentrate solely on off-page tactics. Optimizing your website for off-page SEO requires improving how users and search engines perceive your website’s credibility, authority, relevance, and popularity, among other factors. In essence, it involves reputable websites linking to your content, vouching for its quality, which significantly boosts your website’s reputation.

On-Page vs. Off-Page SEO

Let’s briefly recap the distinctions between on-page and off-page SEO. On-page SEO typically encompasses elements such as:

• Page titles and headings
• Images
• Meta descriptions and tags
• URL
• Fast-loading pages
• High-quality and regularly updated content
• Internal linking

From our on-page SEO checklist post. Off-page SEO primarily revolves around acquiring high-quality backlinks to your site. While a higher quantity of backlinks is generally desirable, prioritizing quality over quantity is paramount, as backlinks from websites with higher domain authority ratings hold greater value.

There are various methods to attract backlinks to your site:

• Guest posting or blogging
• Social-media activity
• Influencer marketing
• Consistently producing high-quality, shareable content Ultimately, the number of backlinks you receive depends on your commitment to acquiring them. The process can be demanding, but the rewards are substantial with diligent execution. Let’s delve into the four primary ways to obtain backlinks for off-page SEO:

Guest Posting or Blogging

Before the advent of social media and influencer marketing, there was blogging. As one of the earliest web marketing strategies, blogging remains effective today. Data shows that:

• Blogging is the second-most important type of content for marketers
• 60% of marketers use blogging in their social-media content
• Websites featuring blogs get 434% more indexed pages The popularity and efficacy of blogging make landing guest posts on relevant blogs a highly effective influencer marketing strategy. Publishing a guest post on an influential, high-ranking blog often yields a backlink to your website, either within the article or your author bio.

Here are some practical tips for securing guest posts:

• Personalize your initial outreach email to the blog editor, establishing a human connection
• Thoroughly understand the blog’s industry and target audience
• Propose topics aligned with the blog’s focus and readership
• Include links to your best published work as writing samples
• Highlight the benefits your article offers the blog’s audience Replicate this approach across various high-ranking blogs, leveraging your growing portfolio of published guest posts in your pitches. Remember that off-page SEO centers on acquiring backlinks from reputable, high-ranking websites. This relates to domain authority, defined as: A search engine ranking score predicting a website’s potential search engine results page (SERP) ranking. Ranging from one to 100, a higher score indicates greater authority. Consider this score when selecting blogs for guest post pitches. Utilize tools like Moz’s Open Site Explorer to determine a website’s domain authority.

Social Media

For a considerable period, a correlation has been observed between a piece of content’s social media shares and its corresponding website or page’s search ranking performance. Recent research by our very own Larry Kim suggests that it’s not solely the quantity of social shares but the engagement rate of social content that strongly correlate with higher organic rankings. This encompasses metrics like comments, likes, and click-throughs on images.

This brings us to the next strategic element in enhancing off-page SEO results: social media. Increased social sharing and engagement with your content generally translate to more backlinks. Essentially, social media provides free exposure, provided your content is share-worthy. Consider this: You create an insightful and compelling infographic highlighting lesser-known foods Americans should avoid. Mercola.com did just that with an impressive infographic on banned foods that has amassed almost 700,000 social shares.

According to Moz’s Open Site Explorer, this infographic garnered 50 backlinks and ranked #2 on Google for “banned foods.”

This illustrates how leveraging social shares and engagement effectively utilizes off-page SEO to boost search rankings.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing involves businesses collaborating with popular, influential bloggers or social media users to promote their products or services. Recognizing the vast reach and influence these individuals possess, businesses aim to tap into their audience by having their offerings featured or mentioned. Influencer marketing encompasses paid and unpaid collaborations. Paid collaborations involve businesses compensating influencers financially or providing free products in exchange for promotion. Unpaid collaborations stem from organic, mutually beneficial relationships between businesses and influencers. While come under attack recently due to potential authenticity concerns, research confirms its efficacy in bolstering off-page SEO efforts. Influencers have the capacity to generate 11 times the ROI of traditional advertising. Nurturing genuine relationships with influencers yields favorable outcomes.

Here’s how to leverage influencer marketing for backlinks:

• Mention influencers in your blog posts, either through quotes or brand mentions. Subsequently, inform them via social media or email about the feature. People appreciate recognition, increasing the likelihood of them linking back to your content upon request.
• Collaborate with influencers to co-create comprehensive guides, videos, or other valuable content. This approach generates backlinks through cross-promotion on different channels, reaching each other’s audiences.
• Empower your social media followers as micro-influencers for your brand. If you observe people organically sharing photos of themselves using your product on social media, encourage them to do the same on your official social accounts. This creates a ripple effect, amplifying your brand’s reach to their followers. Take inspiration from boat-shoe brand Sperry recently tried this strategy. Explore Margot da Cunha’s guide to learn more about identifying suitable influencers in your industry.

High-Quality Content

None of the aforementioned off-page SEO strategies will yield results without consistently producing high-quality, shareable content. It forms the bedrock of your entire strategy. Compelling content facilitates:

• Securing guest posts on influential websites and blogs
• Encouraging social media users to share your content
• Motivating influencers to endorse your work and collaborate on content creation This raises the question: how do you craft such content?

Consider this general checklist:

• Write long-form pieces (around 2000 words), as they generally achieve higher SERP rankings
• Incorporate images into your content, as posts featuring images receive 2.3 times higher engagement on Facebook
• Address challenging questions, embrace boldness and contrarian viewpoints, and substantiate your arguments with data By integrating these elements into your content, you’ll find it easier to attract backlinks regardless of the employed off-page SEO strategy.

Off-Page SEO: Just One Piece of the Puzzle

By implementing these crucial strategies, you’ll gradually observe improvements in your search rankings. Higher rankings translate to increased website traffic and leads, positively impacting conversions. Remember that off-page SEO is only half the battle; on-page SEO is equally vital. Only by optimizing both aspects can you ensure maximum visibility for your website in the vast realm of organic search.