Off-site SEO is one of the essential parts of a successful SEO strategy.
It implies using several SEO techniques outside your website to improve its rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).
These techniques include creating valuable backlinks, guest posting, commenting on blogs, joining forum discussions, social media marketing, and more.
The goal of off-site SEO is to get search engines and users to see your website as more trustworthy and authoritative.
Off-site SEO is also known as off-page SEO.
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In this article, we’ll explain why off-site SEO matters and share some effective off-site SEO techniques to improve your SEO strategy.
On-Site SEO vs. Off-Site SEO
On-site SEO and off-site SEO are two essential parts of SEO. Each with its own set of tactics and best practices. Let’s break down the differences between on-site SEO and off-page SEO:
| No. | On-Site SEO | Off-Site SEO |
| 1. | On-site SEO includes creating high quality content, making sure internal links are present, adding relevant keywords, creating an optimizing title tag, etc. | Off-site SEO includes building valuable backlinks, guest posting and gaining exposure through various channels, such as social media platforms and news outlets. |
| 2. | You have full control over on-site SEO. | You have limited control over off-site SEO. |
| 3. | The tools you’ll use for on-site SEO include: – Keyword Magic Tool – SEO Writing Assistant – On Page SEO Checker – etc. |
The tools you’ll use for off-site SEO include: – Link Building Tool – Backlink Audit – Social Poster – Prowly – Brand Monitoring – etc. |
Why Is Off-Site SEO Important?
Think about off-site SEO as building your website’s reputation.
And highly reputable websites tend to rank better on SERPs because search engines consider them to have more Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T).
One of the best ways to show E-A-T is through off-site SEO factors like quality backlinks, reviews, and recommendations.
This means:
Off-site SEO is not only important—it plays a major role in your website’s ability to rank on search engine results pages.
Search engines use your website’s backlinks to assess its quality and authority. The more backlinks from high-authority websites a web page has, the more authoritative it may seem to Search engines like Google. And that can help the page rank higher.
You can use Semrush, Ahrefs or Moz to discover your Domain Authority (a score from 0-100). If it’s low, you should work on both on-site SEO and off-page SEO.
5 Off-Site SEO Techniques That Work
Let’s take a look at five different off-site techniques you can use to boost your website’s authority and organic search traffic:
- Link Building
- Content Marketing
- Local SEO (GMB and Citations)
- Reviews
- Events
1. Link Building
Link building refers to getting other relevant websites to link to pages on your own website. In SEO, these links are called backlinks.
The more links from authoritative resources your website has, the higher its position on a SERP.
Here are the two key factors you should consider with link building:
Authority
“Authority” is a measurement of a website or web page’s overall quality. It’s based heavily on how many valuable backlinks it has.
This means:
You want links from high-authority websites. They tend to be more valuable and can help your website and its contents rank higher.
Note: This doesn’t mean you should avoid links from websites with low authority. They probably won’t be as valuable. But they also won’t hurt your SEO efforts.
Unique Domain Names
Another critical link building metric is the number of referring domain names that point links to your website.
Getting links from as many relevant, quality domain names as possible should be a key focus of your strategy.
2. Content Marketing
Content marketing is an important off-site SEO technique.
Publishing high quality content is an effective way to earn backlinks, gain media attention, and show E-A-T.
And finding ways to distribute that useful content to other channels can help boost off-page signals.
Some of those channels include:
- PR
- Social Media
- Influencer Marketing
- Guest Blogging
- Podcasts
- Content Syndication
- Forums
And more.
PR
Digital PR is now the link-building technique of choice for many SEOs. It’s a perfect way to earn authoritative links at scale.
PR contributes to off-site SEO signals in more ways than building links.
A great PR campaign can also:
- Increase brand awareness and branded searches
- Put your business in front of your target audience
- Drive referral traffic
- Show E-A-T
Social Media
Social media isn’t a direct search engines ranking factor. But it’s great for getting more attention.
The more people on social media share your great content, the more links for that specific piece of content you’ll probably get.
And even if you don’t get a backlink, you’ll get more attention. And more attention leads to more branded searches and mentions.
A win-win for your off-page SEO.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a strategy where brands work with popular bloggers and social media creators to promote their products or services.
It’s a perfect way to build your brand, amplify your content, and reach new audiences.
Influencers have large audiences. And can help ensure you’re present, as a business, on tons of different platforms.
Guest Blogging
Guest blogging gets your brand in front of a different audience and can lead to mentions and backlinks.
It signals to search engines that you’re an industry expert and it’s one of the most effective link building techniques.
To find guest blogging opportunities, try searching on Google with search operators like these:
- “your target keyword” + “this is a guest post by”
- “your target keyword” + “guest post”
- “your target keyword” + “guest column”
- “your target keyword” + “this is a guest contribution”
- “your target keyword” + “contributing writer”
- “your target keyword” + “contributing author”
This will show you websites with at least one blog post written by a guest author.
If they’ve accepted guest posts before, they might also accept yours. And they might allow you to include a link to your website in your contributed piece of content.
For example, if you’re writing about affiliate marketing, you can search for “affiliate marketing” + “this is a guest contribution.”
And once your article gets published on another website, keep track of its performance. Both in terms of referral traffic, backlinks and social media shares.
Determine which blog topics and content types are more likely to attract new audiences. And work on creating and pitching more of those.
Podcasts
Podcasts are immensely popular right now. And that popularity shows no signs of slowing down.
If you are not using them as part of your marketing strategy, you could be missing out on huge opportunities.
Why?
Most businesses still aren’t using podcasts as part of their strategy, so they’re a great way to reach new audiences, share your expertise, and gain visibility on other websites.
They’re also a great way to gain backlinks. If you’re a guest on a podcast, they might link to your website.
Or if the podcast is discussing a particular subject, they could find your website and use it as a source somewhere in their description.
And if you know what the podcast usually covers, you can reach out to them with a suggestion to link to your high quality content.
Content Syndication
Content syndication refers to republishing content on one or more websites.
Some publications like to syndicate content because it’s easier than creating fresh valuable content all the time.
And it’s great for you because you’ll get your brand in front of a new audience.
Here are a few popular content syndication platforms:
- Business 2 Community
- Medium
- Outbrain
- Taboola
You can also find websites in your niche and reach out to them about syndicating your content.
But syndicate content carefully.
Google says it will “always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you’d prefer.”
To prevent that from happening, make sure the syndicated version of the piece of content links back to your original content. And properly configure your canonical tags.
Forums
Dropping links in forums for SEO purposes won’t help you rank better in search engines like Google.
But you can use forums to get involved in discussions that relate to your expertise. To position yourself as an expert and quickly be seen as an expert.
Very few other platforms allow you to have open discussions with potential customers who are already asking questions about what you have to offer.
This is a fantastic way to begin building relationships and trust.
Reddit and Quora are key large-scale platforms to use. But forums within your niche can be just as effective.
Like Google’s Search Central Help Community, for example.
3. Local SEO
Local SEO is the task of optimizing your online presence to increase local traffic, visibility, and brand awareness.
It’s an SEO discipline in its own right.
But certain local SEO elements are key off-site SEO tactics, like Google Business Profile and NAP citations.
Google Business Profile (GBP)
A Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) is a free business listing tool that helps you influence how your business shows up in Google.
And because that occurs outside of your website, optimizing your Google Business Profile is a key off-site SEO technique.
In fact, it’s a critical local SEO ranking factor.
And it can increase your website’s visibility in high-value positions on Google’s search results pages.
Here are a few Google Business Profile tips:
- Be meticulous with your contact information
- Publish blog posts regularly (including photos and videos)
- Respond to all reviews
NAP Citations
NAP citations are places online that mention key information about your business: your name, address, and phone number (NAP).
Citations usually appear in business directories, social media profiles, and review websites. But they can show up on all kinds of websites.
NAP citations are super important because Google uses citations to confirm that all your business information is accurate.
So one of the keys to success with citations is consistency. Inconsistent citations look inaccurate.
You must take the time to ensure that all of your NAP references match.
Here are a few NAP citation tips:
- Keep your citations consistent everywhere
- Submit your information to niche and local websites
- Run monthly NAP audits
4. Reviews
Reviews are a great way to help others trust your online business.
In fact, reviews are one of the most important factors Google takes into account when evaluating your website’s E-A-T.
This means they are vitally important to your local SEO success.
Google recommends replying to all reviews. Good and bad. Doing so shows that you value your customers’ business and feedback.
Here are a few tips for your online reviews:
- Kindly ask all customers to leave reviews
- Build trust by responding to all reviews
- Don’t accept or offer money in exchange for reviews
5. Events
Events can contribute to your off-site SEO strategy.
You can earn brand mentions while the event is being promoted. Or if attendees write summary articles afterward.
This can drive social engagement and backlinks.
Your event landing page could also attract backlinks. Maybe a speaker wants to promote it. Perhaps people just like the event. Or influencers may share it for the sheer value to their audiences.
They’re also a great way to pick up some fantastic PR coverage.
Keep Learning
Now that you understand how off-site SEO works and know what you need to work on, here are a few more articles to continue learning:
- Link Building for SEO
- Our SEO Guide
- Our On-site SEO Guide