What is Off-Page SEO? A guide to Off-Page SEO strategy

Off-page SEO refers to SEO tactics that are used outside of a website to improve rankings. These tactics often include link building, guest posts, social media marketing, and more.

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The goal of off-page SEO is to make search engines (and users) perceive your website as more trustworthy and authoritative.

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It's one of the essential parts of a successful SEO strategy.

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On-page SEO vs. off-page SEO

On-page SEO and off-page SEO are two essential components of SEO, each with their own sets of tactics and best practices. Let's break down the differences:

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Why is Off-Page SEO important?

Think of off-page SEO as building the reputation of your website.

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And highly reputable websites tend to rank better because search engines consider them to have more Expertise, Authority and Trust (E-A-T).

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One of the best ways to show E-A-T is through off-page SEO factors such as backlinks, reviews and recommendations.

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This means:

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Off-page SEO isn't just important - it plays a significant role in your website's ability to rank.

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5 Off-Page SEO Techniques That Work

Let's look at five different off-page tactics you can use to boost your site's authority and organic search traffic:

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1. Link building
2. Inbound marketing
3. Local SEO (Google My Business and Citations)
4. Reviews
5. Events

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1.link building

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Link building refers to getting other websites to link to pages on your own website. In SEO, these links are called backlinks.

The more backlinks from high-authority sites a page has, the more authoritative it can appear to Google. And this can help the page rank higher.

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Here are the two important factors to consider with link building:

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Authority

"Authority" is a measurement of the overall quality of a website or webpage. It is largely based on how many high-quality backlinks it has.

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This means:

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You want links from high authority sites. These are usually more valuable and can help you rank higher.

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To find a website's authority score, use our Backlink Analysis tool.

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First, enter your domain and click"Analyze."

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Next, you will see the "Authority score."

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Like this:

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Note: This doesn't mean you should avoid links from low authority sites. They probably won't be as valuable. But they won't hurt your SEO efforts either.

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Unique domains

Another important metric for link building is the number of separate domains (referring domains) that point links to your website.

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This Backlinko study shows a clear correlation between referring domains and higher rankings. Getting links from as many relevant, quality domains as possible should be a key focus of your strategy.

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You can quickly see the number of unique domains linking to your website in Backlink analysis.

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Enter any domain and click"Analyze." The dashboard will quickly display the number of referring domains.

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Like this:

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Content marketing

Content marketing is an important tactic in off-page SEO.

Publishing great content is an effective way to earn backlinks, gain media attention and demonstrate expertise, authority and credibility (E-A-T).

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And finding ways to distribute that content to other channels can help boost signals beyond the website.

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Some of these channels include:

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• PR (press and media relations)
• Social media
• Influencer marketing
• Guest posts
• podcaster
• Content syndication
• Discussion forum

And more.

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PR

Digital PR is now the preferred link building tactic for many SEO experts. It's a great way to earn authoritative links in large numbers.

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Studies show that the average campaign gets links from between 10 and 24 referring domains.

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PR contributes to off-page SEO in more ways than just building links.

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A successful PR campaign can also:

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• Increase brand awareness and brand search
• Put your business in front of your target audience
• Generate referral traffic
• Demonstrate expertise, authority and credibility (E-A-T)

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Take your PR strategies up a notch by learning Brian Dean's proven, step-by-step system.

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Social media

Social media is not a direct Google ranking factor. But it's great for getting more attention.

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The more people share your content on social media, the more links you're likely to get for that specific content.

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And even if you don't get a link, you'll get more attention. And more attention leads to more brand searches and mentions.

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A win-win situation for your off-page SEO.

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If you need help with social media, check out Semrush Social.

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You can publish, compare, monitor and more with one platform.

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Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a strategy where brands partner with popular bloggers and social media creators to promote their products or services.

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It's a phenomenal way to build your brand, amplify your content and reach new audiences.

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Influencers have large followings and can help ensure that you as a business are present on a number of different platforms.

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A quick and effective way to find influencers is to use BuzzGuru's influencer analysis tool.

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For example, we can search for Instagram influencers, as shown here:

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Filter by number of subscribers, category, price and more to find the influencers that can be most useful to your brand.

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You will see a list of filtered results.

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When you click on their image, you will see their engagement statistics and a contact email, if publicly available.

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Guest posts

Guest posts put your brand in front of another audience and can lead to mentions and backlinks.

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It signals to search engines that you're an industry expert.

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Plus, it's one of the most effective link building tactics, as documented in our study of over 850 SEO specialists.

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To find guest post opportunities, try searching Google with search operators like these:

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• "targeted keywords" + "this is a guest article by"
• "targeted keywords" + "this is a guest post"
• "targeted keywords" + "guest column"
• "targeted keywords" + "guest posts"
• "targeted keywords" + "contributing author"
• "targeted keywords" + "contributing author"

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This will show you sites with at least one article written by a guest author.

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If they have accepted guest posts in the past, they may also accept yours. And they may allow you to include a link to your website in your contribution.

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For example, if you're writing about affiliate marketing, search for "affiliate marketing" + "this is a guest post."

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Like this:

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And when your article is published on another website, keep an eye on how it performs, both in terms of referral traffic and social media shares.

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This will help you decide which sites are worth contacting again and which you should avoid.

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To get started, open Semrush's content tracking tool.

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Next, enter the URL of your post and click"Track content performance"

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You will then see a dashboard with a quick overview of the article's metrics.

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Analyze the referral traffic, backlinks and social media shares for each post.

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Decide which topics and content types are more likely to attract new audiences. And work to create (and suggest) more of that content.

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For a more in-depth review of this strategy, read our definitive guide on guest posting.

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podcaster

Podcasts are incredibly popular right now, and that popularity doesn't seem to be waning.

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If you're not using them as part of your marketing strategy, you could be missing out on huge opportunities.

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Why?

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Most businesses still don't use podcasts as part of their strategy, so they're a great way to gain a competitive advantage.

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They're also a great way to reach new audiences, share your expertise and gain visibility on other websites.

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Podcasts also provide an additional SEO benefit: backlinks. If you're a guest on a podcast, they can link to your website.

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Or if the podcast discusses a specific topic, they can find your website and use it as a source somewhere in the description.

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And if you know what the podcast usually covers, you can contact them with a request to link to your content.

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Content syndication

Content syndication refers to publishing content on one or more websites.

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Some publications like to syndicate content because it's easier than creating new content all the time.

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And it's great for you because you'll get your brand in front of a new audience.

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Here are some popular platforms for content syndication:

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• Medium
• LinkedIn
• Outbrain
• Taboola
• Business 2 Community
• Quuu

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You can also find websites within your niche and contact them about syndicating your content.

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But syndicate content carefully.

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Google says it will always display the version it believes is most appropriate for users in any given search, which may or may not be the version you prefer.

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To prevent this, make sure the syndicated version of the post links back to the original, and set up the canonical tags correctly.

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Forum

Dropping links in forums for SEO purposes will not help you rank better in Google.

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But you can use forums to engage in conversations that are related to your expertise. To position yourself as an expert and quickly be seen as an expert.

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Very few other platforms give you the opportunity to have open discussions with potential customers who are already asking questions about what you have to offer.

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This is a fantastic way to start building relationships and trust.

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Reddit and Quora are important large-scale platforms to use. But forums within your niche can be just as effective.

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Such as Google's Search Central help community.

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Local SEO

Local SEO is the process of optimizing your online presence to increase local traffic, visibility and brand awareness.

It's a separate SEO discipline in itself.

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But certain elements of local SEO are important tactics for off-site SEO, such as Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) and NAP referrals.

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Google Business Profile (GBP)

A Google Business Profile is a free business listing tool that helps you influence how your business appears in Google.

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And since this happens off your website, optimizing your Google Business Profile is an important tactic for off-site SEO.

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In fact, it's a critical factor for ranking in local SEO.

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And it can increase the visibility of your website in valuable positions on Google search results pages.

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Such as the map view for our example, "plant sales near me":

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Here's what it looks like:

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Here are some tips for your Google Business Profile:

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• Be careful with your contact information
• Reply to all reviews
• Publish posts regularly (including photos and videos)

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If you want to learn more about this topic, read our guide on Google Business Profile.

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NAP referrals

NAP referrals are places online that mention important information about your business: your name, address and phone number (NAP).

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Referrals usually appear in business directories, social media profiles and review sites. But they can show up on all kinds of websites.

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Like this:

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NAP referrals are very important because Google uses referrals to verify that all information about your business is accurate.

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So one of the keys to success with referrals is consistency. Inconsistent referrals look inaccurate.

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You need to take the time to make sure all your NAP references match.

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A quick way to do so is to use our Listing Management Tool.

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Start by entering your company name and click"Search."

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You'll see a dashboard with a summary of your total online presence. Including reviews, duplicate listings and more.

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Here are some tips for NAP referrals:

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• Keep your referrals consistent across the board
• Submit your information to niche and local websites
• Conduct monthly NAP audits

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Reviews

Reviews are a great way to help others trust your business.

In fact, reviews are one of the most important factors Google takes into account when assessing a site's E-A-T.

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This means they are crucial to the success of local SEO.

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Google recommends responding to all reviews, both good and bad. Doing this shows that you value your customers' business and feedback.

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You can quickly find (and respond to) reviews with Semrush listing management tools.

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Just click on the"Review management" tab.

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This dashboard shows all your reviews. To reply, simply type your comment in the tab and click"Reply."

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Here are some tips for your online reviews:

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• Please ask all customers to leave reviews
• Build trust by responding to all reviews
• Do not accept (or offer) money in exchange for reviews

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Events

Events can contribute to your offsite SEO strategy.

Not only can they engage your audience, but you can benefit from creating buzz around your business.

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This can increase social interaction and links.

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For example, you can earn brand mentions while the event is being promoted. Or if attendees write summary articles afterwards.

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Your event page can also attract links. Maybe people just like the event. Maybe a speaker wants to promote it. Or influencers might share it for the value it brings to their audience.

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Events may require more effort to be executed properly, but that buzz can be hard to replicate in other ways. They're also a great way to get fantastic PR coverage.

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Keep learning

Now that you understand how offsite SEO works and know what you need to work on, here are some more articles to continue your learning:

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• Vår veiledning for on-page SEO

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Se våre SEO tjenester

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