Off-Page SEO: Best Ways To Optimize
On-page SEO is not enough. You also need to optimize your website in terms of off-page SEO to improve the overall SEO quality of your website. In this article, we will discuss what off-page SEO is and how to fully optimize it.
What is SEO Off-Page?
Off-page SEO is an SEO optimization step that is carried out outside of the content or website. If in on-page SEO you only dwell on internal website SEO factors, off-page SEO requires you to optimize it from external factors. The external factors referred to here are from inbound links/backlinks to shares on social media.
One of the most common misconceptions about off-page SEO is that off-page SEO only deals with link building. Even though off-page SEO is much broader than that. Link building is indeed the most important factor in off-page SEO, but not the only one. There are various off-page SEO optimization steps and we will explain each of them in full below.
6 Ways to Off-Page SEO Optimization
There are at least six techniques to optimize off-page SEO. The six ways are:
- Link Building
- Business Listing
- Brand Mention in Online Media
- Google My Business
- Review
- Share on Social Media
1. Link Building
Talking off-page SEO can never be separated from link building. Link building is the most essential factor in off-page SEO. Why are links the most crucial factor in off-page SEO?
Because Google uses an algorithm called Page Rank. Page Rank is an algorithm that assesses the quantity and quality of backlinks on a website. Some SEO professionals say Page Rank is out of date. However, the fact is that Google confirms that Page Rank is still a factor in Google’s assessment.
The report from Ahrefs also proves that there is a strong relationship between the number of inbound links/backlinks of a website and its performance in search results.
The graph above shows that the more referring domains are, the better the organic traffic is. Referring domains are domains that provide inbound links/backlinks to a website.
Therefore, you need to get quality backlinks / inbound links to strengthen the off-page SEO of your website. So, in doing link building, what factors do you need to pay attention to? There are at least five factors that need to be recognized. Here’s the explanation:
1.1. Page Authority and Domain Authority.
Each link has a different quality. The quality of the links from website A is different from the links from website B. Even the links from page 1 on website A and page 2 on website A also have diverse qualities.
The quality of the link is measured by Domain Authority and Page Authority scales. Domain Authority is the quality of the backlink profile in a domain as a whole. Domain Authority is marked on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the number, the better the link quality from the domain.
On the other hand, Page Authority is the quality of the links on a particular page. Page Authority is measured on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the number, the better the quality of the links the page provides.
Then how do you find out the DA and PA of a website?
You need to use an application like Moz or Ahrefs to find out the quality of a website’s link. Moz and Ahrefs are both paid apps so you will need to pay a small fee to use them.
Even so, you can use a trial version from Moz. With the trial version, you have the opportunity to check the link quality up to 10 times. Ahrefs also provides a trial version for seven days for 7 US dollars.
Ahrefs uses different metric names, namely URL Rating (UR) and Domain Rating (DR). However, they work almost the same as PA and DA. UR measures the quality of links on specific pages, while DR measures the quality of links in the domain as a whole.
So, when you are going to guest post or collaborate with website owners, you need to consider the quality of their UR / PA and DA / DR. That way, you can create quality links for your website.
1.2. Dofollow and Nofollow
Not all links are detected by Google. Google only detects dofollow links. What is dofollow? Dofollow is a link that is detected by Google bots so that it can increase the quality of the authority of a website. By default, links on a website are usually set as dofollow.
In contrast, nofollow links are accompanied by a nofollow tag which signals Google not to detect the link. So nofollow links will not affect the quality of the authority of your website.
How do you know which links are dofollow and which are nofollow links? The method is quite easy. You only need to install the NoFollow Chrome extension. This Chrome extension will highlight nofollow links.
Then which types of links are good for your website? It depends on your goals. If your goal is to increase the authority of the website, you should try to get dofollow links.
It’s different if your focus is only on traffic. Nofollow links still contribute to your website, which is traffic. However, nofollow links will not have any effect on the quality of the authority of the website.
1.3. Anchor text
Anchor text is text containing links that can be clicked by website visitors. Google states that one of the factors that affect search quality is anchor text. Links with the same anchor text as the targeted keywords result in better quality search results than those that don’t.
You can’t always control the anchor text on other website links unless you specifically ask the website owner for it. However, you also need to be careful. Because too many inbound links/backlinks with the same anchor text can result in a Google penalty.
1.4. Relevance
Relevance is also an important factor that you must pay attention to when building backlinks. Try to get backlinks from websites that are still in the same niche as your website.
For example, if your website is in the culinary niche, you should get backlinks from websites that discuss similar themes. Likewise with other niches. Getting inbound links/backlinks from the same niche has more value than backlinks from different niches.
1.5. Traffic
The last factor to consider when building backlinks is traffic. The higher the traffic from the backlink source, the more likely you are to be flooded with traffic from the links on the website. Because the possibility of a link to your website being clicked is getting bigger.
To see the estimated traffic on a specific website or page, you can use Ahrefs.
Ideally, you need to get backlinks from websites with good authority, provide dofollow links, use appropriate anchor text, are relevant to your website, and have high traffic. Unfortunately, not all websites provide these five things. Some only have two of these three things or even only one.
This is where your task is, namely to sort out which factors need to be prioritized. If the goal is to build the authority of your website, PA / UR and DA / DR can be prioritized. However, if you only need large traffic, you need to prioritize traffic over authority websites.
2. Business Listing
Being listed on online business listings will also help your off-page SEO. There are several business listings that you can take advantage of. Some of them are Trip Advisor, Zomato, and GrabFood.
Trip Advisor is a review site that accommodates business listings in the fields of lodging, recreation areas, and restaurants. Meanwhile, GrabFood and Zomato are specifically for restaurants.
GrabFood is not a review site like Zomato. However, if you register as a GrabFood merchant, your business will make a special page on its website. Of course, this can be beneficial for your off-page SEO.
3. Brand Mention in Online Media
Usually, after carrying out a particular campaign or activity, your business can get brand mentions from online media. Can the mention of a brand without a link to a website like the one above affects off-page SEO? Can you benefit from mentioning your name without a link to the website?
When it comes to profits, of course, you will still benefit when your business name is mentioned by online media. That way, online media readers will be more familiar with your website.
However, when viewed from an off-page SEO perspective, mentioning the name without a link doesn’t have a big effect. Because this cannot contribute to your authority or traffic.
Even so, don’t be disappointed just yet. Because a brand is mentioned, it means that the online media is familiar with your business. You can contact these online media and ask them to add a link to your website in their articles.
4. Google My Business
Google My Business is Google’s free business listing service. Anyone with a business can register their business on Google My Business. Google My Business turns out to be useful for improving the quality of your off-page SEO, especially for local SEO.
Signing up for Google My Business will make it easier for your business to appear in local search results. Apart from that, your business will also appear on Google Maps. Plus, your business also has a greater chance of appearing in the snack pack box of Google search results.
5. Reviews
Reviews about your product and business also have an important influence on off-page SEO. A report from Moz shows that reviews are the seventh important factor in local SEO.
The reviews referred to here are not only from Google My Business reviews but also from other review sites. The more positive the reviews are given, the greater their role in the off-page SEO of your website.
Unfortunately, customers are often lazy to provide product reviews. To overcome this, you can hold a giveaway so that customers are motivated to write a review of your product. You can direct them to reviews on their respective blogs, on their Google My Business account, or on certain review sites.
Google officially states that shares on social media are not a ranking factor and have no direct effect on SEO. One of the reasons that shares on social media are not included as a ranking factor is that they are too easily manipulated. You can get thousands of likes and shares at affordable prices.
Then why do we still include sharing on social media as one of the off-page SEO steps? Because shares on genuine social media (not from buying results) still have an indirect effect on off-page SEO.
The more you share your content on social media, the more likely it is to reach people to read your content. That way the potential for your content to be considered, shared again, or even referred to on websites/blogs / online media is even greater. Therefore, social media shares are still important for off-page SEO even if not directly.
Closing
Off-page SEO tends to be more complicated than on-page SEO. Because most of the off-page SEO factors you cannot fully control. However, all that hard work will pay off when your authority and traffic increase after implementing all off-page SEO optimization steps.
However, before starting to implement off-page SEO, make sure you are complete in optimizing the website from the on-page side. Why is this important? Because without good on-page SEO quality, other websites will be reluctant to refer to your website. As a result, the potential for getting inbound links/backlinks to your website is getting smaller.
Mustafa Al Mahmud is the founder and owner of Gizmo Concept, a leading technology news and review site. With over 10 years of experience in the tech industry, Mustafa started Gizmo Concept in 2017 to provide honest, in-depth analysis and insights on the latest gadgets, apps, and tech trends. A self-proclaimed “tech geek,” Mustafa first developed a passion for technology as a computer science student at the Hi-Tech Institute of Engineering & Technology. After graduation, he worked at several top tech firms leading product development teams and honing his skills as both an engineer and innovator. However, he always dreamed of having his own platform to share his perspectives on the tech world. With the launch of Gizmo Concept, Mustafa has built an engaged community of tech enthusiasts who look to the site for trusted, informed takes on everything from smartphones to smart homes. Under his leadership, Gizmo Concept has become a top destination for tech reviews, news, and expert commentary. Outside of running Gizmo Concept, Mustafa is an avid traveler who enjoys experiencing new cultures and tech scenes worldwide. He also serves as a tech advisor and angel investor for several startups. Mustafa holds a B.S. in Computer Science from HIET.