Four Ways to Increase Website Visibility with Off-Page SEO

In modern SEO, it is not enough to focus solely on improving the technical characteristics of a website. To ensure that your web resource is not only indexed but also perceived as reliable and authoritative by search engines, it is important to pay attention to off-page optimization.

In this article, I will discuss four off-page optimization tactics that can help you increase your site's authority and attract more traffic. And with the right approach, they will continue to produce results over the long term. 

1. What is off-page SEO?
2. How off-page SEO differs from on-page SEO
3. Link building
4. Content marketing
5. Local SEO
6. Social media marketing

What is off-page SEO?

The main element of off-page SEO is backlink building. As more websites link to your site, your authority and position in search results will increase. 

Off-page optimization also includes: 

• Gathering and publishing reviews
• Content marketing
• Social media marketing

Why it is important

Here are the main benefits of off-page optimization:

• Improved site authority. Search engines take website authority into account when ranking pages, which include the number and quality of external backlinks to the site. The presence of backlinks indicates that other resources consider the content to be reliable.

• Increased visibility. Search engine optimization increases brand awareness and attracts users from a variety of sources. This generates more organic traffic and provides additional opportunities to interact with the audience.

• Improved search engine rankings. Even though off-page optimization doesn’t directly involve the website, it still improves a website's position in search engines. This increases site traffic and the number of potential customers.

How off-page SEO differs from on-page SEO

While on-page (optimizing the internal content of the page) and off-page SEO are both SEO strategies, they differ significantly in methods and approaches.

1. Internal versus external factors. 

On-page SEO aims to optimize the internal elements of a website, such as textual content, URL structure, and the internal linking system.

Off-page SEO focuses on external factors: getting links from other resources, mentioning the brand on forums, and Q&A services. Although these factors do not directly depend on the site, they have a significant impact on site ranking. 

2. Process management.

Internal optimization gives you more control over the process because all changes can be made directly on the site. 

External optimization is influenced by external factors, making this process more resource-intensive.

3. Short-term and long-term results.

On-page SEO tends to produce quick results because search engines index changes to the site almost immediately. 

Off-page SEO takes longer to produce results, but it has longer-lasting effects on the site's search rankings.

External optimization strategies 

There are many off-page optimization strategies that increase the authority of a website. The most common ones are listed below.

Link building

Link building is the basis of off-page SEO. Search engines use backlinks as a sign of trust. When a website receives them from another high-quality website, it is given a share of authority. This signals to search bots that the recipient website is also reliable.

Google's algorithm also takes into account the relevance of the links to the topic or content of the site.

The quality of backlinks is more important than their quantity. 

A backlink from a site with a high domain rating is more important than a backlink from a site with a low domain rating. Use Ahrefs to track the domain rating indicator.

Backlink types 

There are two types of backlinks in off-page search engine optimization.

• Natural or organic links. These are when other sites naturally link to you because they find your content useful. Google highly values such mentions because they indicate trust in the site.

• Links from donor sites. These come from asking a site or an influencer to share your content to increase its reach, usually on a commercial basis. Such backlinks provide referral traffic to your site and signal to Google that you are a reliable source of information.

Link building techniques

Now, let’s discuss how to maximize the impact of links on your SEO strategy.

Maintain a healthy backlink profile

A healthy backlink profile contains a set of high-quality and diverse links pointing to your website.

The main features:

1. Quality of the mentions. The links should come from reliable sources to increase the credibility of the site.
2. Variety and relevance of the sources. The links should come from different domains to indicate the popularity of the content. They should also be relevant to your site's topic, emphasizing its expertise in the niche.
3. Naturalness of anchor text. Anchors (descriptive link text) should look natural and relevant to the context to prevent suspicion from search engines. 
4. Absence of harmful links. There should not be any spam or harmful mentions that can negatively affect the site's ranking. 

To maintain a healthy profile, you should regularly monitor for potentially harmful links.

Use the Disavow Links tool to reject links from unwanted domains:

1. Go to the Disavow Links tool.
2. Select the desired site from the list.
3. Upload a .txt file with a list of domains to reject in the format domain:spammydomain.com.

It may take several weeks for Google to process the request and reindex the pages. Once verified, unwanted backlinks will no longer affect your site's rankings.

Increase the number of referring domains 

Referring domains are websites that link to your resource through backlinks. Each unique domain that sends traffic to your website is considered a separate referring domain.

Links should come from a variety of domains, not just one or a few sites.

Keep an eye on the dofollow/nofollow ratio

The dofollow and nofollow attributes determine whether search engine crawlers can follow and index links: 

• Dofollow tags allow crawlers to follow a link and transfer link weight to the target site, increasing its position in search results. 
• Nofollow attributes tell robots not to follow links or include them when ranking. In other words, they do not transfer link weight.

Maintaining a balance between dofollow and nofollow helps create a natural link profile that improves page rankings.

Avoid inorganic link building

Avoid sudden increases in the number of mentions on external sites. The exception is when many mentions appear due to increased interest in a particular event or news.

Fix broken links

Look for broken links on other resources that lead to missing pages on your site. Contact the owners and offer to replace the broken links with the correct ones. This is a win-win situation: the owner gets a fixed link, and you get a new backlink.

Content marketing

Content marketing is an important part of off-page SEO. It allows you to engage your audience through high-quality, relevant SEO content published off-site. Thanks to shares, mentions, and referral traffic, it will increase the site ranking in search engines and strengthen the company’s reputation.

Visual content

Graphs, photos, and infographics have a high sharing potential. Maximize this by creating high-quality and interesting images that encourage audiences to share them. This creates organic signals that improve search engine visibility.

Videos

Short or educational videos will actively engage audiences and help generate referral traffic. For example, a YouTube video can direct users to the website by adding a link in the description.

Textual content

Relevant posts, articles, or even social media comments can be a good place to include brand mentions. Content that solves audience problems is especially useful, as it will increase audience engagement and time on site, as well as promote natural link exchange.

User-generated content 

UGC (user-generated content) is any text or multimedia content created and published by users on the Internet. It can be photos, videos, posts, reviews, comments, blogs, or even podcasts. Interesting, original content from customers goes a long way to increase brand credibility. 

Collaborations with influencers

Links from influencers often carry high search engine authority. Use this to your advantage by collaborating with opinion leaders to create high-quality content about your brand. This not only extends reach but also helps attract an interested audience. 

Whichever content strategy you opt for, focus on creating valuable and unique content that motivates your audience to interact. Use social media platforms to further build the authority of your resource.

Local SEO

It is important for offline businesses to be visible in local search results, including Google Maps and keyword search results. Users can then see reviews, hours of operation, and other useful information about the business.

Local SEO consists of several elements, each of which is important for increasing business visibility.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free tool that allows you to manage information about your business in Google search results and on Google Maps. 

Creating a Google Business profile is the first and most important step.

Once you have registered your profile, follow these tips.

1. Optimize your GBP profile. Add all the necessary information:  

• Business address 
• Contact information
• Business category
• Working hours 

Use relevant keywords in your business description to improve search visibility.

2. Update your information regularly. This includes opening hours, photos, special offers, and other information useful to potential customers.
3. Collect reviews. Encourage customers to leave reviews on your Google Business Profile page. Not only do they add credibility to your business, but they also affect your local search rankings.

Presence on mapping services

In addition to Google Maps, there are other mapping services where you can display your business (e.g., Apple Maps, Bing Maps, regional platforms). By being present on multiple services, you will increase the chances of being seen by potential customers.

Make sure that your business information is consistent across all sources. Pay particular attention to your business name, address, and contact information.

Customer reviews

Reviews are a powerful factor in influencing the decisions of potential customers. Positive feedback not only improves your business's reputation but also significantly increases your local search rankings.

So, be sure to encourage customers to leave reviews for your business. Use tactics like the following:

• Offer discounts, bonuses, or free gifts for feedback.
• Include a link to the feedback form on your website or in email signatures.
• Send emails after a purchase or service inviting customers to leave a review.
• Thank customers for providing feedback.

You may find yourself wondering, “Do I have to respond to reviews?” Yes, you do. Responding shows that you care about your customers and are actively engaged in your business.

Reviews are not limited to third-party platforms; you can also post them directly on your website.

This will increase the credibility of your business.

Respond to reviews on Google through your Google Business Profile account. Google encourages businesses to respond to both positive and negative comments. Responding to negative reviews, in particular, shows a business's sense of responsibility and desire to improve. 

Follow these tips when dealing with negative comments:

1. Act quickly and professionally. As more time passes since the purchase or the service, it becomes increasingly more difficult to understand the situation.
2. Focus on resolving the issue. Offer specific solutions to meet the customer's needs.
3. Avoid emotional responses. Be polite, even if the comment is unpleasant. 
4. If possible, keep the conversation private. Reach out to unhappy customers. This will allow you to resolve the issue more effectively.

A positive dispute resolution experience can turn an unhappy customer into a loyal one.

It is also important to pay attention to SERM (Search Engine Reputation Management). SERM helps track and manage the information that appears about a brand in search queries. 

Social media marketing

According to the Digital 2024 annual report on trends in social media and digital technologies, the global social media audience will exceed 5 billion users by 2024. This represents nearly two-thirds (62%) of the total number of people on the planet!

Every day, users around the world spend an average of 6 hours and 40 minutes online, and 2 hours and 23 minutes of those hours are spent on social media.

Researchers analyzed the main reasons for using social media. The results are as follows:

• 50% use social media to stay in touch with friends and family
• 38.5% use it for leisure
• 34.2% read news on social media

Digital Report 2024 data 

Social networks are used by 46% of respondents to get to know brands, and they are most popular among young people (16-24 years old). 

The most popular platforms for finding information and getting to know a brand are:

• Instagram (62.7%)
• Facebook (54%)

Digital Report 2024 data

The report's findings show that social media has become an integral part of how people learn about and interact with brands.

For a business looking to develop and strengthen its brand, ignoring these platforms means missing out on key opportunities.

How social media marketing works for off-page SEO

1. Improves the external link profile. Content that is actively shared in social media becomes a source of backlinks. For example, if your Facebook post or LinkedIn article goes viral, it can lead to mentions in blogs, forums, and podcasts.
2. Increases website traffic. High-quality traffic from social networks signals to search engines that your site is of interest to users. Social networks do not directly influence the ranking of a website, but they create conditions for the natural growth of its popularity. This indirectly contributes to increasing the authority of the resource (domain authority), which improves its position in search engines.
3. Strengthens the brand. SMM help build a strong and trustworthy brand. When search engines recognize a brand's active presence on these platforms, they see it as a sign of authority. This, in turn, has a positive impact on rankings.
4. Increases audience engagement. Regular interaction with the audience through comments, discussions, and reactions contributes to a positive business image. This encourages users to share your content and mention your brand on third-party resources.

Essentially, a strong social media strategy includes a well-planned content strategy, regular publishing, active interaction with users, and shareable content. All of these will help build a strong external link profile and increase the authority of the resource.

Conclusions

1. Off-page SEO aims to improve the external factors that affect a website's visibility and authority in search engines.
2. The most important off-page optimization techniques include:

• Link building
• Content marketing
• Local SEO
• Social media marketing

3. Link building is the foundation of off-page optimization and involves obtaining high-quality backlinks. You should focus on the authority and relevance of the links you receive, not their quantity. 
4. The purpose of content marketing is to create useful content that organically generates backlinks.
5. Local advertising is important for offline businesses. It is necessary to have a Google Business Profile account and place information on other mapping services (e.g., Apple Maps, Bing Maps).
6. Working with customer reviews is crucial. It can help improve your business's reputation and position in local search and build loyalty.
7. Social media marketing helps increase visibility, brand awareness, and targeted traffic.
8. For an external optimization strategy to be effective, it requires constant monitoring and adaptation to changes in search algorithms.
9. Remember, success depends on an integrated approach that combines off-page and on-page optimization.