Off-page SEO – What Is It And How Does It Work With Examples
Offpage SEO is the more involved part of SEO, that need to be continuously improved. This is contrary to On-page SEO which largely remains the same after optimisations are complete.
Where On-page SEO attempts to help Google understand a specific page on your website, Off-page SEO gives the page authority and trust. Once Google understands what a page is about, rankings are largely determined by external factors.
For example, we have 2 pages about the same subject trying to rank for the same keyword.
Both Article 1 and Article 2 are about Shoulder Workouts.
Article 1 is established and has a ton of external factors giving it both trust and authority, while Article 2 is placed on a relatively new website, only a week or so ago.
Despite Article 2 being of better quality and more comprehensive, Article 1 will still likely outrank Article 2. Let’s figure out why Article 1 would potentially outrank Article 2.
Off-Page Ranking Factors
1. Article 1 is on a website with a high domain Authority. This is a consequence of backlink quality and quantity. Both internal and external link juice will prop up the article, even if external links are not directly targeting the post.
2. Article 1 is on a website with good social signals. This signals to Google that users are engaging with content outside of the primary website.
3. The link profile of Article 1’s website is highly relevant to the topic of the article, and Google trusts the website on this particular topic – this is called topical authority. This can also be achieved by dedicating a large part of the website to a particular topic.
4. Article 1 also ranks higher because it has more local relevance. It’s citations, backlinks and GMB are more local, and this helps boost the article in the desired ranking country / city.
High Domain And Backlinks
You can think of website authority as a popularity contest. Links are like Facebook likes. The more trustworthy websites link to another website, the higher Google will generally place that website.
Trust is a big deal in the SEO game. Spammy and otherwise nefarious links, such as those from Private & Public Blog Networks (PBNs). Even links that one would think would boost a website, if gained unnaturally can actually create damage. For example, when anchor text is over-optimised.
Social Signals
Although social links are much easier to get, a large social presence around a website can signal that the website, and specifically the page, receives engagement. This will likely not directly improve SEO but if social users are more engaged they may reduce bounce rate and increase time on page which can make your page seem higher quality.
Relevant Links And Topical Authority
Both relevant articles and relevant backlinks can make Google perceive your website as a hub of genuine and trustworthy information on a particular topic. When you associate your website with other websites going for the same keywords, you will dramatically improve your ability to rank.
Local Relevance
Google understands where websites are located from factors such as server locations, GMB locations, citations and the websites that link to yours! Depending on where most of these symbols come from, can change how strong your rankings appear in a certain location.
Off-page SEO Strategy – What’s Most Important?
Although Off-page SEO can be quite a broad field of SEO, many of the factors are small and it’s unclear how much prominence Google gives to social signals, citations and other miscellaneous off-page signals. What everyone agrees on, however, is that strong, relevant backlinks from trustworthy sites will significantly improve your SEO efforts.
Make sure these links are ‘do-follow’ and come from real websites with real traffic and not just spam websites fishing for quick cash from unsuspecting webmasters that qualify them on the basis of 3rd party tools such as Moz. Do your due diligence, and only associate your website with other websites that are clean and Google penalty free.
