Improve your Off-Page SEO beyond your keywords and meta data

Your SEO efforts aren’t done once you’ve managed to optimize your on-page components. In fact, only one-quarter of what Google values for SEO is on-page; everything else is left to off-page SEO!

Let us walk you through 10 great steps you can take to improve your Off-page SEO even further, with simple and actionable techniques that will make an impact on your rank in the SERPs.

Contents

• Social Networks
• Blogging
• Forums
• Search Engines
• Quality Directories
• Reviews
• Submitting Articles
• Press Releases
• Sharing
• Social Bookmarking

There are two SEO disciplines: on-page SEO and off-page SEO. On-page optimization focuses on
creating high-quality content optimized with a selective use of keywords, optimizing your
page meta data (page titles, meta descriptions, alt tags, etc.), and optimizing the user
experience with well-organized site navigation and fast page load speed.
But just 25% of what search engine algorithms (specifically Google’s) are looking for is onpage;
the other 75% of SEO is all about off-page SEO elements – those influenced by your
readers, visitors and other publishers online.

Here’s a quick checklist of 10 simple off-page techniques that will help boost
your SERP (search engine results page) rank and attract more qualified traffic
to your site.

Join social networks.

If you haven’t already, join relevant social networking sites for your
industry or business type and create keyword-rich profiles for each, making sure in each
case to include a link back to your website. The sites that get the most attention from search
engines are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+. Being a part of these networks allows
you to connect and share your content with others, and promote your company and
products.

If you want to generate more social links and share your visual content that people love
to see, consider joining Pinterest. Publish/share product pictures from your company
website and blog articles, allowing users the ability to view your content and “pin” it. The
more others pin your content, the larger the audience you’ll reach. You should also
share your photos on websites like Flickr, PhotoBucket, Tumblr and Picasa and make
sure they’re made public

Add your business listing to Google Places for Business, on Google+. Create a Google+
profile and fill out all of the information fields. The location fields are extremely important
since this will help customers and prospects find your business when doing a local
search. Google makes it easy for them to even find directions right to your business and
an available phone number as long as you provide the information.

Blog regularly.

This is one of the most effective methods for promoting your company and its
website. Focus on topics and advice of value to your prospects, then promote your post
on relevant social media platforms; you can also promote it on blog directories and blog
search engines.

Another way to get people to your blog is to post comments on other related blogs and
include links back to your site. Keep in mind that 1) the blog administrator does not
have to post comments, and 2) Google does not like users tossing out links everywhere
just to get more visitors. So, make sure what you’re saying is relevant and adds value to
the post you’re commenting on.

Guest blogging is another effective tactic for attracting traffic to your website and blog,
especially when posting on high-traffic blogs.

 Post on forums.

Take part in online discussion boards and forums within your industry where you can
engage with potential prospects and people searching for valuable information that you
share. Providing practical answers to questions gives you credibility and positions you as
an expert. Include links back to your website and blog in the signature area of your forum
profile.

Actively participate in answering questions on sites like Yahoo! Answers, Quora and
Google+ Communities where you can build your reputation as an expert in that chosen
field and build new inbound links to your website. Make sure that the profile you use
when answering questions is associated with your blog and/or website.

 Submit your website to search engines.

Submit your website to the most popular search
engines: Google, Yahoo! And Bing. There are also multiple secondary options to consider,
some of which do meta searches (send search requests to multiple search engines and
compiles results), some that search specific geographic areas, and some that search only
businesses or news. Finding the right search engines takes a little research but depending
on your product or service it may be worth the effort.

Submit your website to quality directories like DMOZ, Yahoo! Local, Bing Business Portal
and Merchant Circle. You should also focus on quality directories within your industry to achieve the best results.

Write valuable reviews about relevant products and services, and ask you customers to
write a review of your products and services in major business review sites like Google+
Business Pages, RateitAll, and Shvoong.

 Submit articles.

Write articles about your products as a solution to your prospects’
challenges and submit them to article sites like EzineArticles, Hub Pages, Go Articles, Buzzle
and Business Know-How. Include keyword-rich profiles and links back to your site.

 Promote press releases.

Submit company press releases to popular PR websites like
PR Log, Free Press Release, 24-7 Press Release, and PR Newswire. Some are free and some
require a subscription. Releases are submitted to these sites will show up in Google News
searches.

 Share documents.

Share your content – white papers, brochures, slide decks – using
Google Docs and SlideShare. SlideShare allows you to create a custom look for your
SlideShare page (with certain account types), and is another outlet to attract more traffic to
your website.

 Leverage social bookmarking sites.

Sites that help readers bookmark their favorite
websites, articles and links can help increase the reach of your own content. It’s also an
effective and credible way to build backlinks that get noticed by search engines. The more
notable social bookmarking sites include Pinterest, Reddit, SumbleUpon, BuzzFeed and Digg.
Whenever you’re allowed, as part of a submission or participation, include a brief bio of
your company that includes target keywords and your URL.