This is a complete guide to off-page SEO in 2022. In this new guide, you’ll learn exactly how to create the kind of external signals Google wants to see, which include backlinks, social signals, E-A-T, branded searches and more.

 

Let’s start with a quick review of the basic concepts.

 

Off-page SEO includes activities performed outside of a website in an effort to increase the site’s search engine rankings. Common off-page SEO actions include building backlinks, boosting branded searches, and increasing engagement and sharing on social networks.

 

In other words: off-page SEO is everything you do outside of your site so that Google and other search engines see your website as trustworthy and authoritative.

 

When it comes to off-page SEO, backlinks are SUPER important.

 

That said:

 

Building backlinks for off-page SEO is about quality, not quantity. And if you want the links you build to actually improve your SERP rankings, they must be authority links from related sites.

 

Be a source of data

The vast majority of page links cite a statistic specific to that page (interesting to note that long tail keywords make up 70% of all searches). In other words: people usually don’t link to the page because it is a piece of “high quality content”, but to cite a statistic.

 

Duplicates long-form content

Will publishing long-form pages magically send links?

 

No.

 

But it can increase the likelihood that others will link to you.

 

In fact, Backlinko analyzed over 900 million blog posts with BuzzSumo, and they found that long-form content gets 77% more backlinks than shorter posts.

 

Now it’s time to cover a very underrated part of off-page SEO: brand signals.

 

Brand signals are what Google uses to determine if your site is a legitimate brand. Or as Google’s Eric Schmidt said, “Brands are the solution, not the problem…. Brands are the way out of the cesspool.”

 

Audit your brand searches

Brand searches are the number of people searching for your brand on Google. They can be searches for your exact brand name (“Several”). Or your brand name plus a word or phrase (“Several SEO Guide”). You can easily find this information in the Google Search Console Performance Report.

 

Configure brand tracking

This is an easy way to see how many people are talking about your brand on news sites, blogs and forums… and see how that pattern is changing over time. There are many excellent brand tracking tools (such as Mention.com).

 

Publish research-supported content

Research-backed content can also directly help your off-page SEO by sending high quality links.

 

E-A-T has quickly become a very important off-page SEO ranking factor, especially in the healthcare niche. And despite what you may have heard, there’s a lot more to E-A-T than adding a bunch of author bios to your website. That’s because Google largely measures E-A-T based on signals that occur outside of your website. The following are the best practices to promote it.

 

  • Get brand mentions on authority sites
  • Get links to trusted “seed sites”.
  • Get positive online reviews

 

The time has come to get a list of actionable off-page SEO strategies. If you’re ready to take action on what we’ve covered so far, you’ll be interested in what’s next.

 

 

  • Distribute press releases

Sending a press release can lead directly to brand mentions and backlinks.

 

 

  • Get interviewed

Being interviewed on podcasts or other websites is an off-page SEO strategy that not many people use yet, so it can be a great opportunity for you.

 

 

  • Partner with larger brands

You might think that big brands don’t have time for small business owners, but you’d be wrong. If you can provide legitimate value to a big brand, they will usually be happy to send some traffic to your platforms.

 

That’s all for today. We hope you enjoyed this off-page SEO guide, and don’t hesitate to contact Several if you need our services. Our SEO experts will be happy to help you. Shall we talk?