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As the name suggests, off-page SEO helps your website rank higher in search engines by enhancing external signals rather than optimizing internal pages.
Both approaches complement each other towards a successful organic optimization.
In essence, an off-page SEO checklist can include anything that would practically lead people to your own website rather than your competitors’ pages - from backlink gap audits to interview articles in printed media.
To narrow it down, you should first identify your brand’s needs and capabilities.
In an ideal scenario, SEOs, social media and community managers, content marketers, advertisers, and PR executives - all work together to market your business and eventually drive targeted traffic to your website by enhancing your brand’s popularity and credibility.
Essential Off-Page SEO Checklist 2024
Amongst all the possibilities that off-page SEO has to offer, in 2024, search engine optimization specialists concentrate on the following tasks:
- Investigate link-building opportunities
- Create valuable backlinks
- Maintain a healthy backlink profile
- Build and maintain a high domain authority (DA)
- Carry out targeted guest posting
- Work on local SEO
In fact, for many SEOs, successful backlinking is considered the cornerstone of off-page SEO in 2024.
Let’s look into the details of how you can optimize your backlink strategy today.
How Do SEO Agencies Find Backlinks For Their Clients?
Nowadays, SEOs receive tons of emails and LinkedIn messages offering to sell “quality backlinks from authoritative websites.”
However, knowledgeable SEO strategists start with “DIY link building.”
This allows them to monitor the quality and topical authority of websites linking to them and eventually nurture mutually beneficial link exchanges.
Moreover, thoroughly checking your inbound links protects a website from spammy backlinks, Google penalties, and sudden drops of DA (Domain Authority).
Linking to websites that have the potential to provide quality content now and in the future is the basis for a healthy backlink profile and a positive user experience.
But there are many more details to consider. We’ve compiled some expert SEO practices on how to go about it.
Read on for our “hands-on” off-page SEO checklist that’ll help keep your clients’ websites “ranking and running!”
Advanced Off-Page SEO Checklist: 10 Tips For Backlinks That Work
Among your other SEO efforts as an experienced marketer, consider these tips to elevate your Google rankings:
1. Take It Slow With Backlinks
Well, as with everything in SEO, you need to build your backlink profile at an unhurried but constant pace that makes sense. In other words, aim for a steady link velocity.
Acquiring ‘hundreds’ of backlinks to a page at once could prove harmful in the long run. This is often the case when pages go viral. If this happens, it’s worth keeping an attentive eye on your backlinks for some time.
In new websites, getting too many backlinks at once temporarily covers up other validation signals. Sooner or later, Google will need more proof of your EEAT.
For a new page, 5-10 quality backlinks are enough to begin with.
2. Aim For Quality, Not Size
Always check your referring domains. Look into their backlink quality rather than quantity.
You don’t want references to your websites related to low domain scores or toxic backlinks. Crypto, casino, or similar links do not offer the integrity and authority you seek in a website that links back to you.
3. Check Source Traffic Fluctuations
On top of quality, you should get backlinks from websites that demonstrate steady organic growth. A healthy website grows naturally and consistently. And this is what you need to aim for your pages, too.
In 3rd party websites, sharp decreases or constant traffic fluctuations are negative signs. They usually imply penalties or black hat practices.
4. Pursue Relevance
In your off site optimization checklist, relevance should be number one. References from relevant sources will help you reap juicy fruit from your link-building strategy.
Many SEOs start link-building with pages or sites that rank for the top niche keywords. Others only aim for overly focused references - however, broader topical relevance of works as well.
For example, if you sell espresso machines, you can link to articles talking about ‘Plant-based milks for making espresso at home’ - or similar.
Moreover, if a referral domain is not contextually relevant, it may include an article that is. Which also works fine.
5. Make Natural Backlinks
Search engine optimization wizards advise not to overstuff your backlink profile with links from websites very similar to yours - especially at the early stage of your link-building efforts.
Play around with news sites, blogs, social media, directories, etc.
At this stage, aiming for a broader topical relevance -also not directly connected to your products or services- usually works best.
6. Say No To Orphan Pages
It goes without saying, but still worth mentioning in our SEO offpage checklist that backlinks from orphan pages are equal to zero.
Always look for links coming from the most prominent pages of other websites. Getting backlinks from home pages is what you should aim for - though this is practically impossible for new websites.
So, aim for references from popular articles with quality content.
7. Create Link-Inviting Content
Make your content click-worthy. Sure, you want to advertise your services or products with promotional texts, but articles that offer valuable information gain backlinks more easily.
For example, in our espresso machine case, a page on “The New X Model Of Espresso Maker” will not likely attract backlinkers. But “5 Ways To Make Your Espresso Machine Last Longer” will.
To target specific keywords, you can apply on-page SEO techniques. Use your backlinks to build your domain authority.
8. Look For Variety
When you are into guest blogging, articles should seem natural and unwavering.
You cannot have all your backlinks coming from 2000-word blog posts. Diverse text length and style are signs that you are working on offering engaging content rather than solely raising your rankings.
In this respect, the type of links should vary. Having all backlinks coming from author boxes in guest posts shows Google that you are trying too hard the wrong way.
9. Let Your Anchors Go With The Flow
Here again, you need to let Google know that your anchor texts are not created for bots but for humans. This offers a significant SEO advantage.
In your off page optimization efforts, include anchor texts that naturally blend with their neighboring phrases and paragraphs.
And remember: Do not over-optimize all the time.
It’s great to have a few exact match links in some of your linked articles, but in the long run, avoid anchoring solely to phrases like: “best espresso machines” or “new espresso machine models.”
Instead, let your anchors follow the flow of the text.
10. Be Sensible
As with ‘all things SEO’ in 2024, make smart choices on how to invest your efforts and resources.
Experienced SEO marketers allocate their clients’ budgets wisely among on-page, technical, local, and off-SEO processes.
After all, what you are looking for is using SEO to fuel a website that converts.
What If You Are New To SEO?
Some of the advanced SEO techniques mentioned above need data monitoring and evaluation. Others require experience and intuitive analysis.
But if you are new to SEO, here are some off-page SEO basics to get you started.
Get Started With Off-Page SEO: The Basics
As a beginner in search engine optimization, you have a long list of things to learn. Here is what you need to know to get started with off-page SEO.
What Is Off-Page SEO?
Off-page SEO, or off site SEO, is everything you do outside your actual pages that aims to improve your rankings.
In essence, for a successful off-page SEO, you need to build backlinks and get exposure through various channels, such as news outlets and social media platforms.
Fundamentally, you try to gain diverse external links pointing back to your pages. You can increase such backlinks via link building.
What Is Link-Building?
Link building is the procedure of gaining backlinks to your website. It’s all your focused actions to invite or encourage 3rd party websites to link to your pages.
How To Build Natural Backlinks?
Think of your website as your garden. For plants to grow, you need fertile ground. In other words, you must create powerful content that people find valuable and exciting so that they’ll want to link to it.
Or, you may grow your brand awareness so that other websites or social accounts will eventually want to cite you via brand mentions, reviews, shares, etc.
Interactions with your audience and discussions in industry-related forums are also part of the off SEO game.
Creating a positive online “buzz” around your brand is what you aim for in offpage SEO. Preferably, a linked buzz!
Off-Page SEO Builds Credibility For Bots And Humans
Quality backlinks and all other off site SEO activities send positive signals to Google regarding website quality and brand credibility.
Naturally, as more reputable websites link to your pages, you are considered a valid source worth ranking high.
The more people talk about you on social media, the more they like and trust your brand.
When news outlets write about you, you are either popular or have something to offer their readers.
Done right, off-page SEO constantly increases positive interactions and connections with real people. Google can’t help but notice this and agree. And so, it ranks you higher for your topic-related keywords.
Backlinks: The Heart Of Off Site SEO
Online mentions and social interactions are great for raising awareness and credibility.
But the heart of off site SEO (and a vital part of your whole SEO strategy) is forming a give-and-take network of backlinks.
In essence, backlinks create new connections that bots follow to visit and crawl your pages again and again.
The bottom line? Mastering your backlinking strategy will significantly raise your rankings.
Is it THAT simple?
Not really. Unless you are a 24/7 blogger who actually has something valuable to say, creating a solid backlink profile that can help your business stand out needs a professional SEO approach.
Elevate Your Off-Page SEO
At Atropos Digital, our dedicated SEO team researches, plans, and executes an efficient off-page SEO strategy that elevates your website amidst your competitors.
Our premium SEO services are ideal for individual organizations looking for quality results that stand the test of time. Plus, our cost-effective schemes do away with any budget spent on white-label margins.
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