When talking about search engine ranking, it is broken into two different strategies – on page, which we addressed previously, and off page.
Off page strategies are those things you do to optimize your website while working outside of the website directly; focusing on promoting your site and URL other places to drive ranking and traffic.
- Social Media –This has to be number one because it is becoming such a large part of driving business and shares. Not only how you market yourself on your own sites, but more importantly your followers. They are what matters in terms of search and ranking you. Are they sharing your content and images? Make sure there are buttons to allow them to do that on your posts.
- Link Building – Careful choices in how to build outside links can be achieved through guest blogging, article writing and sharing, etc. Always find like websites to share your articles. Also some article sites would help with branding and link building if done with quality sites and article submissions.
- Using Press Releases – While the url in the press release will not get you a qualified link, the traffic from a published press release may be worth the effort.
- Local Listings – Utilize your local directories to list your business and websites. Every business is local somewhere. Place ads in local online sites, newspapers, and directories.
- Comments on Like Websites – Join in the chatter about topics related to your business on blogs and sites. Often blogs allow comment urls to post which are follow links. Plus this will allow you to get to know like-minded people.
- Social Bookmarking in Reader Sites - Using social bookmarking sites like DIGG, Stumble Upon, Reddit and others will help drive traffic to your sites and articles. But you must be active on the site and post other content as well. It is not a self-serving activity. Also use the proper tags to help drive the most views.
Building your site through strategies such as these will help improve your off page SEO. Many business owners focus mainly on the on page functions for building and developing SEO. Off page SEO is just as important and is where much of your traffic will come from, if it is handled properly. These 6 tips are a great place to start building and strengthening your strategy.
