Ever heard the term “sharing is caring”? Word of mouth has been a staple marketing strategy for decades. Sharing information, product knowledge, or quality service is one of the main reasons we trust a brand. We received confirmation that the brand/service/product is, in fact, of quality because we trust the source it came from. However, in today’s technological world, it translates a bit differently. Word of mouth is no longer visiting your neighbors and discussing the latest products or services (although a small percent of the word-of-mouth engagement still holds value). Think of reviews or influencers who talk about a product, the next day, you went out and bought the mentioned item. Perhaps a blog mentions a service and links the source; you then followed that link to receive the same quality service. The word-of-mouth strategy has now translated to what is known as off-page search engine optimization.  

Off-page SEO

Off-page Search Engine Optimization refers to consumers researching and finding your website or brand elsewhere other than your website. Your website or webpage is mentioned through another online source. When other brands or individuals mention your product or service and share your content, you begin to build a reputation and trust. Not only with the consumer but with Google as well. The more links that give you the spotlight, Google assumes you have valuable content worth promoting, leading to improved rankings.   

Links

Backlinks are a large part of off-page SEO, and there are many ways to incorporate them. Natural, manually built, and self-created links are the fundamental strategies. However, there are a few other linking strategies; this article will focus on the main three. A natural link is regarding a piece of content that refers to a product or service; the brand owner does not have any knowledge of their brand being referenced. Manually built links are the actions of asking others to link or reference your website. Self-created links are not the best practice, as it refers to fooling a search engine into thinking your content holds value. Bottom line, the best way to improve off-page SEO is to provide quality content worth sharing. 

Tips to boost off-page SEO

Quality, not quantity, your referrals should come from high-ranking sources. Repeatedly, blogging or guest blogging has proven that it is a sure-fire way to promote your brand. Technically it would be considered “using” another brand to benefit your own. However, it is a win-win situation. Both parties encourage traffic results, and that is the primary goal. 

Social media is all about engagement. It is known for sharing content and gaining free marketing solutions. Content can include anything from text content containing keywords (blogs, articles, press releases, static pages), infographics, videos, and images. Influencers who have gained popularity on social media have also been considered for influencing marketing (hence their title “influencers”). Non-paid or paid, influencers have obtained a trusted following and can help promote your brand.   

Your primary focus should be creating high- quality content, bringing valuable information to your consumers, and worthy enough to share.