Every marketer understands how crucial SEO is. Not only does it make your website more visible, but it also creates more opportunities to convert prospects into customers. On-page SEO is particularly important because it allows search engines to understand your website and whether its content is relevant to a person’s query. 

Starting with on-page SEO is essential, but the best marketers look beyond websites to help increase organic search traffic. Off-page SEO significantly contributes to generating brand exposure, building trust, and increasing brand awareness. This is because off-page SEO tells search engines what others think about you. For instance, when many links point to your website, search engines will take it to mean that you have valuable content for users. This and other things that happen off your website can determine how far up on SERPs your websites will rank.

However, it’s important to remember that off-page SEO is not just about link building. It is a combination of several factors, including the following:

• User engagement
• Social media metrics
• Social bookmarking
• Forum posting
• Other factors

If you intend to increase your search rankings, let’s boost your website’s position with 7 ways to improve your off-page SEO in 2022.

Authority backlinks

Backlinks make up the core of off-site SEO. They’re essential if you want your website to rank on the first page of search engine results. A search engine will be more likely to award a higher rank to a site with more backlinks–all other things being equal. Search engines also assess the quality of the link, so if a site with greater domain authority links back to your website, it will be more effective. The algorithm also takes into account how relevant the link is to your domain.

Two types of links can be used to boost your off-page SEO performance: 

Natural links. These links are generated without taking any action. For instance, another blog might link out to your content because they find it valuable for their own website. This type of link is a great indicator of trust, appreciation, and endorsement. 

Self-promotion links. These types of links can be generated by promoting or marketing your business online. Self-promotion links are typically gained by asking clients to link to your website or an influencer to share your content. 

Using relevant and authoritative backlinks according to search engine guidelines should spearhead any digital SEO strategy. These links will not only bring traffic to your website, but they will also help search engines recognize your website as trustworthy and reliable. Although it requires plenty of hard work and a long-term strategic approach, successful backlinking will increase your ranking in search engines by a significant margin.

Improve social media signals

Improving social signals is another essential step in improving your off-page SEO in 2022. Social signals are a website’s collective shares, likes, and overall social media visibility according to search engines. All of this contributes to a page’s organic search ranking. It is also another form of citation, which is similar to backlinks.

Gone are the days when social media was simply used as a messaging and acquisition channel. Today, these channels directly impact an online business’ SEO. Building a cohesive long-term social media strategy that focuses on high-value campaigns is more important than ever for e-commerce operations.

Increased social signals show how good a domain’s authority is as well as demonstrates the URL’s value. When more users like and share a page, it is an indicator that the page is genuine and has good content. It’s important to recognize that search engines may sometimes lag behind in keeping up with the trends on social media, so ensuring the quality of your content is a must.

Businesses also get to know their target audiences by engaging more on social media. Contributing to discussions regularly will help you understand what time your audience hangs out and where. 

By improving your social shares, you can improve your site’s overall off-site SEO. Doing so can allow you to:

• Have extensive content distribution
• A longer lifespan for your posts
• Increased brand recognition
• Better brand reputation
• Improved online visibility and organic traffic
• Improved local SEO

Focus on keywords

Keywords may be considered an on-page SEO factor, but keyword targeting might result in the attraction of the wrong links from other sites. And remember — link relevance is a great off-site SEO factor. To get the most out of keywords, target the right ones. To improve the organic traffic that goes to your website, ensure your keyword research is being done properly. Use right keywords that are related to your niche and use them around the content you create.

Create YouTube Videos

Creating YouTube videos may not seem to directly contribute to your website’s SEO. However, note that YouTube is the second biggest search engine next to Google. The links that you get from YouTube videos are also quite valuable and can help in improving your SEO. 

YouTube is also trending these days. Many content creators are taking to the platform and using creativity to attract an audience. Though it takes time, patience, and perseverance, it can be very effective. 

Start by knowing what is popular in your field at present, then come up with a way to showcase your own skills and personality. Try not to focus on driving traffic or making money right off the bat. Be creative and put out content that matters to you and your business at least once a week. These videos should show audiences what sets you apart from others. 

Shareable content

Getting your content shared is an excellent way to gain followers, earn important referral traffic, and gather links that may strengthen your website’s domain authority. But first, you must create content that is shareable. Here are six tips that can help you make more shareable content: 

Make entertaining content. By creating positive and entertaining posts, you’re more likely to go viral. Focus on content that elicits delight, excitement, and awe.

Create content that is useful. Useful content is more valuable to users, so the chances that it will be shared are higher. You can include your product or service, but be sure there is a call to action (CTA) included that invites others to find your content useful. 

Create content that looks cool. Today, it’s all about the aesthetic. Users are more likely to share content that is pleasing to the eye. Research on fonts, colors, and styles that appeal to audiences today to ensure your content looks attractive. 

Create content that validates. Everyone has a strong desire for approval, and this includes joining the bandwagon. Make sure that your posts have a clearly visible like and share count so that other users are encouraged to follow suit.

Create content that tells a story. Storytelling is a compelling way to enhance content creation. By telling a relatable story, your audience will see why it is relevant to their daily lives. Try introducing a common problem into your story before explaining to customers how your products or services can solve it.

Create controversial content. By producing content that encourages discussions and leaves room for differing opinions, people will be more likely to engage, share, and comment on your content. 

Digital PR

Digital PR can also strengthen your off-page SEO by creating attractive, valuable, and linkable content for your site. This also involves reaching out to the media and bloggers to pitch your story. Digital PR is very similar to traditional PR in the sense that it is all about pitching a story to the media. 

When done successfully, digital PR can create high volumes of backlinks from authoritative sites. It can also ensure press coverage that generates visibility and brand recognition.

Forum posting

Forum posting sites have grown in popularity in recent years, particularly Quora and Reddit. These discussion boards allow users to have meaningful conversations. When done correctly, forum posting can also bring multiple benefits to your business. It can expose you to new customers, provide a better understanding of your existing customers, and allow you to answer any questions potential customers may have. 

However, this method is a long-term approach since it entails building a trustworthy reputation among other members of the forum. By approaching forums with a ready-made community who are discussing services like the ones you offer, you gain a great opportunity to engage with potential customers online. You may even be able to add a link back to your website in forum discussions — but ensure this is done sparingly!

The Bottom Line

Focusing on your off-site SEO is just as important as your on-site SEO. By having strong authority backlinks, improving social media signals, creating shareable content, and more, you can increase the chances of ranking on the first page of results.

And if you want to ensure that your strategies are on the right track, our marketing team can guide you through these steps and other details. Book a consultation with Igloo today to find out how we can help you improve your off-site SEO.