Sunday, May 10, 2015

Basic Off-Page Optimization


Once you’ve done your on-page optimization, it’s time to move on to the world of off-page optimization. While off-page optimization does have to do with building backlinks, there are some things that you do need to look at in order to ensure that you have the most solid off-page optimization strategy possible. Let’s get into it.

 

Relevance Rules

You always want to make sure that the links pointing to your site or page are on a relevant website or blog. This means that they need to be coming from a website or blog that’s in the same niche of the site that you’re promoting. This will help Google and other major search engines realize that your site is relevant to the keywords which you’re targeting via on-page optimization as well as off-page optimization.

 

Is the link coming from an authority?

Links from authority websites produce the best value. Try to get links from as many authorities within your niche as possible. For example, if your website is about technology, a link from Mashable is priceless. When you get authority websites to link to you, it signals to search engines that your website provides enough value to be mentioned by the best.

 

Anchor text matters, to a point.

Thanks to the recent Google Algorithm updates, the use of anchor text in off-page optimization has changed. While you still want to use relevant keywords in your anchor text, you need to use them in a way that makes it look as natural as possible. This means adding variations instead of only using your keywords in the text that links to your site. Simply put, make sure that it’s not nonsense and that it’s as readable as possible.

 

Where exactly is the link placed?

This is something that has generated a wide array of opinions. Search engines have picked up on the fact that links are commonly sold within the footer and/or sidebar of the website. Links within the content itself are the most valuable, so try to make sure that you get as many of these as you possibly can.

 

How many links are there to the site or page?

In order to rank, you need to know how many links you need in order to rank for your target keywords. You can find this out by seeing how many links your competitors have pointing to them. When you find the number, build just enough links to rank. You don’t want to have a ton of them as this will alert search engines that shady link building practices may have been used.

As you can see, there are a lot of things that you need to keep in mind. The truth is that this always changes, so you need to make sure that you stay on top of the latest Algorithm updates by following trusted search engine news sources. As you do this, make note of anything that has changed as well as new tactics that can be implemented in order to assure the best SEO strategy possible.