Getting loads of traffic to your site or blog requires both on page and off page SEO techniques for better search rankings. For any SEO strategy to work and yield long term results, you’ll need the right combination of smart keyword choices, well written source code, relevant content and plenty of quality inbound links from other websites, blogs and web pages.
The goal of off page SEO
Is to get blogs and web pages with related content to create links to your site. Studies show that inbound links are major sources of traffic and there are many ways to go about it.
Network with related blogs: Search engines love blogs because these are regularly updated with fresh content. They are potential sources of massive amounts of traffic if you can get them to create links that point to your site. The simplest way is to offer reciprocal links where you ask the blog or site owner to link their pages to yours and vice versa.
Start your own link resources: Conduct a search for blogs in your niche and post the best ones along with their short descriptions on your site. Providing a list of helpful links can improve site traffic as readers will most likely return to find more useful hints. Moreover, if your site and the one being linked are trackback-enabled, you increase your chances of getting reciprocal links as well. Trackback is a system that allows authors of web pages to know who’s linking to them.
Make comments on other blogs: Dropping helpful comments which contain links to related articles or posts on your site is another effective off-page SEO technique. Provide helpful and relevant comments and leave only one link for each website so your comment doesn’t get flagged as spam.
Join a blog carnival: A blog carnival is a site featuring a collection of good blog posts on a given topic. It’s a great way for fellow bloggers to connect with one another and establish reciprocal links as well. You can organize and create your own carnival or submit your articles to an existing one.
Provide incentive for backlinks: Devote some space in your blog or website to people who have mentioned you or your blog and show the corresponding links. Create a new page and label it as a press page where you continuously add blog links which mention your site.
How to Use Social Networking for SEO
Social network giants like Facebook and Twitter feature options that allow their members to instantly share links of favorite or interesting articles they find on the Internet. Joining these networks increases your chances of getting links and becoming visible to search engine crawlers.
They also provide much needed social proof which search engines now use as one of the criteria in ranking websites. Social proof refers to the phenomenon of people doing the same things that they see others do in their network. This is the psychology behind testimonials, reviews and positive feedback.
Set up distribution channels for your links: Activate a Facebook fan page and create a profile on Twitter. These social networks can be used to share links regularly to a huge audience in just a few clicks. Sync your blog and social networks so that updates or tweets are automatically generated whenever a new entry is published in your blog or website. Provide fresh and unique content regularly to encourage people in your network to ‘like’ your post, photo, video or link in Facebook or retweet your posts in Twitter.
Install ‘share’ buttons for the 3 biggest social networks: People in social networks enjoy sharing interesting or helpful information that they find around the Web. Be sure to add ‘Share’ buttons for Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz to allow your readers to share, tweet and buzz your post without leaving your site. Put these buttons near the top of every post for social proof and easy access.
Grow your network: Even weak ties in your network can do wonders to your off page SEO. Adding more people to your social networks increases your chances of getting more inbound links and must be a regular activity for SEO purposes.
Create a group of bloggers: Gather bloggers in your niche and get them to bookmark each other’s content.
Other techniques for off page SEO include
Article Distribution: Submitting your well written article to an article distribution website is an effective way of building inbound links. Blogs often turn to article distribution networks for regular content. These distribution sites allow the authors to include a personal link at the end of the articles they submit, increasing their chances of getting inbound links from multiple blogs.
Participate in forums: People with similar interests can be found in forums on specific topics. Look for forums in your niche and join in the discussions by posting relevant remarks, always attaching your signature link at the end.
Off page SEO is not an exact science as search engine algorithms or criteria constantly change. New sources of information and coding techniques are constantly developed which may alter the way search engine bots index and rank web pages, making SEO a continuous and long term strategy for online success.
If you need help to improve your rankings and drive traffic to your site using off page SEO – just ask
