Everyone has the same goal with their website or blog, and that’s of course better search engine rankings. The problem is that not everyone knows how to go about getting this done, and even the people who do think they know often don’t. There is a great deal of conflicting information out there and blackhat strategies that could end up creating more issues for your site than anything else.
What the majority of people are familiar with already to some extent or another is on page SEO. Specifically, most people are familiar with the concept of using keywords in order to help boost their Google rankings. However, the other side of the coin is all of the SEO work that you do off of your website. This is collectively referred to as off page SEO, and in today’s world of online marketing it may be even more powerful than the on page components.
Below are 10 of the most important factors when it comes to off-page SEO and your Google rankings. By following this advice and incorporating these strategies into your SEO game plan you will be able to soar up the rankings.
1. Backlinks – The long story short is that the more backlinks you have leading to your website the better your website ill be able to rank. This is one of the most important elements of improving your Google rankings with off page SEO.
2. Incoming Link Quality: While a ton of incoming links are great, even a few very high quality backlinks can overpower them all. The quality of your incoming links is extremely important for Google rankings. High quality is defined through how well ranked the other site, how related it is to your site, whether the link is a one-way link or exchanged and more.
3. Incoming Link Diversity: There are many different ways that you can go about building backlinks. You can write articles, distribute videos, get listed in directories, get mentioned by other blogs and websites, perform link exchanges, post in forums and more. The best game plan is to have a diverse collection of incoming links from many different sources instead of focusing on just one or two outlets.
4. Backlink Anchor Text – Having a backlink is great, but having a backlink that includes highly targeted anchor text is even better. The anchor text used in a link leading to one of your web pages will help associate that page with the included term. This mans that it’s a great way to improve your Google rankings for your targeted keywords and key phrases.
5. Website History and Age: The longer your website has been around and the older your domain is, the more credible and reputable you will be viewed. You can’t do much about this problem if your site is new, but you can consider purchasing older, existing domains as long as they are in good standing with the major search engines.
6. Web 2.0: You can refer to web 2.0 as many different things, social media, social networking, community building or anything else. The value of web 2.0 lies in your ability to generate backlinks, reach out to more prospects and customers and increase your presence in a wide range of different mediums.
7. Visitor Quality and Interaction – Something that is often overlooked is the fact the way visitors interact with your site can affect your SEO and Google rankings. Your goal is to lower your bounce rate as much as possible, which shows that when people find your page, they like what they see and find it relevant. This will help boost your reputation and credibility within the search engine algorithms.
8. Sources of Traffic – Another thing to remember is that the sources of traffic for your website can also play a role in your standing. This is because there are both good and bad “neighborhoods” on the web, and if a lot of your traffic comes from bad sources that will reflect negatively upon your site. However, strong sources of traffic from related and legitimate sources will help to further prove your validity.
9. Gradual Buildup: Many people have the false idea that you can do all of your SEO work in one big chunk and then you’ll be set. But actually, SEO is a long term process that needs to be continually worked on, gradually over time. A sudden surge in backlinks or content and then nothing else can set off some warning signals.
10. Directory Inclusion: One of the most important SEO tactics for your off-page SEO success is getting included in some of the major directories. Directories have been devalued by and large in the Google rankings, but some still carry a great deal of weight. For example, getting listed in Dmoz can provide a huge boost to your rankings that lasts for a very long time.
These are just a summation of some of the important off-page SEO tactics that you can use to help improve your Google rankings. These days you need far more than just optimized content in order to gain a foothold in the search engines. Many people view off-page SEO as the equal to on-page SEO, and many other people view link building and other off-page SEO tactics as even more important.
Therefore as a small business owner or webmaster, it’s extremely important to your long term viability and success that you work with these SEO strategies. They will boost your credibility, reputation and online presence and as a result, your Google rankings and total Internet success will increase as well.
Learn more about SEO. Stop by Jim Collin’s site www.SmartMediaInnovations.com today and find the best SEO Services, tips and information.