“How do I increase my search engine traffic?” is a common question bloggers ask.
Bloggers and other website creators boost their search engine traffic through two means: off-page SEO techniques and on-page SEO techniques.
It’s been almost two years since An Ultimate Guide to Off-Page & On-Page SEO Techniques was published.
Today’s guest author Anna Rodriguez focuses on off-page SEO techniques to help you grow your search traffic.
In addition, she’ll explain what off-page SEO means and the difference between off-page SEO techniques and on-page SEO techniques.
All of these off-page SEO techniques are free and effective.
The Power Of Off-Page SEO Techniques For Bloggers or Content Creators
by Anna Rodriguez
Erin is a literary blogger. She has published a number of short stories and novellas in her official blog, writers’ communities, and similar sites. Erin has been writing even before the advent of social media and has earned a strong, albeit small, number of avid readers. Nevertheless, she wants to level up her game. Younger bloggers who effectively use search engine optimization (SEO) and off-page optimization are reaching more readers in a year compared to Erin’s efforts over the past decade.
What is search engine optimization? What about off-page optimization? How can bloggers and content creators make use of these techniques to increase their readership and boost their income? Here are helpful tips for you.
5 Off-Page Optimization Techniques For Bloggers And Content Creators
1. SEO and off-page optimization
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Before we start with optimization hacks, let’s have a quick review. You should know that SEO is a set of strategies that help a website increase visitor influx by obtaining a high-ranking placement in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). SEO techniques may be on-page and off-page. On-page optimization involves processes within the website such as content creation and internal linking. Off-page optimization is all about tactics outside the website including social media management and submissions in article directories.
Your SEO overall strategy can start with optimization on-page. The off-page techniques shall act as a kicker.
2. Backlinking from high-authority sites
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Google uses 200 signals or clues in ranking web pages. This list is a combination of on- and off-page SEO techniques. Backlinks, or the links that point back to your website, is one of the most important off-page hacks you should know. “Backlinks on other sites is huge. Otherwise, Google doesn’t have a good way of determining how authoritative another page is,” according to Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko. However, there are things you should consider when backlinking such as choosing the right website.
Links from low-authority sites may hurt your website. Make sure that you backlink from high-authority sites only, or those respected by knowledgeable people in the industry.
For business and finance, the leading sources of information are Bloomberg, Forbes, and The Economist. Other high-authority sites include media outlets such as CNN, Reuters, and BBC.
You can do some research on the go-to sites in your field. Then, craft appealing and helpful guest articles and ask for permission to include a link back to your website. Check out industry-specific forums and LinkedIn Groups related to your niche. You can post your content on these platforms.
3. Writing a good guest post
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Writing articles for other websites is not only a tool for backlinking. It can also boost the credibility of your website and entice traffic. It’s important to comply with the guest post guidelines to ensure that your submission gets published. The first rule is almost similar with all high-authority sites: submit only articles that will be helpful to readers. Avoid spinning content. Bring something new to the table. One trick is to check a few guest posts published on the website of your choice. This will give you an idea of the type of readers who frequent the site. Check if the topic on your mind has already been written in the past 3 to 6 months. If it has, do you have new concepts to add? Craft a content that will add value to the host website, help the readers, and invite visitors to your site.
Content is not confined to articles. Ask whether you can post infographics or videos. Perhaps you can include appealing photos in your submissions. A post with an accompanying image is 10 times more likely to receive engagement than one without any photo.
4. Social media: an indirect SEO tool
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Social media interactions are not among Google’s SEO factors. However, these can indirectly affect your search ranking and popularity. The more people share your content, the higher chances of site visits. Unique and repeat traffic are both SEO signals. You must be aware that a third of the global population are active social media users. Social networks are definitely essential content marketing tools.
Moreover, Google crawls social networking sites for data. “Facebook and Twitter pages are treated like any other pages in our web index, and so if something occurs on Twitter or occurs on Facebook and we are able to crawl it, then we can return that in our search results,” Google’s Matt Cutts said in a video.
Do you need to maintain a presence on all social sites? Not necessarily. Choose only those widely used by your target audience. You can have an account on 2 or 3 platforms. Facebook is more popular among baby boomers than millennials, who prefer Instagram. Generation Z, or the post-millennials, are heavy Snapchat users.
5. Be present, be responsive
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Maintaining a presence in social networks means that you need to “have a presence.” As a blogger, your primary product is your posts. If you’re delivering a quality product, your customers will continue consuming your content and share these within their own circles. Unsatisfied customers generally have two ways of expressing their dissatisfaction: writing you a complaint or leaving you silently. The former will give you a chance to redeem yourself; for the latter, it is just a shut door.
A responsive social media presence can aid in putting out the fire at its initial stages. Acknowledge the complaint, regardless of its validity, and take control of the situation. Address the issue offline. What’s important is that you let people know that their feedback matters. Always be proactive.
A responsive presence puts a human face on your brand. J.K. Rowling has been breaking records as one of the bestselling authors of our time, but her following gained greater strength, thanks to her active Twitter account (Yes, she takes the time to answer tweets and direct messages whenever she can!).
There are so many bloggers today. There are even more blogs created every day. Frankly, anybody with an Internet connection can start a blogging or content creation career. You’re facing a difficult challenge: standing out from the rest. But this task is not insurmountable. You have tested tools readily available at your disposal. Explore content marketing services and SEO techniques including on-page SEO tactics and off-page SEO techniques.
Author Bio: Anna Rodriguez is a manager and a passionate writer. She writes about investment, home improvement, green sustainability, business and tech innovations. She owns Homey Guide Blog. You can follow her at @annrodriguez021.
Readers, please share so other website creators wishing to increase their search engine traffic discover Anna’s off-page SEO techniques.
I look forward to your views in the comments section: Do you have any effective off-page SEO techniques you can share?
