(This post was originally created in 2013. It’s been updated multiple times since. This is the 2020 version of the Altitude off-site or “off-page” SEO checklist.)
Once you’ve whipped all of your site content into shape (following our guidelines for perfectly optimized pages), you can turn your attention to off-page factors. This means building your site’s credibility, increasing meaningful inbound links (links to your site from other sites), and building social media influence.
While Google keeps its precise search ranking algorithms secret, it also releases plenty of information about how to create relevant content that provides a good user experience. In addition, there is a tremendous amount of research, testing, and information-sharing going on among those of us who optimize sites for search professionally.
As a result, we know plenty about the “secret” ingredients that can help your site rank highly in search.
Google has stated that it uses more than 200 factors to rank a web page, but which are the most important?
There is one thing virtually all experts agree upon: The number and quality of backlinks coming into your site is near the top of the list.
We see this in practical experience every day. At Altitude, we subscribe to SEO tools that quickly measure and reveal the full range of on- and off-page SEO factors. It’s easy to see that sites with numerous, high-quality inbound links consistently rank well in organic search.
Buying inbound links from link spammers doesn’t work any more. Google acted decisively to squelch this activity with its Panda and Penguin updates. The game has changed, which hurt spammy fakers, and benefits those of us who create and offer content and tools of real value. Here’s your checklist for getting on the right track.
What to do with all this data?
#Brand Twitter might be all but dead in 2020, but social media still plays a role in off-page SEO.
LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook provide a way for businesses to generate awareness, direct traffic to the site, and boost SEO.
Researchers now agree that social “signals” such as Facebook likes and shares and Twitter follower counts and tweets linking to your site and pages are noticed by the search engine bots and algorithms. This helps contribute positive SEO power to your site.
And if you’re in a B2B market, LinkedIn promotion of your latest content can drive direct traffic and the occasional shared link from your networks.
You’re no doubt already aware of the importance of online reviews, and here’s one more reason to value and fear them. They create valuable inbound links, and they carry their own SEO juice for your site. Review sites are especially important to companies working on a local/regional SEO strategy.
There is a lot more depth to any of these tactics if you drill down into them, but this checklist will serve as a great starting point for your off-site SEO efforts.
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