Here at Arc Intermedia, we are fond of saying that there are three pillars of SEO: on–site content, technical site construction, and off–site/link connectivity. Onsite content refers to (you guessed it) the content on your website. As an SEO component, this includes conducting keyword research, creating/ optimizing content based on the terms used by your target audience, and executing that content in a way that satisfies the user’s search query. Technical construction ensures that your website and its content is effectively indexed and ranked within the search engine results pages, and that nothing is impeding your content from indexation. This may refer to tactics like creating an XML sitemap, implementing Schema markup, and creating and properly executing a robots.txt file.

These two pillars are what we consider foundational SEO. Think of technical construction and on-page content as the foundation of the house. These elements must be in place first in order to have a successful and effective SEO strategy.

 Once your website is optimized, it’s time for the third pillar – off–site/link connectivity, aka off–site SEO.

What is Off–site SEO?

Off–site SEO encompasses any sort of optimization work occurring outside of your site with the intention of improving your organic search rankings. This usually involves a lot of link building, although not always. In simplest terms, off–site SEO is collecting positive signals that demonstrate your website’s authority and effectiveness.

What are Some of Off–site SEO Ranking Factors?

A few rankings factors include…

• Backlinks
• Social media signals
• Local citations
• Unlinked brand mentions

Google views backlinks as a vote of confidence. If a website links to your site, it means that they approve of your content and want to share it with their audience. But not all links are created equal. Links from certain domains (for example, .edu and .gov domains) usually carry more value than a recently created .com domain. Additionally, links from sites within your industry are almost always going to be more valuable to your site than a link from an unrelated domain.

Social media signals refers to social media interactions that occur around your brand and your website. For example, if your link is shared on Facebook, or if you get a significant amount of retweets on Twitter.

Local citations are business profiles created on websites such as Google My Business, Yelp, and Yellow Pages.

And lastly, unlinked brand mentions are online mentions of your brand that do not link to your website.

All of the above-mentioned factors pass some value onto your website and can influence your organic search rankings.

How Can You Generate Backlinks and Positive Signals for Your Site?

One of the best and most effective ways of improving signals to your site is through off–site content. In other words, create high-quality, valuable, easily shared content to be published on websites other than your own. Off–site content allows you to expand your reach, speak to a new audience, form business relationships with other websites, increase brand awareness, and of course, earn backlinks. Some off–site content may be more focused on generating brand awareness. Some of it is purely a link building play. And some tactics can accomplish all of the above.

 What are Some Example Tactics of Off–site Content?

• Guest Blog Posts
• Interviews
• YouTube Videos
• A Social Media Presence
• Shareable Content

How Does Off–site Content Affect On-site Content?

By creating great content and sharing it with other websites, you can generate a significant amount of backlinks, unlinked brand mentions, and more! And ultimately, Google uses this information to determine the Search Engine Rankings for your content.

Think of off–site content like a billboard for your website. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate your authority and eventually drive more users to your site.

Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that your off–site content needs to be utilized in a way that contributes towards your overall marketing goal. Backlinks and shares that do not increases traffic and leads are simply not worth your time.

Next Steps

When it comes to off–site content, quantity and quality is key. A strategy that consistently generates high quality, optimized content and speaks to your target audience is going to yield the greatest results. This is also why it is crucial that you have an SEO strategy in place. Without one, your work could be scattershot and ineffective.

Have more questions about developing off–site content and/or an SEO strategy? Contact us today!