Link building alone will not help your website grow in authority or organic search traffic. Here are 13 off-page SEO tactics including link building that can help you achieve these goals:

1. Link Building

Earning backlinks from high-authority websites helps position your site (especially in Google’s algorithm) as an authority. These high authority links work like a “vote of trust” from one site to another. Close the link gap between your site and your competitors’ site by focusing on these factors:

• Authority 
• Unique Domains
• Topical Relevance 

2. Brand Building

A key part of your broader SEO and marketing strategy as well a part of your approach to off-page SEO is brand building. Start with brand searches: your brand name, products, and domain searches. Use a keyword Overview tool and look at Google Trends to keep track of your data. Focus on brand SERPs. These are the search results that show when a user searches your brand name. This will give an idea on brand’s reputation and maybe even earn you links and mentions on other blogs or website that could help drive web traffic. 

3. Content Marketing

Content marketing spans both on-page and off-page tactics. You can create and publish anywhere on the web falls under content marketing. If you write a guest post or publish an infographic that gets linked to a top-tier newspaper, that’s content marketing. Engaging assets can make it easier to promote your content, and it could encourage others to share it too. Content marketing also works well with other off-page techniques like link building, social media, and PR. Typical content marketing tactics that help boost off-page signals includes:

• Blog posts
• Infographics
• Surveys, studies & research papers
• Whitepapers & eBooks

4. PR

Digital PR is the link-building tactic of choice for many SEOs. It is the perfect way to earn authority links at scale. Use PR tactics to promote a great story and corresponding linkable assets. It is possible to earn significant volumes of links as a result. A recent study highlighted that the average campaign earns links from between 10 and 24 unique linking domains. A great PR campaign can also be to:

• Increase brand awareness & resultant brand searches.
• Put your business in front of your target audience & gets them talking about you.
• Drives referral traffic.
• Positions you as a thought leader in your industry & helps to build trust signals.

5. Local SEO (GMB & Citations)

Google My Business plays a vital role in the online presence any local business. It has recently been reported that 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information and that 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information. It is a simple fact that if it is not your business showing amongst local GMB results, it is one of your competitors. A citation, like a business listing, is a mention of your business online that typically references your business’ NAP (name, address, and phone number). A local business looking to rank for geographically targeted search terms on the SERPs or map pack, using citationsis a must. The key to success with citations is consistency. Inconsistent citations demonstrate a lack of coherency. Ensure that all your NAP references match.

6. Social Media

According to Hootsuite, 93% of regular Internet users log into social media. Social media plays a massive role in using the web and searching for answers to our questions. However, social shares aren’t a direct ranking factor. Treat social media platforms as search engines and discovery platforms. Your presence across social can put you in front of potential clients and customers looking for answers to their questions. Also use as a customer service platform. Most of your customers will reach out on social as the first port of call.

7. Forums

Use forums to get directly involved in conversations that relate to your expertise, to position yourself as an expert, and quickly rise to be seen as a specialist or expert. Be careful and avoid spamming forums, comments, and other UGC platforms to build (high or low quality) links. This interferes with user experience and hurt customer trust. Build up a strong community and level of trust from audiences on forums. Reddit and Quora are key large-scale platforms to use, but forums within your niche can be just as effective.

8. Influencer Marketing

 Bloggers, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are all influencer marketing and can be a phenomenal way to build your brand, amplify your content, and reach new audiences. Social platforms are search engines in their own right. They are used differently from Google; they are a form of a search engine where users are actively looking to find content. Influencers can help to ensure you are present, as a business, on these platforms. Don’t use influencer marketing as a way to build links unless they are no followed (links within sponsored content violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines). 

9. Events

Events are making a comeback within marketing strategies. Online and in-person events can help to engage your audience and build relationships. You can also benefit from a real buzz around your business, which will drive social engagement with referrals and even links. They are a great way to pick up some fantastic PR coverage. This is a great strategy for b2b markets and b2c markets who want to create brand loyalty. 

10. Guest Posting

Guest posting involves submitting content to someone else’s website to provide information and value to their audience. When done right, guest posting can contribute far more to your marketing strategy than just being used to build links. It remains one of the most effective link building tactics. Your primary objective of guest posting should be to reach a new audience, get in front of a related site’s traffic, and build your brand. Guest posting puts your brand in front of a targeted audience, earns targeted traffic, and helps to position you as an expert in your field.

11. Podcasts

Podcasts are insanely popular right now, and they are continuing to gain more listeners every month. 57% of Americans have listened to podcasts at least once. Most businesses still aren’t using podcasts as part of their strategy, which is a great way to gain a competitive advantage. They are a great way to reach new audiences, share your expertise, and gain visibility on search engines that aren’t Google. Apple’s Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify are search engines and lets you find relevant podcasts with keywords.

12. Reviews

89% of people consult online reviews before making a purchase. Reviews are a massively underrated off-page SEO and online reputation management tactic. TrustPilot says, “Perhaps the most underrated benefit of collecting reviews is that, when implemented properly, reviews can help Google better understand your site. The common understanding is that Google uses them to derive brand signals, which can boost your site’s domain authority and eventually your position in search.” A business that has collected great reviews on third-party platforms is positioning itself as a brand. Great reviews help to increase conversions and, once again, trust. 

13. Content Syndication

A publication will look to syndicate content from other sources to supplement their original articles. They do this because it is easier than creating fresh content all the time. Content is syndicated across sites that form part of a network owned by a TV or radio group. Publishers are also using this to increase the content that goes live on their site every day. Yahoo! is perhaps one of the biggest platforms that commonly syndicate content from other sources.

You might also have considered syndicating your content to other publications to increase your reach and readership.

what Google says: Syndicate carefully: If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you’d prefer. However, it is helpful to ensure that each site on which your content is syndicated includes a link back to your original article. You can also ask those who use your syndicated material to use the no index meta tag to prevent search engines from indexing their version of the content.

Syndicated content often isn’t indexed by Google for obvious reasons related to it being a duplicate of the original. But that doesn’t mean to say you should always avoid it.

Content syndication can help amplify your content. More eyeballs on your published work can positively impact brand signals, even when the URLs canonicalize to the original.

Implement these Off-Page SEO tactics today. Call 248.528.360.