Find 15 Off-Site SEO Tips

15 Off Site SEO Tips

1. Deep Link Building


Deep links are your site's backlinks or (inbound links) which point to a page other than your home page. Too many sites focus entirely on inbound links to their home page for the most competitive keywords. A better SEO strategy is to create categories and topics on your site and build relevant backlinks from high authority sites which target more specific keywords for each category page. Remember it is not the overall number of links which is most important, but the number of inbound links from high authority sites pointing to your site as a reference for a particular keyword.


2. In-Bound and External Links


Receiving links from sites with high authority on your keyword topic is absolute gold, especially if the anchor text includes the keywords most important to your site. Promoting your site is part of any SEO plan, but fresh quality content is still the best way to achieve quality in-bound links. Many SEO experts will try black-hat SEO tactics such as comment stuffing or using link farms to generate a large quantity of in-bound links, but the search engines are sophisticated enough not to fall for this deception any more and may penalize sites that use these tactics. Your SEO expert can help you establish a content management system that integrates press releases and industry promotion as part of your plan to increase authoritative in-bound links. In addition, linking to well-respected established sites from your own site is advisable.


3. Social Networking Tools: Facebook


Promoting your site on Facebook with a company page, groups, and advertising can help you connect with your visitors in a more personal manner, increase traffic to your site, and create brand loyalty. Your SEO plan should incorporate maximizing the potential of Facebook's social network.


4. Social Networking Tools: Twitter


Google and Bing are both offering real time search results as on their search results pages, which include up-to-the-minute tweets from Twitter users. Optimizing your site for Twitter search should be a key part of your social media and SEO plan. Promoting your site and your products via Twitter increase the likelihood of building site recognition and improving real time organic search results. Consult with a SEO professional regarding integrating and optimizing your Twitter account.


5. Keyword Analysis


Understanding what keywords your site should emphasize and how to use them in your off-site promotion is essential. Every link to your site offers what is called "link juice," which is an added SEO benefit derived from in-bound links. It is preferable to have sites use keywords as text anchors when linking to your site instead of your company name, your URL, or images. Remember it is extremely likely that there are more searches using the type of product or service which you provide than search queries with your company name. The more in-bound links your site has from sites with authority using keyword anchor text, the better your site will rank on the search engines. Sites also need to determine if it is strategic to target narrow long tail keywords or more broad short term keywords. Keyword analysis is a moving target as traffic, social trends, and return on investments (ROI) change and adapt. Sites should perform keyword analysis weekly or hire a SEO consultant to advise them on keyword strategy.


6. Competitor Analysis


Sites like Compete.com and Alexa.com provide excellent free analytical tools to check on how your competitors are faring. These sites also offer paid subscriptions to offer advanced analysis to keep track of traffic and keyword trends in your industry. Yahoo Site Explorer is an excellent resource for tracking of your competitor's backlinks and determining what directories or paid listings may be beneficial to join. Investigating your competitors and their sites thoroughly is an important part of your site's SEO plan.


7. Avoiding Duplicate Content


Syndicating your content in other sites is an excellent way to promote your site and the relevant content you produce, but you have to be very careful to avoid any search engine penalties for duplicate content either on-site or off-site. A SEO professional can help your site manage and organize content so that it is search engine friendly as well as available to be syndicated on other sites or blogs.


8. Blogs and RSS Feeds


Optimizing a site for search engines includes optimizing your blog and RSS feed. Each site is different, but typically blogs which are produced via WordPress, Typepad, Joomla, Drupal, and Google Blogger can be incorporated into your content management system to maximize your blog posts for inclusion in search enginess and help increase the organic search relevancy of your site for keywords. A SEO adviser can also help you syndicate your RSS feeds (including potential revenue from Google Adsense for Feeds), so that your blog becomes part of your company's viral marketing plan.




9. Paid Search Engine Inclusion


Paying for search engine inclusion is very strategic. Depending upon your industry, products, and organic search results, your company could either be wasting money with paid inclusion or missing out on a great opportunity. Before signing up for or renewing any paid incusion, have a SEO expert run a cost-benefit analysis and advise you othe which paid inclusion option will work for your site.


10. Local Search


Optimizing your site for local search involves including your site in the correct directories and internet yellow pages. Google, Bing, and Yahoo will all allow companies to promote their site through local listings including the company address, company info, and hours of operation. A SEO plan should ensure that these listings are optimized correctly with the correct keywords. In addition, there exist literally hundreds of other avenues of local search that your SEO professional can advise you to get an optimized listing to increase local traffic to your site.


11. Web Directories


A web directory is just a collection of related links. Typically the incoming traffic from web directories is very small, but there are SEO benefits to strategically placing your site on the key business directories for your site. Again, the proper descriptions, URLs, and keyword should all analyzed before making a web directory placement.


12. Vertical Search Engines


A vertical search engine is search engine devoted to a certain industry or topic of online content. If your site is not listed in a verticial search engine that covers any of your keyword topics, then your site may be missing out on an excellent opportunity. Vertical search engines can come-and-go quickly so consult with a SEO expert oftern to determine which vertical search engines are most appropriate for your site.


13. SEO and Traditional Marketing


While a marketers frequently miss out on optimizing sites for search engines with their design, copy, content, and campaigns, it is important that a SEO plan and a markting plan be fully compatible and working together. Frequently, SEO advice on traditional marketing involves minor tweeks based on keyword research and site traffic analysis. Make sure your SEO camp and marketing people are working together productively.


14. Viral Marketing


The term viral marketing typically refers to the use of social networking to produce self-replicating "viral" effects in the online promotion of a business or an idea. The goal of viral marketing is to use existing social networks and with little effort or cost transport a message from a small-scale to a large-scale. Whether this is accomplished via free content or services, games, contests, or general online buzz is secondary to the intended result which is relaying a marketing message to a large number of people. A SEO consultant can analyze the potential ways viral marketing can be incorporated into your search marketing strategy and explain any pitfalls of your current marketing program in regard to SEO.


15. Off-site Search Engine Traps


If your site has consistently underperformed on the search engines despite your site being professionally designed and filled with relevant content, there may be an underlying problem which is often identified as a "search engine trap". In many case the solution is innocous and can be easily fixed. Have a SEO expert analyze your site from top-to-bottom if you suspect your site may have fallen into a search engine trap.