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The Importance of Off-Page SEO and the Power of an Infographic

So, you have created a fantastic website. 

The user experience is great, the content is fresh and relevant, it loads quickly and it’s mobile friendly. 

You’re all set right? 

Not quite. 


You have set a strong foundation (technical SEO) and constructed the building (on-page SEO), but you need to help more people find you. 


Off-page SEO (the promotion) “involves improving search engine and user perception of a site's popularity” (Moz, 2021). This is the digital equivalent of “word-of-mouth referrals from current customers” in a local, in-person scenario (Moz, 2021). 


You can read more about a few aspects of on page SEO and technical SEO in previous posts. 



Why is off-page, or off-site, SEO important?

Though we don’t know exactly how Google ranks content, Moz found that “data from [their] Search Engine Ranking Factors study show that off-site SEO-related factors likely carry more than 50% of the ranking factor weight.” (2021). But off-page SEO isn’t only about search engines, “it is about building an awareness of you” and “with more awareness comes more trust and more customers” (Owen, 2020). 

 

What can you do to impact off-page SEO?

You have probably already thought of a few off-page SEO tactics without knowing that's what they were.

 

Types of off-page SEO include:

  • Backlinking
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Guest Blogging
  • Influencer Marketing

(Moz, 2021)


Some of those may sound familiar and others might sound completely new to you. That’s ok! Let’s break them down just a bit.


Backlinks

Backlinks are links on other sites that lead back to your site. There are three different types of backlinks:

Natural: These are links that are added to a different website without involvement or action from you and your website. 


Manually Built: These links are added by you asking others to link to your page. 


Self-Created: These links are added by you to directories, forums, or blog comments as well as anchor text in press releases. 

(Moz, 2021).



Important note about backlinks: 

With links, the quality is more important than the quantity. 


Social Media Marketing

Social media is about connecting and engaging with your customers. YouTube is the second largest search engine. What a great place to have links to your website!


Check out my previous post if you are overwhelmed by the thought of social media. 


Guest Blogging

Blog owners are always looking for more content. To secure a guest post, send a message to the blog owner and propose your content. “If you take a customized approach and are selective, you can really do well using this technique” (Fleischner, 2020, p 97).


Influencer Marketing

“Organic influencer marketing is about connecting and collaborating with people who have already built the audience you want to reach.” (Crestodina, 2019). A content creating influencer has an audience already and in terms of growing awareness, this is incredibly helpful for your website and your brand. Paid influencer marketing is an option to explore as well. 


Beware the Black Hat

Though they may sound tempting, black hat SEO “a disapproved practice that nevertheless could increase a page's ranking in a search engine result page” (WordStream, n.d.). Using these “tactics can get your website banned from Google and other search engines” (WordStream, n.d.). In other words, choose the white hat if you want your website to succeed. 


The Practice

Like on-page SEO, maintaining a consistent off-page SEO practice will help your website flourish. Create a calendar, or a checklist, for yourself that will remind you to continue your practice. You can include items such as commenting on different blogs, adding or updating your information in directories, engaging in forums and on social media. But, how do you generate more natural backlinks? You need to continue to create engaging content that encourages people share and ultimately, leads them to visit your site. One option content marketers use is: infographics.

 

The Amazing, the Shareable, the Infographic

Visual content is important! “You can use visual marketing to drive engagement with your target audience and earn editorial links from the right sites” (Neil Patel, n.d.). Infographics are great way to share your content in a visual way using a chart, a diagram, or other images. This can help you make complex or boring information simple and easier to understand. 


Neil Patel shares a few examples of infographic success like Ann Smarty who “created a useful infographic that generated 10 powerful links in just 2 days” (n.d.).  


People enjoy sharing images and a well-done infographic will be shared by your audience. In his post about off-site SEO, Patel shares that he’s “found that infographics generate 37.5% more backlinks than a typical blog post. This makes creating infographics an irresistible link building tactic that you should definitely try.” (Neil Patel, n.d.). 


There are different types of infographics. 

  • Visualized Article: A summary of an article in visual form. Pull out the TOP information from the written article to use the graphic. 
  • Flowchart: A series of questions that lead the reader to an answer.
  • Timeline: Chronological dates that “[take] the user on a journey” 
  • Useful Bait: An explanation or an answer “visually showing how to do it”
  • Versus: Compare two or more things
  • Number Crunch: Lots of numbers and statistics
  • Photo: Great if you are using real-life photos to aid in the explanation

(Wiesenfeld, 2017). 


Check out the amazing flowchart over on Piktochart to see which type of infographic is right for you and your business. 


Start by sharing the infographic on your social media and through your regular channels and see what happens!


Caution

Not all infographics are created equal. The infographics you create must be content that is makes sense with your business and will be of interested to your audience. 


Also, hiring a graphic design company to create them for you can get very expensive, very fast. Luckily, there are options like Canva with wonderful, eye catching templates that you can modify to include your information and brand colors. 



Take A-ways

- Choose the White Hat 

- Engage on social media, forums, and blogs


- And, very importantly, as Fleischner says, “give people a reason to visit your website” (2020, p 122). All the promotion isn’t going to help you if you don’t have that solid foundation and great content. Infographics for the win!


Happy linking!



Ready to understand your digital presence? Visit my website to sign up for my newsletter.



 

References

Crestodina, A. (2019). Influencer Marketing for SEO: How to work with influencers for better content and higher search rankings. Orbit Media. https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/seo-influencer-marketing/.

 

Fleischner, M. (2020). SEO Made Simple. Michael H. Fleischner.

 

Moz. (2021). Off-Page SEO. Moz. https://moz.com/learn/seo/off-site-seo.

 

Neil Patel. (n.d.). The Ultimate Guide to Off-Page SEO. Neil Patel. https://neilpatel.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-off-page-seo/.

 

Owen, J. (2020 September 22). The Difference Between Technical Seo, On-page Seo, And Off-page Seo. Click Intelligence. https://www.clickintelligence.co/the-difference-between-technical-seo-on-page-seo-and-off-page-seo/.

 

WestworldHBO [@westworldhbo]. GIF by Westworld HBO. [GIF]. Giphy. https://giphy.com/gifs/westworldhbo-hbo-westworld-26ufoNGjV0tAFZiOQ

 

Wiesnefeld, J. (2017 March 21). 8 Types of Infographics: Which Is Right For You? [Quiz]. Piktochart. https://piktochart.com/blog/8-types-of-infographics-which-right-for-you/.

 

WordStream. (n.d.). What Is Black Hat SEO? WordStream. https://www.wordstream.com/black-hat-seo.

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