We will all probably agree that search engine optimization is very important when building a successful website or blog and off page SEO is a big part of this. We can break search engine optimization into two easy sections, on page and off page optimization.
On page SEO is what you do on your site and off page SEO is basically the back linking you do that points to the On page work you have done. Of course we can get more technical than this, but why bother?
When it comes to off page search engine optimization there are some critical tips to consider:
#1. Keyword Research for Off Page SEO
I know everyone is probably sick of hearing about keyword research, but someone has to talk about it. Unfortunately keyword research plays a massive part in off page search engine optimization and without it, your SEO efforts could be wasted.
The problem is, how can you perform Offpage SEO when you do not know what your keywords are in the first place? All so if you have performed on page search engine optimization, you must have optimize for some keywords. Therefore everything is revolving around your keyword research. You cannot optimize on page or of page without knowing your keyword goals.
There are many free and paid tools that you can use to better help you with your keyword research. I am sure that you have heard of some of these before:
Google Keyword Tool – Off Page SEO
What can I say about the Google keyword tool other than mentioning that is absolutely fantastic. Google updates it and adds more features to it regularly and it is always proved to steer me in the right direction. when using the Google keyword tool I always choose to search using the [exact match] option so I know who my direct competition is. When I research a keyword for a particular article, I like to see 200 or more exact match searches. When I am researching and actual niche topic for a website, I like to see 1000 or more exact searches for my main keyword. Obviously I also research other factors like the competition, the buying probability, and so on.
The original and most precise tool of all, it’s free to use and the information in this tool feeds pretty much all tools in general, so if you don’t know how to use Google’s keyword tool or how it can help you than you are certainly missing out.
Market Samurai or Keyword Elite
These are both paid tools that help you do keyword research, probably a little bit quicker than the Google keyword tool, and definitely required for professional bloggers. Time is a big factor when it comes to running more than one blog or website and any tool that will help you save time is a must!
You also have Seo Book’s Keyword Suggestion Tool which is great and really powerful.
#2. Anchor Text
Anchor text is like putting a hook on your line and going fishing. It is the words you display on your link that points back to your pages. Hopefully the words you use will spike people's curiosity and entice them to click on your link.
Here are some examples of links:
Lets say I want to link to this page http://letsbuildwebsites.com//seo-tips-to-dominate-google/ and the keywords are Dominate Google, Dominate Google search results, and so on.
If I was to leave the entire URL (uniform resource locator) or web address on someones website it would simply look messy. So this is not a normal practice.
Using CLICK HERE for the anchor text is good for some variety but does not tell Google Bots or Humans what the link is pointing to.
Therefore the best anchor text link is to link to use the keywords as the anchor text like this: dominate Google search results
So when a person clicks on this link they will be expecting to see an article about how to dominate Google search results. The link looks neat and tidy compared to the raw URL and is more explanatory then this simple words saying “click here”.
Using a variety of anchor text is recommended so your back linking looks a little bit more natural. You can learn more in my FREE report SEO My Way.
#3. Quality of Back Links to Your Website
So you know how important keywords are and you can understand why we need to use anchor text for the keyword, but now we need to talk about the quality of your back links. Unfortunately, not all websites, or even pages, are equal in the Internet world. There are many factors that can determine the quality of a website or page. For example, some aspects that determine quality include the age of a website, the page rank of a website, the social engagement of a website, and even the quality of the content.
Of course the ultimate goal is to get back links pointing to your website from pages that have a high Google page rank. Obviously these pages are trusted by Google and these sites can pass on the trust to you. However in the real world, it is not that easy to get back links on high page rank websites, but quality websites do not always have a great page rank. The next best thing is to look for older websites that have good regular content flowing through them.
To find out a few SEO details for a website you might want to put a back link on, you can simply use one of the many free tools available that can be added into your browser. For example SEOmoz Toolbar or SEO Quake. Look them up as every webmaster needs one of these tools. The screen shot below shows SEO Quake for Firefox.
If you can get a back link on the page rank five or more website, good for you! But if you cannot then 10 back links from page rank one or two websites can add up to the same value. It is a lot more work but if you can't get the big page rank sites then you still have the other options.
Watch This Video Tutorial Showing Off Page SEO
All of these tips mentioned above go hand in hand. The anchor text, which is the back link you leave on someones website, ultimately should be represented by the keyword that describes the content on your page the best. This is the real key to off page SEO because building links that misrepresent your content is like telling a lie.
If you can always supply the highest quality content that you have promised in your back link anchor text, your off page SEO will skyrocket your blog's success.
Hi Mitz,
Helpful post with keen SEO tips.
I intend to tighten up my game in this area. Looks like the Google Keywords tool will be my best friend 🙂
Thanks for sharing your insight with us Mitz.
RB
No worries Ryan
Glad you liked the tips!
Hi Ryan and Mitz!
Other than Google Keyword Tool – there is a tool from wordtracker – called keywords. Where you can see other data like KEI3 – which I always assume the higher the value means you have more potential on getting the first place on search engines. It’s easy to use too!
– Addie
SEO is not my strongest skill and I still have a lot to learn. Good thing there are a number of resources on the internet–like your website.
Keep up the good work!
Hi Jim
I love SEO and I really think that is where I will end up. I started out with computers for years and years, every aspect of them, then moved to websites…and SEO might be the final step for me.. I just love the challenge! 🙂
i inspired mitz yes these are great tips for me.
Thanks for sharing this important detail with brief description. Its really very helpful us to achieved good ranking for all search engine purpose.
It still surprises me the amount of bloggers that either use “CLICK HERE” or a raw looking URL in their blog post.
Is Google PR still as popular and as useful as it used to be? You don’t seem to see many bloggers shouting that their PR has gone up or down as much these days.
Hi Karen
I guess they are sick of whinging but PR is still great for authority. Bloggers sell more advertising when they have better PR.
The original and most precise tool of all, it’s free to use and the information in this tool feeds pretty much all tools in general, so if you don’t know how to use Google’s keyword tool or how it can help you than you are certainly missing out. Can anyone tell about it thanks …..
I agree that all tools are getting their info from Google anyway, but it is how they present it to us that makes it useful. It is up to you if you use a tool but the Google Keyword tool rocks!
The best way to use this tool is press [exact match] and then pick the most relevant keywords with a reasonable search volume. 🙂
I always thought that SEO is just limited to the blog or website. I didn’t realize that it goes way beyond that. Thanks for the great video explaining about it and how to go about it.
I just have one question on EzineArticles. I recently read an article written by another guest poster who said that article databases have lost their link value because of low quality duplicate content. But seeing that you still use EzineArticles as a means to promote your website, it seems that article directories and databases are still beneficial when it comes to SEO and generating backlinks for websites and blogs. Now, I’m a bit confused and would greatly appreciate your thoughts on this.
I was not impressed with the rumors that carried on about Ezine Articles as I was using it the entire time and it still works. When people say something works how do you really know what actual effort they have put into that to see if it is a failure.
Many people say something does not work after trying it once. If you are still convinced it does not work then simply substitute it for another site to publish to. All I can suggest is you have a variety of links coming back to rank well.
Changes like this are not new in the blogging world. It has happened many times over the years and will happen again. All it does is make sites like Ezine work harder to get back to where they are meant to be.
Great SEO tips, as Keyword density and its pro0per research plays a major role in SERP.
Hi Andy
Yes it is important! I think people often forget to do this part though, especially for a mere post on their websites.
How would I implement my anchor if I am comment on blog that do not have keywordluv plugin installed?
well, it depends on you on how plan to work on your anchor text. Some blog sites allows putting links on the comment body but this is not a healthy practice. Well, it word be great to leave valuable comments on commentluv enabled blogs not only keywordLuv.
You are not always in control in that situation. Why not try guest posting. You get a few links in the authors bio and maybe one in the article too. Well worth it! 🙂
Off page seo is where it is at however with Google using more and more social indicators even in search building your network and getting possible clients in your social circles is hugely important too. Try a search being logged into your google account and then the same search logged out youll get a different set of results returned in the serps.
Off page seo is becoming more and more complicated it is now not just a matter of getting quality links.
Something I’m working on right now! Thanks for sharing these great tips and the video!!!
keyword and quality links are really important in off-page link building..this post help and I give best ideas to improve my link building techniques..!!such a valuable post..!!
It was good to know on-page and off page SEO meant. I didn’t know those were the actual terms used (or called) based on what I was doing for the past few days. Good read. Get to learn something new everyday ~
Ohh thanks for the information . I never thought this way . Off page Seo can also make a huge difference. Thanks for the suggestions .
I also use blekko to discover a site’s potential. And I heard that SEO SpyGlass is also a beast 😀
Varying anchor text is extremely recommended IMO. Exact match all the time is like telling Google that the backlinks aren’t natural.
Great tips thanks!
I also think varying anchor text is a must! 🙂
We all know that being an SEO is not an easy task, cause we need to manage different kind of task given to us, this are great tips I have to admit many will be helped for sure.
Pretty nice article about Off-page SEO …
Truly said that without proper keyword research, all our SEO efforts would go in vain. Like the way you explained the importance of proper anchor text
Thanks Salman
Glad you liked it! 🙂
I will pay more attention to my SEO this year. I never really though about how my off Page activities contribute to my online status. Thanks for planting this seed.
Great post Mitz as always. I think many people get caught up in on page SEO the always neglect the off page aspects of it. For me anchor text and gaining quality backlinks are most important.
Hi Fabrizio
Yes I agree that sometime we forget off page SEO. The funny thing is that getting a few simple backlinks to a post really kicks it along nicely.
Hi Admin!
Thanks for share SEO Quake information. I am hearing first time about this, I installed it and working very well. Yes, you mentioned keywords research, I am already using Market Samurai for find best keywords. This is my first comment…
Hey Mitz,
I have always tried to vary my anchor text, using my main keyword 80% of the time and mixing it up the other 20% (I read this somewhere). Do you think this is ok or do you recommend mixing it up more to look more natural?
Thanks – Jay
I like mixing it up but never stick to any one percentage. I basically do about 5 links with the main keyword and then vary after that. I never care too much as long as it is not all the same! 🙂
That’s a pretty accurate rundown of the basics. However, i’d certainly consider keyword research prior to launching into a new site or blog and then follow through with anchor text that pretty much mirrors your website’s main niche or the page’s nice that you’re linking to. The paid research tools aren’t worth it as they’re usually a step behind googlebot. Better to go for a webmaster tools account with google and use their tool. Once that’s set up, a blog can be refined pretty much using the actual webmaster tool rather than analytics, as you’ll get trending data for the site (which keywords you’re showing up for, volume of traffic, potential volume of traffic and whether your SERP’s for those keywords is rising or falling.)
Above all, write a blog or any content as naturally as possible. Believe it or not Googlebot is highly evolved and will pick up the gist of your niche, even if you don’t use your keywords once in the page.
Yes there are so many things to do. Thanks for adding some more great tips! 🙂
Super tips Mitz. I think a lot of people forget about how important anchor text is, even me at times. I visit your blog to get great tips that are very useful, thank you so much! Happy New Year. John
Happy new year to you too john! 🙂
thanks for the super tips and hope 2012 is fantastic for you biz
Same to you Tom! 🙂
Great tips and suggestions! I will sure review my companys website and find alternative ways to increase our page rank on google based on your tips.
Thanks!
SEO is an art. It takes skills and time to learn. Thanks for the tip.
Yes I am still learning everyday! 🙂
I hope this also works on link wheel strategy but we know google are smart to know if there are too many sites that pointing back to our money site..
great video! clear and precise tutorial.
Use other sites for your link wheel and then the links will be coming from varying sites too.
Keyword still remains the king of onpage as well as offpage SEO. Very informative post. Thanks!
Hi Mitz
Thank so much for interesting and useful info
post video and discussion as well
Interesting article and I very much agree with you Mitz in what you are saying. I launched my blog – which is my views on life, love, relationships etc at the end of August 2011. I use a combination of the techniques you outline and so far in just over 4 months my site has jumped more than 26m places in the world-wide rankings according to Alexa to being in the top 800,000 which is great! My traffic for December was up 30% on Nov, which in itself was a record month since I launched.
I am trying to help people change their way of thinking and problem solving so they can challenge the status quo and “be FREE be ALIVE be Truly HAPPY.” Please check out my site and leave comments – http://www.theSarayiahpost.com – my latest article is about New Year’s.
Happy New Year and have a wonderful day.
Love
Isaac Sarayiah
Sounds like great stuff Isaac! You sound positive and that is a huge part of success! 🙂
Keyword research should be prioritized. The success of a website is dependent on keywords too. The concept about using anchor text is great, however, there are some sites who do not allow anchor text in your remarks. But yes, it is a good off site SEO tactic, not to mention that it looks really clean.
Yes the places where you cannot use anchor text are great too for looking natural. Even nofollow links are recommended to give your site a mix of all.
Anchor text and backlinks are the great way of optimizing your off page SEO but Finding great keywords for the Niche blog and selecting right keywords is a hard one because sometime most unusual words become Keywords…
Is there more ways other than Google Keywords to Find right keywords for the blog..
Do Share?
You can also look into Googel analytics to see what keywords have been used to find your site.. Sometimes you do not have the right answer for this keyword on your blog so this gives you an idea of what you need. All you have to do is listen to what your visitors want. Look at the search queries…
Hi Mitz,
Great post! I’m a new blogger and I know I still have lots to learn. Well I can start learning from your post 🙂
Thanks Megan!
Glad you found it interesting! 🙂
Hi,
You have done good job indeed. Keyword research is very much important cause after that we can learn what is our target and competitors. Once we know this we can create strategy to achieve this target. Anchoring the keywords is important as it increase our site traffic and backlinks. Quality backlinks is always key.
Cheers
I agree Netpro
Quality backlinks is always key! 🙂
I create niche sites and can truly relate with this article.. keyword research is most important aspect … quality of backlinks ,variety of backlinks, keyword density etc is what SEO is all about.. i use market samurai and i would say its the best out there… for on page optimization i use SEO pressor which is also a grt tool.. though a paid one ..
nice share..
Regards
Aniket
I will actually make use of Google Trend Ileane. It helps a lot.
Can’t possibly get enough information regarding SEO. Love these posts and this one especially was very helpful. The Google Adwords keyword research tool is awesome and it’s good to check keywords often to see what new trends people are searching and adjust your SEO campaign accordingly.
Yes it is a very helpful tool and even better because it is free!
This is great information for anyone doing their own SEO. Remember to be patient, doing good web offsite SEO is very time consuming.
I always suggest to work on keyword research even before selecting your domain name, because domain name included with top searched keywords makes a huge difference.
These are all quite basic tips and I would actually like to point out that they might also be outdated. Of course points 1 and 3 are always going to be important, but I’m not so sure about anchor text. Google is trying to put less emphasis on this to prevent those trying to game the rankings. Instead, link with your site/business name. This helps to build a BRAND, and we know Google loves them.
Well it is still working for me right now but things will change. The details above are in no way outdated and have been the exact same since the beginning.
I think Google is trying to determine how to recognize quality links coming from quality content.
Thanks for the post. I agree with Matt, I’ve been doing anchor text and my rankings quite slow moving up. I guess I have to change my approach.
Good to see your blog. Me presently started my career in SEO field.you tell me exact scope of SEO and I can see my potential growth in this field. Thanks for the tips.
Getting backlinks is the most important factor in off page optimization because the links should be natural for search engines else it will be lead to spam
As I have blog hosted on blogger. I am really worried about my blog’s SEO, even after having good content (I think). I am trying to get more out of it. These types of articles are making my way easy.
Thanks for sharing.
I’d be so grateful if you’d read the post linked below and, if you enjoyed it, leave a comment to let me know!
Hi Mitz,
Thanks for sharing such nice tips of SEO. Even I am SEO specialist but I come to know with good tips after reading your post. Can you tell me any tips to do SEO for German Bog to rank up with the same domain name title – Fernseher mit Internet
Thanks for this tips. Most of then I already use, but is always nice to remember and to see new points of view!
Very good post, it helps lot to learn some useful off page techniques. Thanks for sharing it, hope i can learn some more useful tips from you. i will keep visit your blog.
Such a awesome piece of information, thaks a lot buddy finally my curiocity
gets a valid answer here, You saved me from a long two days of spywork..
Regards
Ritesh Warke
All three tips are really important for good SEO for a website. I’m going to build up a online firm within some months. I will ask for you help sir.
Thank you
Nickty
As strange as this sounds, reading these types of tips & info, just doesn’t get old for me. I find it fascinating all the tools and keys for blogging or website success. Thanks Mitz!
A very informative article! You did a good job of keeping it simple…………….
“Of course we can get more technical than this, but why bother?”
Couldn’t agree more. There are some thing that you just don’t need to waste time on. Time which you could better spend doing more proactive things.
Wow, so nice & good information thanks for sharing knowledgeable post.
I’ve read that leaving only anchor links may seem intrusive to Google. It’s better to have a variety of links, the kind you’ve mentioned in your post.
If a person is SEO then they should know all these three steps as this is basic for off page optimization