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There’s only so much you can do on your website to get more traffic and increase user’s awareness of your brand. To widen your reach across the internet and make it easier for your target customers to find you, applying the best practices for off-page SEO is a must.
It describes any actions performed outside your own website to improve your rankings on search engine results pages. Discover why optimizing for off-page ranking factors should be part of your B2B SEO strategy for 2021 and how you can get started.
Other than to move your site up the search engine results pages (SERPs), off-page SEO is done to make your website found by more ready to buy customers, establish your authority, and position your company as a trusted name in your industry.
Focusing your efforts on building your site’s relevance and authority in the online sphere is important if you want search engines like Google to rank you higher. And you know what a higher ranking means for your business — the higher your position is on the SERPs, the easier your customers can find you, and the more traffic your site gets.
Google’s ranking factors and search algorithms change invariably. But off-site SEO factors (especially the number of quality backlinks, which we will tackle in the next paragraphs) will always take up half of the overall ranking equation.
Note that off-page search engine optimization won’t catapult you to the top of Google’s search engine results overnight. Like growing a fruit tree, it takes days, weeks, and months of consistent nurturing before you could get your desired results.
It all begins with getting yourself familiar with the fundamental off-page B2B SEO strategies for the year 2021. The more you’re doing things the right way in terms of running your business and pushing out content on different online platforms, the more you’re amplifying your brand and the more likely you are to drive more traffic to your site.
Dive in to learn more!
The core B2B SEO best practice is building backlinks. Think of high-quality backlinks as the internet’s version of word-of-mouth referrals. Search engines use backlinks as signals that your site is credible.
Several external websites linking back to your site give Google the impression that you have great content; the type that people find useful, relevant, and informative. A website with many quality backlinks has a better chance of getting ranked higher than a website with fewer or low-value backlinks.
There are 2 main types of backlinks:
Below are different ways to get these backlinks:
The strategy involves sending out fresh, accurate, and relevant information about your business to online directories. Doing so gives search engines and your target customers an idea of where your business is located and how to contact you.
Put your company out there in as many online directories as possible, or pick out the top 20 to 50 directories in your industry. Make sure your company name, address, and contact number are identical across all online pages and citations.
Verify and claim every citation with your login and password details. Complete your actual profile. Upload images, a business description, your hours of operation, and specify your categories. Make it as easy as possible for users to learn about your business.
Generate profiles where you can add a link to your website and your business information. The more you’re out there creating more profiles, the more likely it can add more backlinks to your site.
There are different online forums and communities where you can create a profile and engage people in those forums. Interact with users by participating in conversations and answering questions. Add relevant links or any information from your website that satisfies user queries.
Avoid spamming the comment sections with random links to your website! Make it as natural as possible, ensuring that you’re adding value to conversations. Comment the right kind of information. Don’t be self-serving.
There’s a lot of websites in your industry that are providing valuable information to your niche audience. Reach out to these websites and if you have an existing article that fits the category of information they publish, pitch it to them. Ask if they can link to your article so you can get a backlink from that site.
Build your profile on different websites within your industry and write about a topic that’s in line with what they publish. Position yourself as an expert or authority figure in your field.
Backlinks are similar to a referral in the real world. It’s difficult to harvest. You need to build a relationship with web owners that have authority, great traffic, and which people trust. Most importantly, aim for quality instead of quantity. Aim for credible backlinks that generate traffic for your site. Make sure you reach out to websites with good domain authority scores that are closely related to your industry.
People are always on the go nowadays, and they spend about 90% of their time on their phones. They’d just whip out their phone to get instant access to any information. Google Search is everyone’s best friend when it comes to getting leads to the best Italian restaurant in the city, a nearby dry cleaning service, or a professional plumber.
With people’s increasing dependence on Google, it only makes sense for business owners to put their products and services at the forefront of Google Search. Creating and optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) profile is a B2B SEO best practice that can achieve that goal. Through your GMB profile, you can spoon-feed users all the information they need to know about your business, including:
You can add different pieces of information depending on what kind of business or industry you’re in. For example, if you’re a restaurant, you can add your menu or coupons or offers. Google even tells your customers when the busy or off-peak times are for your restaurant so they would know when to visit you or call for a reservation. You can even collect reviews from your previous customers and respond to them.
There are so many social media platforms. You don’t know what people are doing and what type of content they put out. Popular social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. But what’s great is that there’s always a right social platform for every type of business, depending on your goals and target customers.
Choose the platforms that fit your kind of business. If you’re a decorator, images play a huge role in promoting your services and expertise. In this case, use Instagram and Pinterest.
A few tips on how to use social media to your business’ advantage:
Social media activity is also one of the signals Google uses to rank a website on the search engine results page. As you ramp up your social media marketing, not only do you create content that speaks directly to your audience, you also increase your chances of getting ranked higher.
People love to watch videos and this is an opportunity you can take to promote your business. Produce professional content that your target audience likes (in the language they use).
Know who your audience is. Amplify your message and reach more users by spending some ad dollars. Build a subscriber base. Optimize your YouTube channel to get more people to your site.
One effective way to get more press is to position yourself as a reliable and knowledgeable resource in your industry. To do this, participate in conversations that are going on in your industry. Shed light on a trending topic related to your product or service category. You can also accept speaking engagements where you share your knowledge on a specific topic area with a group of people.
These steps can help you brand yourself as an expert in your niche and build your authority. As you establish your authority over time, you get to attract people who have questions to come to your website. This also increases your credibility before Google.
So we’ve covered the top 5 strategies to get the word about your brand out to the world wide web and make it easier for your target customers to find you. Maybe you’ve come to this part wondering which strategy to use to get started.
Unfortunately, you’re a one-man marketing team who doesn’t have working knowledge of SEO and all other things digital marketing. And all you have is the desire to get your business in front of more ready to buy customers and bring in more incoming leads. That’s more than okay! In fact, you can use your story as a starting point for boosting your brand and get people interested in your company.
That’s exactly what we just did here at Local SEO Search.
At Local SEO Search, we believe in the power of digital marketing in growing businesses and sustaining local economies. When the coronavirus pandemic struck, we became more aggressive about fulfilling our mission to help small businesses get noticed online and turning site visitors into paying customers.
The pandemic has forced many brick-and-mortar businesses to migrate their operations online. Businesses that can’t evolve with this trend are likely going to fold sooner or later. We couldn’t let that happen. So to help business owners build their presence and customer base online, Local SEO Search founder and owner John Vuong launched the Impact Initiative.
The Impact Initiative offers a 12-month free digital marketing campaign to 20 business owners in Toronto every year for the next 5 years. Included in this package are:
In its first year, the Impact Initiative aims to provide digital marketing assistance to immigrant- and Black-owned businesses. They are entitled to the expertise and services that regular Local SEO Search clients enjoy on any given contract. The ultimate goal is to help minority-owned businesses dominate the local market in their respective industries.
That’s how the company poised itself to be a local business empowering local businesses amid a challenging time. Local SEO Search is just one of the many agencies and B2B SEO consultants that, instead of offering discounts to clients to stay afloat during the outbreak, chose to give back to the community.
In the next 5 years, John hopes to see the recipients of the campaign as flourishing businesses running the local economies and serving more Canadians. To get the word out about the Impact Initiative, John shot a 3-minute advocacy video and uploaded it on Local SEO Search’s YouTube channel.
On Nov. 3, 2020, John and Local SEO Search got featured in a Moz article titled Supporting Small Business Saturday with 2020-Conscious Marketing written by Miriam Ellis. The company was featured together with other B2B SEO and digital marketing agencies that used their reach and influence to help struggling local businesses.
This exposure was given by a credible and authoritative website, Moz, which resulted in a significant spike in the number of referring domains for www.localseosearch.ca (as shown in the image).
So, how does this relate to off-page search engine optimization? In hindsight, increased popularity and domain referrals don’t always require grand publicity stunts. In some cases, a powerful and authentic message is all it takes to get people’s attention. When people are interested in what your company says or does (and if you’re all for promoting the best interest of others), high traffic and shares will naturally follow. The 5 off-page SEO strategies then become tools to turn up the volume of your message and increase exposure.
If you’re a small business owner weathering the impacts of this pandemic, you don’t have to go through this alone. As your trusted B2B SEO agency, Local SEO Search is willing and able to assist you with your digital marketing needs. Let’s work together in scaling your business.
Contact us today for a free consultation!
