During a web design and internet marketing workshop that I delivered last month in Las Vegas, I realized that I had been taking something for granted. As I delved into the search engine optimization (SEO) portion of my presentation, it occurred to me that my audience, communications staff from hospitals across the U.S., probably wouldn’t have the technical ability to effectively optimize their hospitals’ web sites for better search engine rankings. Come to think of it, I doubt that even many corporate marketers could dive into their site’s code and make the necessary page-level adjustments and database optimizations required for good SEO.

About a week after the workshop, I received my speaker evaluations. My realization was confirmed. Several attendees commented, “that SEO stuff seems pretty technical…I wish we could do more ourselves to help our rankings.”

Enter Stage Left: Off-Page Search Engine Optimization

Here’s the good news. “Off-page search engine optimization” is a specific set of optimization and internet marketing techniques that are executed outside (off) of your site, and require almost no technical expertise.  All you need is your ability to use the internet, create content, and build relationships with others in your marketplace.

Off-page search engine optimization techniques revolve around the concept of link building, or getting other external websites to link to your site (a.k.a. backlinks). Why is this important? Because search engines determine your rankings based on relevance. And when other people link to your site’s content (backlinks), that tells the search engines that your content is relevant, high-quality and credible—which in turn helps you get ranked higher in the search engines.

So How Do We Get Backlinks?

Here’s a list of techniques that requires little or no technical expertise.  It may be just what the doctor ordered for your ailing rankings:

1. Develop good, keyword-rich content.  Good content is the ultimate driver of all things online. And keyword-rich content ensures that search engines will index it properly. If off-page SEO is the process of fishing for backlinks, content is your bait. The better your bait, the more bites (i.e. backlinks) you’re going to get.
    
2. Syndicate your content.  Article-marketing websites, news release websites, and social bookmarking websites allow you to easily post articles and news within their directories that link back to your web site. If your content is high quality, there’s a good chance other websites and blogs will republish your content on their sites. Don’t forget to include a keyword-rich link back to your site within your content.
    
3. Ask partners, distributors, and reps to publish or link to your content.  Leverage your business relationships to build backlinks.
    
4. Get links from well-established resource web sites.  You may find that the top sites for your keywords in Google are resource sites—such as industry directories, online media, trade associations, or local organizations. You may even find an ad from CraigsList.com getting top position. These sites have gained authority through domain age and backlinks of their own, and a link from them would act as a valuable endorsement of your site in the search engine’s eyes.
    
5. Get listed in Google Local and Yahoo Local.  These local business listings tie in with the Google and Yahoo mapping programs, and offer great placement at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs).
    
6. Participate in blogs and forums.   Pick any industry and I’ll bet money that there are hundreds of blogs and forums (and thousands of people) conversing online about that industry. Do some research. Create some Google Alerts. Find your fishing hole. Start participating by commenting on blog posts related to your expertise. Provide some good, objective advice on industry forums. When asked to register for your blog and forum accounts, create a keyword-rich signature with a link back to your site.
    
7. Create a blog.  A popular blog can reap HUGE dividends—not only for backlinks and search rankings, but also for your company’s overall sales. Do a search for “blog success stories” for plenty of examples. Keep in mind, however, that getting there takes a consistent effort. And if you can’t commit to it long-term, then don’t go there.
    
8. Participate in social networking sites.  Due to the popularity of social networking sites like LinkedIn.com, and their good standing with search engines, creating a simple link to your company’s website within your profiles can easily produce several high-quality backlinks.

Getting the Most Out of Your Backlinks

While SEO is not an exact science, there are a few linking techniques that will ensure you’re spending your time wisely, and getting the full value out of each link. Here are a few pointers:

1. Keep a keyword list close by.  Make sure to reference an up-to-date keyword list when writing any new content, including blog comments, forum posts, social networking site profiles…everything! Don’t have a keyword list? Google offers a great, free tool.
    
2. Use anchor text (a.k.a. “link text”).  Anchor text is words that actually make up a text hyperlink. Integrating keywords within your links plays a significant role in how search engines determine page relevance. It blows my mind when I see this on websites: “For more information on Bob’s high-quality taxidermy services, click here.” This link is almost worthless.
    
3. Quality vs. Quantity.  Focus your time on getting links from high-quality, well-established websites. Five links from older, established websites can be much more powerful than 50 links from newer sites or blogs.

How Many Backlinks Do You Need?

As I wrapped up the off-page SEO portion of my Las Vegas workshop, one attendee asked about the number of backlinks needed to increase their rankings. This is a great question, but one that is hard to answer. As mentioned above, quality links will win over quantity. The best I can say is to find out where you stand compared to your competitors in the SERPs. Here’s a tool that can do that.

Lastly, analyzing your competitors’ websites can provide a wealth of insight into their backlinking efforts. A simple way to get this intelligence is to type “link:yourcompetitorurl.com” into the Google Search and Yahoo Search boxes. This will show you other sites that link to your competitors, which also may be good targets for your link building efforts.

The Catch: DIY SEO = Time Commitment

Warning…there’s a bit of a catch with off-page SEO. While little technical ability is required, a comprehensive link-building effort can turn into a full-time job. If you have the time or the manpower to manage this task internally, great. If not, the Something Creative SEO team would be happy to support you in this effort.

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