Offsite SEO: Are other Websites Talking About your Website?

As Google’s web-crawling bots index the Internet, they are able to tell how frequently other websites talk about and link back to your website. Google will also forge an association between the larger context of the shared link and your website.

For example, imagine Bill the plumber, who writes about unplugging a sink on his blog. Google algorithms will then associate Bill the plumber with unplugging sinks.

Now, if a website with a high domain authority (DA) talks about and links to your website, your website’s reputation with Google will improve. The result? Your website will receive a higher search engine ranking in Google search results.

The following is a real example of good offsite SEO. A small business, RMS Shredding, submitted an advertorial – a hybrid advertisement and editorial – to a local newspaper, the Fairfax County Times, which has a Moz domain authority ranking of 58.

In the advertorial, the shredding company offered helpful guidance to readers on the topics of cyber security and hard drive shredding. The advertorial included several links to other resources, and one link back to RMS service page.

The moral of the story is to go and make friends with the popular websites in your local market, whatever that market may be. Offer to provide informative content for those sites that includes a link to your website or ask if there a place your product/service can be listed with a link to your website.

Approach your local newspaper, ask for “native content” – like an advertorial – and be willing to pay for it. The investment will pay off with higher search engine result listings and increased domain authority for your website. This all leads to more website traffic and more customers.