As mentioned in my previous article, search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the process of increasing the visibility or ranking of a website on Google search results.
To improve your search ranking, there are three major factors to consider:
- Technical structure (20%). Technical structure includes elements such as redirects, targeted keywords in your URL structure, page structure, internal links, and other technical factors.
- On-page optimization (20%). On-page optimization refers to content that contains attributes such as meta descriptions and keywords and alternate text.
- Offsite factors (60%). Offsite factors refer to the number of quality backlinks a website has. Backlinks are arguably the most important factor in influencing a website’s ranking because Google uses them as a vital indictor of a website’s credibility and thus, it’s search ranking.
To help you improve your offsite SEO, I’ve researched and suggested three tactics you should implement:
1. Perform competitor analysis
Analyzing your competitors’ offsite SEO performance helps you gain insights on your current situation and find opportunities for improvement.
For example, if you realize that your website has significantly fewer backlinks than a competing brand, you can find out where the competing company is gaining backlinks from and earn backlinks from the same sources.
To perform a comprehensive competitor analysis, I suggest use the following three SEO tools concurrently:
- Open Site Explorer
Use this tool to find out the number of backlinks a site has and where the backlinks are from. Once you’ve this information, you can attempt earning backlinks from the same sources.
For example, after you find out that Site A has 500 backlinks and the websites that link to Site A, you can reach out to those websites and try to earn backlinks from them.
To do so, simply enter the URL of the website and Open Site Explorer will show the above information:
- SEMrush
This powerful analysis tool provides a variety of insights: keywords a website ranks for, search keywords they’re bidding on, and links directing to the website.
To find out the number of backlinks a website has and the sites linking to the website, enter the website URL in SEMrush and the tool will generate the information:
Use this information to find opportunities to earn new backlinks!
2. Initiate a PR campaign
Sharing a new marketing idea or launching an innovative product and gaining media exposure from the release is an effective and easy way to earn backlinks.
Brands such as Johnson & Johnson launch PR campaigns when their new product is released and the campaigns have helped them accumulate new backlinks!
3. Present at industry conferences
Becoming a presenter or a panelist at industry conferences will help you earn quality and relevant backlinks because websites for conferences usually link to the presenters in the bios section and in recap articles about the conferences.
For example, BC Chapter of the American Marketing Association links to its speakers in the bios section of its conference page:
By using the three approaches above, you can analyze your competitors’ SEO performance and discover new opportunities to earn backlinks, leverage newly released products to gain PR exposure, and present at industry conferences to earn quality and relevant links to your website.
If you have any questions about the article, please leave a comment below!
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