Off-Page Optimization

There are many off-page optimization methods. In this section we will cover some of the basic strategies.

Age of Domain - It is believed that Google places a higher value on older domains. I would assume that they figure that if a domain has been around for a while then it is likely to be offering up good content. I am not sure I see the logic in that assessment but that's besides the point. If Google likes it, then it is law.

The age of your site is what it is and there isn't anything you can do to improve upon that. Some people will try to find an older domain name that has been previously registered and has been allowed to expire. However it is very unlikely that you will be able to locate such a domain that contains your targeted keywords, so that is a long shot at best.

I haven't ever really found that my domain being a new domain has kept me from achieving a first page ranking. This isn't even something I concern myself with, but I felt I should mention it.

Backlinks - The holy grail of off-page optimization. This is currently the name of the game for achieving top rankings in the SERPS. To get your site ranked you will need links on other websites that link back to your site.

It is important to note that not all backlinks are considered to be equal. Backlinks from sites that have a higher authority will bring you more "link juice" than sites of lesser authority. They mean more to Google.

One way to somewhat measure the authority of a site is to check it's page rank. To do this, download the Google Toolbar. One of it's functions is to display the page rank of each page you visit. The authority sites will carry a higher page rank.

 

The Google Toolbar installs into your web browser and will display the page rank of each site you visit, as shown in the image above. If you wish not to install the toolbar, then there are sites that you can use to check page rank.

Here are a few;

prchecker.info
checkpagerank.net

A Google search for "free page rank checker" will produce many more.

Hypothetically a backlink from a site with a page rank of 7 might be worth more than having backlinks from 100 sites with page ranks of 1 or 2. The higher the page rank, the better it is for your link building efforts. The problem is that links from high authority sites, with high page rank can be tough to get.

Many have found that a workaround for this obstacle is to obtain backlinks from government and education based websites. Getting backlinks from these .gov and .edu websites will usually go a long way in increasing your search engine rankings.

Webmasters are also using social media type sites for these backlinks. Many of these social type sites carry a high authority rating with Google and links are very easy to get. Please see the Social Marketing section of this website for additional information on this strategy.

When acquiring backlinks to your site, it is best to get them from sites that are relevant to your site. If your site is sports related then it is best to obtain backlinks from other sports related websites. If your site is about music then the best backlinks will come from other sites relevant to music.

Anchor Text Links - It is not enough to simply obtain backlinks to your site. The backlinks need to be done using anchor text links. Anchor text links allow you to link to your site using your keywords as the clickable link. For whatever reason, the search engines place value on this method of linking.

To illustrate;

This is a regular link-
http://www.basketballhoopsonline.com

This is a link using the keywords of "basketball hoops" as the anchor text-
Basketball Hoops

Most WYSIWIG web editors have a very simple process for adding these anchor text links. If you are needing to add the anchor text link with html code, then here is that code;

<a href="http://www.basketballhoopsonline.com">basketball hoops</a>

The part highlighted in yellow is the actual url that you want to link to. The portion highlighted in green is the anchor text (your keywords). The link would then appear on the page as Basketball Hoops.

It is also advisable to change up your anchor text when acquiring your backlinks. Here are a few alternatives I could use for the example above;

<a href="http://www.basketballhoopsonline.com">indoor basketball hoops</a>
<a href="http://www.basketballhoopsonline.com">outdoor basketball hoops</a>
<a href="http://www.basketballhoopsonline.com">hoop for basketball</a>
<a href="http://www.basketballhoopsonline.com">quality basketball hoops</a>
<a href="http://www.basketballhoopsonline.com">cheap basketball hoops</a>

I am not sure why Google looks for the variety in the anchor text, but they do. So give them what they want and mix it up.

Summary

I have covered the basics of search engine optimization. The activity of SEO can be a fulltime job. In fact many companies exist that make it their business. My personal decision has been to execute the basics on my sites and move on from there. As a marketer I feel that my time is better spent researching new markets, digging up profitable keywords, working on my advertising campaigns and any other multitude of tasks that I have to take care of.

SEO can take over your online world if you allow it to do so! If it is something you want to get into, then the web is full of SEO information. You will need to siphon through it all and decide what is real and what is fallacy. A couple of the names I trust are Aaron Wall and Dan Theis.


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