How to Use Off-Site SEO to Improve Your Website Traffic

Do you want to learn how to attract more traffic to your website? If so, you’ve made it to the right place.

One of the best ways to improve discoverability and traffic is by optimizing your website for search. If you want to know why this strategy is so important, consider this: 90% of all web pages see zero traffic from Google. Shocking, right? It’s hard to grow if people can’t easily discover your content.

Broadly speaking, search engine optimization (SEO) comes in two types: on-site and off-site. As the name implies, on-site SEO is anything you do to improve your search presence on your website.

The other type, off-site SEO, involves building backlinks to your website from other high-quality websites. When other sites and creators link to your content, it helps Google recognize that your brand is trustworthy and worth showing to other people.

As a result, more people will see your website, and you’ll get more traffic and sales.

Both types of search optimization are vital to your success, but today, I want to share several actionable off-site SEO practices that you can use to boost your website traffic and sales.

Let’s begin!

Create Amazing Content for Your Blog

It may seem strange to choose ‘create amazing content for your blog’ as the first off-site SEO tip, but follow along, and you’ll see why this step is so important.

Put simply, when you create informative, engaging, and shareable content, other people are more likely to link back to your post on their website. I believe this is why websites with engaging blogs get 97% more backlinks than their blogless counterparts.

So, by creating valuable, interesting content for your site, you’re indirectly improving your off-site SEO. Here’s an example so you can see how it works:

You decide to write and publish an article that includes 100+ industry statistics. Other people find your article and want to use specific stats from your post in their articles, so they link back to your article as a reference.

Now, imagine 1,000 different creators decided to include a link back to your website, and it’s easy to see how publishing blog content on your site can help drive traffic from other websites.

If you want to improve the odds that people will link to your content, make sure to provide new insights or statistics on popular industry topics. You’ll also want to use plenty of visuals, like infographics, as these are extremely linkable.

Write More Guest Posts

Let’s discuss how writing guest posts can help with off-site SEO.

Guest posting involves publishing content on other websites in your industry. It is an excellent way to improve traffic, reach your audience, and build rapport with brands in your industry.

Guest posts typically include one or more links back to your website, which is the primary way they boost traffic. However, this may vary by publication. Some websites only allow you to have an author bio, while others will allow you to include relevant links throughout your article.

So when you guest post on a high-quality website, you are essentially receiving a strong seal of approval from a reputable brand in your industry, which can dramatically improve your position in the search engine results pages (SERPs). I firmly believe this is why 60% of bloggers report writing 1-5 guest posts each month, with some writing many more.

I suggest seeking out companies and creators in your industry looking for guest posts. You can find prospects by typing in “(your industry) write for us” or “(your industry) guest posting opportunities”

Once you have found a few websites you would like to guest post on, it’s time to reach out and pitch your article ideas. Here are a few points to remember for getting your pitch accepted:

• Read the guidelines - Editors spend a lot of time creating concise guidelines. Your idea will likely get rejected if you don’t follow their rules when crafting your pitch.

• Research the publication - Look for relevant posts and other relevant details, like the editor’s name. Use this information to personalize your pitch, which will improve your odds of getting accepted.

• Highlight your value proposition - Use your pitch to explain how your post will benefit their audience. Editors always look for guest posts that add tangible value to their website.

• Don’t get discouraged - If your first pitch is denied, don’t give up! Sometimes, you need to refine your idea with the same publication before it’s accepted.

Start a YouTube Channel

YouTube is the second most popular website in the world, with over 1.9 billion active users, so it makes sense that it is one of the best places to improve your traffic. The simple explanation is when people watch your videos, they’re more likely to click on the links included on your profile and within your content, but there’s more to it than that.

As you may know by now, YouTube videos can rank on Google, just like your website. This means that people may discover your videos in the search results and then make it to your website afterward, which is just as effective as if they had found your website homepage at the top of the SERPs.

When you or other creators embed your videos on their websites (much like how people link to blog content), they create links to your website, which will have a positive impact on your off-site SEO.

I suggest creating videos that resonate with your target audience, such as tutorials, tips, and guides related to your industry. You can even repurpose your best on-site blog posts into videos for YouTube.

Repurposing will help you save a ton of time because you already have the framework for the video. All that’s left to do is script it and repurpose your writing into a video. If you’re wondering how this will affect your site, consider that 87% of marketers who create video content for YouTube and other sites say it has directly improved their traffic.

Work With Affiliates

Affiliates are a true asset when it comes to improving off-site SEO and generating more traffic to your website.

Affiliate marketers promote your products and receive a monetary kickback whenever someone clicks their exclusive link to make a purchase. Often, affiliates are also considered social media influencers because their large audience means they are more likely to make money from promoting relevant products and services.

We found that around 69% of all affiliate traffic comes from search engines. In other words, these people already have reputable websites. By including content like reviews and unboxings on their site, they link back to your site and improve off-site SEO.

You can bet that affiliates with large social media followings will also promote your site on all the big-name social channels. This type of marketing will also help draw in traffic from other websites. For context, it’s estimated that 130 million Instagram users tap on sponsored posts each month.

So, you can expect to see an influx of traffic from sites like Facebook, X (formally Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok if affiliate partners promote your brand. The links on social media might not add much to your overall SEO, but the traffic and eyes on your site will have a noticeable impact on your ranking.

Look for Broken Links

Finally, let’s talk about how you can improve your off-site SEO by using the broken link strategy. The broken link strategy involves finding and fixing broken links on other websites.

After finding a broken link, contact the website owner and offer to replace the link with a link to your website. If the owner or editor says yes, you’ve successfully added another backlink to your list.

For example, if your business sells pet supplies, you might look for veterinary sites that have broken links for phrases like “dog food” or “cat toys.” Since their audience aligns with your audience, this would be a great way to drive traffic to your site.

I recommend being selective about who you reach out to about replacing links. If, for example, the site has a domain authority of 20, you should probably skip them in favor of sites with a higher DA. The higher the domain authority, the more of an impact the backlink will have on your SEO.

If you need help finding broken links, I suggest using Google Search Console in conjunction with an effective SEO tool. There are plenty of opportunities to fix broken links; you just have to find them and contact the site owner.

It’s worth mentioning that not everyone will say yes. But if done correctly, this is a great way to grab a few more high-value backlinks each month.

Final Thoughts

It’s clear that improving this aspect of your SEO strategy is a great way to increase the visibility of your website and attract more people to your site. If you follow the tips presented today, you can start building backlinks, partnering with like-minded brands, and connecting with people who are genuinely interested in what you’re offering.