Note (October 2026): An earlier version said that using targeted keywords in links outside your site would guarantee success. No tactic guarantees rankings, and Google’s spam policies treat links with optimized anchor text placed in guest posts, articles or forum signatures as link spam; the text below has been corrected.
Off-page SEO is everything done away from your own website to improve its search rankings: earning backlinks from other sites, brand mentions, reviews, digital PR and social or community promotion. It matters because Google uses links between pages, through systems including PageRank, to understand which pages are relevant and trusted.
Key Takeaways
- On-page SEO is what you change on your own pages; off-page SEO is the reputation your site earns elsewhere on the web.
- Google says PageRank, a link analysis system developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford in 1996, is still part of its core ranking systems, although it has evolved a lot.
- Quality beats quantity: Google’s spam policies list buying links, excessive link exchanges, automated link building and low-quality directory links as link spam.
- Paid or sponsored links are allowed only when marked with rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow”.
- For local businesses, Google says prominence, which includes how many websites link to the business and how many reviews it has, affects local ranking.
You may have heard of the importance of an SEO strategy for advertising your business online. There are two main types of SEO to consider: on-page SEO, which covers what you change on your own website, and off-page SEO, which covers activity elsewhere on the web.
Customers will find your website by using search engines. This is why it is important to improve how your pages rank in search engines, both through on-page work and through the reputation your site earns on other websites.
What is Off-Page Search Engine Optimization?
Off-page SEO refers to actions taken online that are not related to your website and which can improve search engine rankings. These actions are what will affect how search engines rank your company based on the perceptions of other entrepreneurs and organizations.
It affects your social presence, link-building, and many other things that aren’t on the page. Off-page signals tell Google and other search engines what the wider web thinks of your site. We often hear from people who believe that off-page SEO is only link-building. There is more to it: off-page SEO also covers brand mentions, reviews, social sharing and public relations, all of which shape how well known a site or business is online.
When it comes to off-page SEO, creating high-quality backlinks should be the main focus of your strategy. Backlinks can be a strong signal of content quality. Links from relevant, reputable sites generally help more than many links from low-quality ones, but no single link guarantees a ranking.
Why Is Off-Page SEO Important?
Ranking components, strategies, and algorithms for search engine optimization are continually evolving. The general consensus is that off-page SEO’s reliability, relevance, and authority still play a significant role in a page’s ability to rank.
Your website’s position in the SERPs is directly affected by links. Having links to your website (inbound and outbound) both appear on a well-linked site, but only links from other sites pointing to yours (inbound links, or backlinks) are an off-page signal. Google says it uses how pages link to each other to work out what pages are about, yet no number of links guarantees a first-page position.
Higher visibility is key to ranking your content. Sites that lack off-page SEO are less likely to rank well. This is because of the lack of social media, link building, videos, blogs, and other SEO.
You can share your pages on your social media profiles and in relevant communities to help people find your site, but Google’s spam policies list forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature as link spam. Backlinks follow when other content creators, marketers or business owners find your content useful enough to cite it.
A successful off-page SEO strategy goes beyond creating relevant backlinks. You can take further steps, such as partnering with trusted platforms on genuinely useful content, but Google’s spam policies treat excessive link exchanges and partner pages built only for cross-linking as link spam.
It’s a great idea to create a company logo that is easily identifiable and use it in blog posts, or when you answer questions on the forum.
This will not only get you lots of traffic but it will also make it easier for people to remember your brand and keep referring others to you. You don’t need to worry about creating a logo being difficult or costly. It is possible to create a logo of high quality and low cost.
The benefits of off-page SEO
An off-page SEO strategy that works can be a big advantage for your business in several ways.
Better Search Engine Rankings.
Using relevant keywords is on-page work that helps search engines match your pages to the right searches; off-page signals such as links and mentions from other sites add evidence that the brand is trusted. This means potential customers will be more interested in your brand if they see it more often. You will see more customers, which in turn will lead to a higher conversion rate.
Multiple Domain Referrals.
Search engines look at links from other websites, including how many different domains link to a site and how trustworthy those domains are, when ranking unpaid search results. This number is a measure of trust and can help you generate more traffic over time. Not only will people visit your website online but users who have seen it on other sites and platforms, too, will bring you traffic.
Enhanced website exposure.
The greater your reach beyond your page, the more visitors you can bring to your site. Your website ranking will increase when this happens. This will increase your website traffic, which can be converted into paying customers. You will see a positive impact on your business by increasing exposure and expanding your target audience.
Conclusion
Off-site SEO plays a major role in ranking your brand’s competitive keywords. This makes it an integral part of any online marketing strategy. It allows you to reach more customers and also builds your website authority.
Earning genuine mentions and links from relevant, reputable sites, rather than placing keyword-stuffed links yourself, is what helps you rank high in search engine results. No off-page tactic guarantees rankings; it works best alongside strong on-page SEO and genuinely useful content.
On-Page SEO vs. Off-Page SEO: What Is the Difference?
On-page SEO and off-page SEO work on different things. On-page SEO improves the page itself, while off-page SEO builds the signals other websites and people send about it. A full guide to the first half is in our article on how to optimize your website with on-page SEO.
| Aspect | On-page SEO | Off-page SEO |
|---|---|---|
| Where it happens | On your own website | On other websites, platforms and listings |
| Typical work | Content, titles, headings, internal links, page structure | Earning backlinks, brand mentions, reviews, digital PR, community promotion |
| Who controls it | You, directly | Mostly other people; you can only influence it |
| Main risk | Thin or keyword-stuffed pages | Link schemes that break Google’s spam policies |
How Do Search Engines Use Links?
Links have been central to Google since the start. According to Wikipedia, Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed PageRank at Stanford University in 1996, and the first paper describing PageRank and the Google prototype was published in 1998.
Google’s own guide to its ranking systems says it has various systems that look at how pages link to each other to understand what pages are about, and that PageRank, used when Google first launched, has evolved a lot and is still part of its core ranking systems. Google’s SEO Starter Guide adds that Google primarily finds pages through links from pages it has already crawled, often on other websites.
Search engines also learned to discount manipulated links. Google Penguin, first announced on April 24, 2012, targeted sites that inflated rankings with link schemes. Penguin 4.0, released on September 23, 2016, made the algorithm run in real time, according to Wikipedia’s summary of Google’s announcements.
Off-Page SEO Techniques That Work
- Create content worth citing. Original data, guides and tools give other sites a reason to link. See our overview of link building strategies and techniques.
- Promote the content. Google’s SEO Starter Guide names social media promotion, community engagement, advertising and word of mouth as ways to get new content discovered faster.
- Write for other publications. Guest articles can build reputation and referral traffic, but links in them should not use keyword-optimized anchor text. Our guide to guest posts covers the process.
- Earn press and brand mentions. Digital PR, expert commentary and industry events put your brand name in front of journalists and editors who may cite you.
- Build your local presence. Keep your Google Business Profile complete and collect genuine reviews; see why local SEO matters.
- Use natural anchor text. Descriptive, varied anchors read better than repeated exact-match keywords. Our explainer on anchor text shows the difference.
What Counts as Link Spam?
Google defines link spam as creating links to or from a site primarily to manipulate search rankings. Its spam policies give these examples, among others:
- Buying or selling links for ranking purposes, including exchanging money, goods or services for links.
- Excessive link exchanges, or partner pages that exist only for cross-linking.
- Using automated programs or services to create links to a site.
- Low-quality directory or bookmark site links.
- Widely distributed links in the footers or templates of various sites.
- Forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature.
- Links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts or press releases distributed on other sites.
According to Google, sites that violate its spam policies may rank lower or not appear in results at all, and human review can lead to a manual action.
Are Paid Links Allowed?
Paid links are allowed only when they do not pass ranking credit. Google says buying and selling links is a normal part of the web’s advertising economy and does not break its policies as long as the links are qualified with rel=”nofollow” or rel=”sponsored”.
| rel value | Google’s recommended use |
|---|---|
| sponsored | Advertisements or paid placements |
| ugc | User-generated content such as comments and forum posts |
| nofollow | Other links you do not want Google to associate with your site or crawl from it |
Google notes that nofollow was previously recommended for paid links and is still acceptable for them, though sponsored is preferred.
Off-Page SEO for Local Businesses
Google states that local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Its prominence factor, meaning how well known a business is, is partly based on how many websites link to the business and how many reviews it has, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is off-page SEO in simple words?
Off-page SEO is the work done outside your own website to improve its search rankings, mainly earning links and mentions from other sites, reviews and social or community promotion.
Is off-page SEO only about backlinks?
No. Backlinks are the best-known part, but off-page SEO also includes brand mentions, digital PR, reviews, a Google Business Profile for local businesses, and promotion on social media and in communities.
Does Google still use PageRank?
Yes. Google’s guide to its ranking systems says PageRank has evolved a lot since Google launched and continues to be part of its core ranking systems.
Can buying backlinks get a site penalized?
Buying links that pass ranking credit is link spam under Google’s spam policies, and violating sites may rank lower or disappear from results. Paid links are acceptable when marked rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow”.
How is off-page SEO different from SEM?
Off-page SEO aims at unpaid rankings, while search engine marketing usually refers to paid search ads. Our comparison of SEO and SEM explains both.
