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SEO OFFPAGE - HOW TO IMPROVE SEO WITH BACKLINKS

In the previous document on SEO, we explained why it is so important for your website to rank well on Google and how to improve all the internal aspects of your website that directly affect SEO.


However, the truth is that no matter how well your website is set up internally, this alone will not position you well enough to appear in the top search results. It is clearly something necessary and, above all, easier because acting internally is entirely up to you, so you cannot ignore this first part of the process; but in the end, the most important role is played by backlinks, i.e. all those links that other web pages put on theirs and which refer their audience to your site. This happens because Google is the search engine par excellence where user experience and preferences are examined, so if a website 'recommends' your website, that for Google is synonymous with user trust.

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You also need to detail the difference between backlinks, referring domains and anchor text. The first is a link to your website from another website. The second indicates the website that has a link to yours (i.e. if a website places two direct links to your website, the referring domain will always be one but the backlinks gained will be two). The third (anchor text) is a link to your website linked to a part of text (here it is important that the linked text is always different so that Google considers it better).


Now that this is clearer to us, we need to see what are the ways to improve Offpage SEO by getting backlinks (spoiler alert: the ones that are most valuable to Google are the hardest to get, but we also have some very easy ones that at least in the short term can help us rank without wasting a lot of time). In order, we will first see the easiest and then the most complicated.

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OUTBOUND STATIC LINKS

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We call them that because they are direct and free backlinks that we can obtain simply by signing up for recognition pages on Google. We are talking about pages where all we have to do is register and fill in forms with our details, images and our website, and that's it. These pages register us and this will cause your website to receive an immediate backlink. It is not very valuable, but it is a matter of spending an hour of our time to register in all of them.

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We recommend a few that work and are easy, although they don't apply to all areas, but if you find others like this you know they are good (we have Italians and Spaniards but the more the merrier):

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  • Mrlink.it

  • infobel.com

  • Yelp for business

  • Cylex

  • Web Directory Italia

  • Tripadvisor

  • fai.informazione.it

  • eleconomista.es (solo para empresas - no autonomos)

  • blog-news.it

  • my101.org

  • diggita.it

  • Solostocks

  • beedigital.es (páginas amarillas)

  • about.me

  • pymesyautonomos.com

  • xataka.com

  • milanuncios

  • Anunciofrezco

  • Bcnanuncios

  • anunico.es

  • casinuevo

  • reddit (red social)

  • dribble

  • behance

  • Interempresas

  • Remote

  • Proveedores

  • Infoisinfo

  • Europages

  • Citiservi

  • Qdq

  • Vulka

  • Indizze

  • Hotfrog

  • Curlie.org

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Apart from the pages mentioned above, what we recommend most is to register with Google Merchant Center and add your products there with links for free (we are talking about the same Google page for selling your products, so a better ranking than that, impossible). The only thing is that after publishing them you have to wait one to two days for Google to approve them and fully confirm your account.


Finally, still on Google, it is essential to create a profile on Google My Business, whether you have a local business or not. This is a very simple task because all you have to do is create your account and add information about your website, including links and images. In addition, you will have the opportunity to post offers and news on this same page, which will gradually increase your traffic. And if you're a bit more persistent, you'll take care to add as many Google reviews as possible, because this will make your website appear in the results even before your older, stronger competitors (if they have fewer reviews than you). So it is a very quick, easy and effective way to improve your ranking.

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By the way, you probably already know this, but remember that in order to index your website in Google (so that it appears among the results), you will have to check your website's ownership in Google Search Console and add your website, updating your sitemap from time to time (usually this whole procedure is included or guided in the same web platforms you use to create your website).

 

 

OUTBOUND CONTENT LINKS

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Another thing is to get outbound links to content because, as the name suggests, it is not enough to create profiles and add a link and a picture. To get these kinds of backlinks you have to write and create original and valuable content that is interesting to the audience of the website where you intend to earn the backlinks. It is certainly a strategy that requires a lot of effort, but as is always the case in these cases, the more effort you put in, the more results you will get, because these types of backlinks are much more valuable.

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We recommend you start with 'static' because with a couple of hours well spent, you can already get some useful backlinks so that Google starts to know who you are. Once you have completed this phase, you can dedicate yourself to top-quality backlinks by putting forward your own content.

  • Linkbaiting: These are the direct links you earn when you create such fantastic content that other websites redirect directly to your page without you asking, because they see them as quality pages. These are the most valuable direct links before Google, because they give your website a lot of authority. Of course they are also the hardest to find, especially if you are new to the industry, because it will be harder for them to find you and for them to hear from you. But you never know and sometimes the word is very powerful, so if you know for sure that your content is really good, try to spread it so that it reaches the right people.

  • Outbound links from blogs: another technique you can use is to search for blogs relevant to your industry and leave comments with links to your website. If you do this correctly and judiciously, you can get useful traffic and increase your prestige.

  • outbound links from Quora and Facebook groups (or from other social networks such as Tumblr): this is the same principle as for blogs, i.e. commenting on publications or groups relevant to your industry and, at the end of the comment, add the direct link to your website. This is usually easier than with blogs, because there is so much more on the Internet and they are almost always unrestricted, so you can write as often as you like, but they are clearly less valuable.

  • referral links from newspapers: these are perhaps the most important because almost all newspapers have a lot of authority for Google and this makes their direct links to your website the most valuable. Clearly, it is not so easy to find a newspaper that writes an article about your business with lots of direct links, but in every industry there are some that allow you to write your own articles (they have less authority but are good to start with).

  • videos on YouTube: being owned by Google, this video platform is strongly linked to search results, so it is essential to have several videos of our brand or our products or services on YouTube, because this guarantees that we will get more results with our name and, in addition, we will give our customers a much more serious and professional brand image, which will automatically generate more trust in us and in what we offer on the market. On YouTube it is very important, just like on social networks, to play with tags to get more views and don't forget to always add a direct link to your website in the video description.

  • publications on Pinterest (we have a document dedicated to this image social network from Google): the same applies to YouTube, i.e. having a profile here and publishing images with text and direct links in the description on a daily basis can help you improve your ranking and bring more traffic to your website.

 

Finally, we would like to conclude this part of the programme with a little mention of alternative sales platforms such as Amazon, Ebay, Etsy. Being present on these platforms can help you improve your image and your Google ranking. These are platforms that have millions of visits every day, so if you have the opportunity and your business allows it, you should consider being there. It is true that this suggestion applies more to online shops or websites that sell services that are recognisable as products, but if so, take advantage of the opportunity given to you. It is not just about driving more traffic to your website or increasing sales (because don't forget that if you sell products you should be on at least one of these platforms), but about appearing and filling all the search results when someone searches for your name or keywords. Even if they are not your main website, simply appearing will generate more trust in the potential customer who finds you and, at the same time, you probably have reviews about them and this helps

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