• Register
• Log in

SEO Theory - SEO Theory and Analysis Blog

Algorithm analysis, Web community relationship analysis, SEO practices and techniques, industry news, etc.

• Home
• About SEO Theory
• SEO Glossary

Fundamental Principles of Off Site SEO

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 27, 2008 in SEO Theory

The most sophisticated theses in the search engine optimization lexicon are concerned with on site optimization, which I feel is very ironic given how obsessed people in the industry tend to be with links. Links constitute only a small part of search engine optimization but on any given day you’re more likely to find SEO pundits sharing linking tips than discussing other aspects of search engine optimization.

But isn’t that a contradiction in terms? After all, if so much of our literature is concerned with on site factors, how is it that we’re more likely to find new content about linking than anything else? Well, the reason is that linking occurs both on site and off site and over the past few months a growing number of SEO bloggers and columnists have been turning their attention to internal linking.

You almost cannot discuss on site optimization without discussing linking. I rarely do it. But how often do you see people discuss off site optimizaton without getting mired in link discussions?

Off site optimization is no more grounded in links and link theory than is on site optimization. That is, you need links but there is far more to off site optimization than links. To be honest, I am not likely to ever fully discuss the topic of off site optimization but I think it’s time to mention some of the fundamental concepts.

We’ll begin with the search engines. The first principle of off site SEO is The Priniple of Search Engagement. That is, you have to decide for which search engine you will optimize. If you are aggressive you will optimize for as many search engines as possible, even going beyond the major search engines. Any search tool that drives traffic to your site deserves some of your optimization attention.

Don’t engage with search engines that drive no traffic, but don’t engage too much with search engines that only drive a fraction of your traffic. The purpose of Search Engagement is to expand your search referrals, not to limit them to one search tool. That is why so many people are wrong to focus their attention only on Google. The Principle of Search Engagement teaches us to optimize for all relevant search engines and not to be search snobs.

Then there is the Principle of Resource Engagement. Search engines and directories are just Web sites and other (non-search related) Web sites can send you traffic. Any site that does send you traffic also deserves some optimization attention. How can you leverage that site’s links to help your search visibility? (Actually, this principle is equally valid for non-search marketing.) You leverage links by providing them with context, recognition, and an active framework in which people find the links to be part of useful resources.

You can help shape resources in many ways. The social media revolution has made the task easier but there are plenty of Web 1.0 opportunities that still exist. You can shape forum and blog discussions, advertisements, reviews and editorials, and other off site content that directly impacts your search visibility. You can also engage with Web site operators to help them provide better content about your own sites.

If you focus only on social media you limit your off site resources. Just because social media is easy to spam doesn’t mean it’s the best source of off site optimization. If you’re only hungry for links you can get plenty of useless links from social media profiles. If you want powerful links you need to work on your social media opportunities but you’re still missing the big picture. Just because the SEO community fell in love with social media spamming doesn’t mean the vast numbers of off site opportunities that predated social media no longer help.

The Principle of Message Engagement tells us to shape the message we want people to see on other sites. For example, I can use this blog to tell people to search Xenite.Org for pictures of the actress Mizuo Peck. No links required. If someone wants to find Mizuo Peck pictures, all they need to do is use a major search engine to search Xenite.Org for Mizuo Peck pictures. I have Mizuo Peck pictures on Xenite.Org.

Get the message?

I can use any blog to tell people that SF-Fandom has a forum dedicated to Battlestar Galactica discussions. In fact, Battlestar Galactica discussions are very active on SF-Fandom when the Battlestar Galactica show is broadcasting first-run episodes. SF-Fandom’s Battlestar Galactica forum is easy to find. All you have to do, if you’re curious about SF-Fandom’s Battlestar Galactica forum, is to search for SF-Fandom’s Battlestar Galactica forum. We can also be found for SF-Fandom’s BSG forum.

Telling people what to search for, either directly or subtly, is good off site optimization because it helps to build your query space. You can optimize for search by promoting a message that tells people what to search for, or where to search, or even how to search. If someone is out there telling people about your Web site, hopefully they are saying good things. But regardless of whether they are saying good things you want to engage in the discussion and help shape the message.

I’m not talking about dropping blatant advertisements and starting self-promotional threads in other people’s forums. I’m talking about looking at all aspects of what is being said about a topic related to your site and helping people learn more about your site without sounding like a smarmy salesperson. Some Internet marketers are very good at derailing discussions by injecting their hyperbole into threads and hijacking topics. That’s not off site optimization, that’s just rude.

Instead, you tell people about your site in passing, providing enough information for them to find it, and you help to keep the original discussion going. People will also search for your site because of the contributions you make to your communities, not just because of your overbearing self-promotion. If you don’t need to be overbearing, then why choose to be? If you don’t need to sound like a smarmy snake-oil salesman desperate to get people to buy his eBook or Web services, why choose that route?

There are three aspects to off site link building: relevance, context, and neighborhood. Let’s talk about these topics under the Principle of Link Placement. People want relevant links, of course, but by definition any link which confers anchor text is relevant to its destination. Rather, under the Principle of Link Placement you look at the relevance of the page to the topic.

A page that is only slightly relevant to the topic of the anchor text is less likely to help pass traffic (links should be about traffic first, passing anchor text second, and passing PageRank last). Page relevance is important in off site optimization because it shapes your off site visibility for the right audience. The more often people see reference to your site in relevant material the more credible your site becomes. The more credible your site is with your audience, the more likely they are to link to it themselves.

Context is important to links for similar reasons. A link that has no context — no preceding or following text that helps give it meaning — is just a link. A typical directory listing provides context. A bullet list of links also provides context. A white margin space or graphical image provides no context. A link should make sense to the viewer. Looking at it, the page visitor should feel like the link really belongs there. People don’t care why the link is there, only that it has something to do with the page.

Search engines gave us the concept of neighborhoods and we as SEOs do a poor job of agreeing on what we should do with neighborhoods. For example, should we only link out to travel sites if we operate travel sites? That’s not very helpful to us because we’re either linking to competitors or we’re calling attention to our spammy affiliate pages. Perhaps we should only link out to blogs and forums where people discuss travel and occasionally refer to our sites. But that’s not very helpful to us because we have to share those resources with other travel sites.

There is no reason why you cannot create your own neighborhood. You can do this through a variety of resources, including your own network of microsites (or other satellite sites SEO resources). Of course, artificial neighborhoods don’t perform as well as natural neighborhoods but there is no reason why you cannot build a natural neighborhood.

There are two differences between natural and artificial neighborhoods. First, real people visit natural neighborhoods and create content for them. Second, it takes longer to build a natural neighborhood than an artificial one. Artificial neighborhoods can grow into natural neighborhoods if you use your artificial neighborhood as a seed for building a larger community. Some marketers do this very successfully, especially in the sports and entertainment fields.

A link from a relevant neighborhood provides a more solid context than a link from an irrelevant neighborhood, but not every neighborhood is treated with the same respect as others. A Web neighborhood should exist for a reason. Its member sites should be useful to someone. If you don’t create a resource that’s useful even to you, you’re wasting your time.

Off site optimization must address the audience, shape the message, and organize the presentation of the message to the audience. Through off site optimization you build search visibility both directly and indirectly. It’s not something you want to approach with a lazy or disrespectful attitude. The next time you set up a forum signature with links to three of your AdSense sites, ask yourself this question: “Is this signature here for links or is it presenting a compelling message to a targeted audience in an appropriate context?”

In my opinion, you get less value from chasing links than from being a thoughful marketer. In my opinion, you get more value from off site optimization than from “link building”.