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Don't be surprised if you've never heard of off-page SEO. It's a relatively recent term used primarily by content marketing and management professionals. With the remarkable rise in social media and influencer popularity, off-page SEO for e-commerce websites is now a hot topic and a vital ranking factor in boosting online visibility and brand mentioning.
Why is Off-page SEO Important for E-commerce Websites?
Two words: search results.
Can you guess how many people click on the second page of their search results? If you guessed more than 1%, you're wrong. Unbelievably, less than 1% of search engine users reach the second page. In other words, people find what they want on the first page and don't bother looking any further. That brings us to another reason why off-page SEO for e-commerce is mandatory for reaching as many potential customers as possible: click-through rates (CTRs).
CTRs tell you how frequently users click on your website when they view it on a search page. If you are one of the lucky websites on page one of a search return, you can expect your website to enjoy an average CTR of 27.6%. According to Forbes, the CTR of websites at the #10 spot on a search return is 2.4%--a whopping 25% less CTR than websites commanding higher rankings.
What off-page SEO techniques and other SEO tools are successful e-commerce business websites using to achieve front-row status with search engines? Keep reading to learn the secret but doable formula for achieving higher search rankings, increased organic traffic, and enhanced online brand mention to outperform competitors.
Building High-Quality Backlinks
Backlinks are among the top 10 factors Google considers when evaluating a website's quality and relevance for ranking purposes. A backlink is simply another website linking to your website.
For example, if you publish blogs on your website about health and wellness topics, you might talk positively about a superfood supplement sold by a company called “HealthyBoost.” This "HealthyBoost" company then publishes content that includes backlinks to your blogs, recommending your website's product pages as an excellent resource.
Search engines gravitate towards websites supported by authoritative backlinks. The more “domain authority” a website has (in the discriminating eyes of search engine algorithms), the more credible and helpful Google and other search engines consider that website.
Guest Blogging
Write top-quality, researched blog posts, opinion pieces, or essays for reputable websites pertinent to your e-commerce business. Insert a backlink to your website within the blog post or somewhere in your author's bio. Contact blog writers via email or social media and offer to collaborate with them by suggesting reciprocal guest blog posts to boost search results.
Promote your backlinked guest posts on social media and promptly respond to comments received. Optimizing off-page SEO for e-commerce websites is about cultivating connections, perfecting local SEO techniques, and establishing complementary networks within your industry.
Influencer Collaborations
Supported by millions of followers and adoring fans, influencers command extensive authority, knowledge, and leverage on social media platforms. Having influencer backlinks signals to search engines that your e-commerce website is a reputable, valuable source for products and services.
Influencers who link to your website in their blogs and other online content will naturally increase your brand mention rates, drive referral traffic, and promote social shares. Although establishing relationships with influencers can be time-consuming and challenging, the effort is well worth it.
Recent surveys indicate that 52% of 18-29-year-olds report influencers impacting their purchasing decisions. In fact, 31% of social media users prefer to learn about new products by following influencers instead of watching video advertisements or visiting the product's website.
Engage in Online Communities and Forums
Joining discussions on Reddit, Quora, and other niche communities allows you to share informative insights about your company, build credibility and trust, and organically promote your e-commerce site while gaining backlinks from other business owners or influencers.
Backlinks from reputable Q&A platforms can enhance your site's authority and site SEO. However, be careful about going overboard and getting removed from these platforms for spamming.
Search engine algorithms occasionally index popular niche communities like Reddit. Backlinks from authoritative comments can improve your website's attractiveness to picky search engines.
Create Shareable Content
Characteristics of consistently shared content offer:
- Interesting and insightful information
- Short, skimmable paragraphs with eye-catching headers
- Attention-grabbing visuals that are relevant to the content
- Interactive elements, such as surveys, yes/no questions, and quizzes
- Infographics, word/picture lists, memes, and checklists
Techniques for encouraging content sharing for natural backlinks involve displaying share buttons at the top and bottom of the content, facilitating content syndication, holding giveaways or contests, and hosting live events.
An example of a successful e-commerce marketing campaign is Apple's Shot On iPhone, which invited iPhone users to post videos and photographs taken with the iPhone. This content-sharing technique's success brought massive increases in iPhone sales and widening interest in Apple's products.
Online Reputation Management
Another off-page SEO for e-commerce technique is managing your company's online reputation. Unfortunately, anyone can leave invalid, negative reviews and feedback on popular review sites like Yelp and Trustpilot. That's why staying on top of your reviews is imperative for optimizing link-building strategies and maintaining rank on search engine results.
Tips for ensuring your online reputation remains positive include:
- Encouraging satisfied customers to leave positive reviews whenever possible
- Promptly responding to online negative reviews in a professional, calm manner
- Clarifying inaccuracies stated by the reviewer by providing documentation or other evidence that supports your version of events
- Ask politely how the reviewer would like you to resolve the issue
- Monitor online reviews for further comments
If you can prove the negative review is false or vindictive, report the review to the platform's support team and request the removal of the false review.
Leveraging Local SEO and Citations
To optimize your Google My Business profile, make sure information is accurate and current (no broken links), encourage people to leave reviews, and get citations by listing your company in local directories and review platforms, such as the Yellow Pages, Yelp, or your Chamber of Commerce website.
Technical SEO factors, such as using local business schema markup to add structured data to the website's code, make it easier for search engines to show business information correctly while improving your site's search result rank.
Podcast and Webinar Participation
Being a guest speaker on webinars and podcasts is part of off-page SEO techniques. By proving you are an authority on specific subjects, podcast, and webinar providers may start backlinking to your website.
Create compelling pitches that podcasters can't refuse. Share social media links, your best online reviews, and proof of media appearances, if applicable, to showcase your authority and credibility in your pitch.
Analyzing and Optimizing Off-Page SEO Efforts
Once your off-page SEO campaign is up and rolling, don't just forget about it! You'll need to regularly audit backlinks to eliminate broken links and monitor their quality consistency.
Take advantage of online tools to track and analyze the success of your efforts. SEMrush and Ahrefs are two authoritative sites that provide excellent SEO tools for quantifying click-through rates, bounce rates, search result rankings, and whether specific backlinks are attracting new customers.
Additionally, periodically check internal linking to ensure links take users to the right product pages. Perform keyword research to optimize target keywords and the title tag, which could abruptly change depending on trending search terms.
Make the Best of Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO is key for improving the visibility and ranking of your e-commerce website. Techniques like building high-quality backlinks, collaborating with influencers, and engaging in online communities can help you increase traffic and brand awareness. Apply all the strategies we shared above to reach more customers and stay competitive in search engine results.
If you want to enhance your website’s ranking, consider reaching out to Transform Agency. Our team can help you identify opportunities to improve your SEO and boost your off-page SEO potential.
Expert in ecommerce website development topics. Skilled SEO Specialist with a proven track record of improving website visibility and search engine rankings. Experienced in keyword research, on-page and off-page optimization, link building, and content strategy development. Passionate about staying updated with the latest SEO trends and algorithm changes to ensure optimal online presence.
Experienced SEO Specialist with a proven track record of improving website visibility and search engine rankings. Skilled in keyword research, on-page and off-page optimization, link building, and content strategy development. Passionate about staying updated with the latest SEO trends and algorithm changes to ensure optimal online presence.
