Off-page SEO in 2022: Not Just Building Backlinks and Praying

Vũ Khôi

Author at Wotech Electronics Blog

When Off-page SEO comes up, the first word that springs to mind is "link building". Plenty of people still build backlinks without any real methodology, following a "hit-or-miss" formula with low effectiveness and no sustainability. But no worries — we're here to teach you how to optimize Off-page in a way that is systematic, professional, and effective, so you no longer have to "cross your fingers" every time you practice it.

3 Off-page SEO tips to help you quickly reach your goals

Here's a little "teaser" of what we're about to share in this article:

• Stop spamming backlinks on your site

• Diversify your backlink profile

• Limit duplicate anchor text

1. Stuffing backlinks indiscriminately: when trying too hard becomes "trying too far"

Backlinks have always been regarded as SEO's secret weapon. Links remain a key factor in how Google ranks pages, and we really do need to pay attention to their quality. In 2021, Google rolled out another algorithm update designed to curb substandard backlinks. Although no websites were demolished in the process, it did put an end to the rampant backlink spam that was affecting rankings.

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Many websites still never receive any organic traffic from Google — 91% of them. More than half of those websites have no backlinks at all. If you own a website, you have surely received some backlink requests. Sometimes they'll offer to pay you to do it. In most cases, the requests come from website owners with lower domain authority than your own, or who may be using unscrupulous SEO methods.

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It's important to vet all backlink requests — just as you would with content sources — to make sure they won't harm your website.

Tips to eliminate backlink spam:

• Run an audit to see which backlinks your website is currently receiving.

• Before rejecting an unwanted backlink, try contacting the website and asking them to remove it.

• According to Google, any website providing links to your site needs to qualify the link — so make sure you require the party linking to you to add the correct HTML tag.

2. Diversify your backlink profile to boost your website's authority score

What does diversifying your backlink profile mean? Put simply, it means we want links from as many different websites as possible. An Ahrefs study examined more than 1 billion web pages and found that 66.31% of them have no referring domains, and 26.29% have only one to three referring domains. Fewer than 0.1% of websites have more than 100 referring domains — which is quite eye-opening when you think about it.

Tips for diversifying your backlink profile:

• Try to get links from directories and other resource pages as a way to diversify your links.

• Reach out to websites that fit your brand. You can ask them to link to you — and offer to link back.

• Do a report on your competitors' backlinks and check where their links come from; target those sites or similar ones to gain links back.

3. Limit duplicate anchor text so Google doesn't "misread" you as manipulating rankings

Just like keyword stuffing, we don't want anchor text phrases to appear too often in our content. That's a clear signal to search engines that you're trying to game the rankings.

First, you need to identify the current state of any and all links pointing back to your site. The goal is for only 10–20% of all referring domains to link exactly or partially by anchor. If we don't actively build links, we may never encounter this problem. Still, it's best to monitor your backlink portfolio at all times. When receiving backlinks, make sure the anchor text copies differ from one another. Some examples of variations to watch for include:

• Branded anchor text, e.g., "According to Neil Patel…"

• Long-tail text: "… we should consider the future of SEO"

• Naked links: "https://neilpatel.com/blog/the-future-of-seo/"

Some frequently asked questions about SEO on Google

• Is SEO on Google paid?

The answer is completely free. Search rankings are based on Google's algorithm, and no one can pay for a better ranking.

• How long does it take to optimize my website for Google?

Assuming you're using the most common methods described above in this article, it may take a while to implement all the optimizations on your website. How long depends on the size of the site and your workforce. As for how long it takes to start seeing organic results: within 4 to 6 months.

• How can I dominate the SERPs in 2022 through SEO?

The core of any successful SEO strategy is focusing on white-hat SEO techniques that have been proven to work. All of these have been covered above.

• Will there be major Google algorithm updates in 2022?

Google releases thousands of algorithm updates every year. For the major ones, one thing to watch in early 2022 is the intent to add page experience signals to desktop search. It is expected to be completed in March 2022.

Every link in the SEO chain matters; whether On-page or Off-page, both require serious, methodical investment from you. Things may be a bit difficult at the start, but once you grasp the core principles and stick to them, and everything is on track, you'll find it's actually quite easy. Mastering the fundamentals also keeps you from "suffering" when Google rolls out new algorithm updates.

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