Which SEO Factors Will Matter in 2015: Part 3

We hope you are enjoying our three part series on SEO success for 2015. In our last two SEO posts, we covered on-page factors—those things you can do to pages on your site to increase their relevance for search.

Now, we’re going to talk about off-page factors—or those things you can do off your website. People typically think of off-page factors as link-building, but there’s so much more to this part of SEO.

Off-Page Factors You Need to Know

1. Check your backlinks (those links that point to your website from other web pages): While linking was popular to increase your SEO rankings, we now know search engines are paying less attention to this strategy. Some of the links directed to your content may be spammy or worthless. Check your backlinks. When you find ones that may be harming your SEO, consider asking the site owner to remove them or use Google’s disavow tool.
2. Use social: We all know how important social media is to our SEO efforts. While Google has said that social is not a major factor in determining search relevance, social media can and should drive traffic to your content. When people engage with your content they tend to share it, which means more people will find it. It’s a win/win for increasing your relevance and converting traffic to customers.
3. Local listings: When we audit clients, we are surprised to see how often they don’t take advantage of this relatively easy way to increase your relevance in search. Listing on sites like Google Local, Maps, Yahoo Local and Bing Places for Business can impact how often people find you.

Off-page factors and on-page factors will affect your SEO in 2015. Master these concepts and include your larger digital marketing team in your efforts to get ahead using these advanced tactics.

If you need help, consider a forensic SEO audit. We look at all of the factors potentially affecting your SEO and then provide you with some recommendations to jumpstart your efforts. Contact Ahava today.