[2023 Edition] What are external SEO measures? Explaining 14 know-hows and their importance

“What is off-page SEO?”
“Is off-page SEO still important today?”
“I don’t know what exactly I should do.”

These are common concerns for SEO beginners.

Off-page SEO refers tostrategies to acquire “backlinks” and “citations.”.

In recent SEO trends, the focus is often on content, so some people may not be paying attention to off-page strategies.

However,if you aim to rank higher in search results, off-page SEO is essential.

In this article, we will discuss the importance of off-page SEO, the criteria for high-quality backlinks, and 14 methods to acquire backlinks and citations.

By reading this article, you’ll be able to clear up any doubts about off-page SEO and learn how to acquire quality backlinks and citations.

This guide is useful not only for those just starting with off-page SEO but also for those who are already engaged in it.

What is Off-Page SEO?

Off-page SEO refers to strategies to acquire “backlinks” and “citations” from external sites.

Backlinks and citations serve as indicators for Google that a page is of high quality and is referenced by other sites.

However, since Google explicitly states that “backlinks” are the only factor they use in ranking decisions, backlinks are more important.

The difference between on-page and off-page SEO is that on-page SEO is completed within your own site, while off-page SEO involves engaging with external sites.

Keep in mind that “SEO (Search Engine Optimization)” is broadly categorized into the following three areas, including off-page SEO:

What is a Backlink?

Backlinks refer to links on other sites that point to your own site.

They are also known as inbound links and are the opposite concept of outbound links.

For example, if another company’s site links to your site with a phrase like “Please refer to this article,” that is considered a backlink.

However, if that link has a “nofollow tag“, it does not count as a backlink.
* Nofollow tag = A tag that instructs Google’s robots not to follow the link.

Links on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook come with a nofollow tag, so they do not count as backlinks.

Google places high importance on both the quantity and quality of backlinks as an indicator of “how users evaluate the site and its content.”

If you want to check “what pages are currently linking to your site and how many links you have,” you can use the following tools:

What is a Citation?

Citation refers to the mention or quotation of a website or company on the internet (such as on other sites or social media).

For example, a post on social media saying “Webma’s article was interesting!” would be considered a citation.

The difference from backlinks is that citations do not include links.

Citations are less likely to be recognized by search engines compared to backlinks, and Google has not explicitly stated whether citations affect search rankings.

However, it is generally believed that an increase in positive citations can have a positive impact on SEO.

On the other hand, an increase in negative citations may lower your search engine ranking, so caution is needed.
Reference: Overseas SEO Information Blog – Google doesn’t use sentiment analysis as a ranking factor. However, how it is mentioned on the web is important

Elements that search engines recognize as citations include:

If you want to know the citation status of your site, you can investigate using the following methods:

So, how important is it to acquire “backlinks” and “citations” in current SEO practices?

The next section will explain the importance of off-page SEO.

The Importance of Off-Page SEO in 2023

In conclusion, off-page SEO that focuses on acquiring backlinks and citations is still important in 2023.

This is because backlinks are a ranking factor for Google and have a direct impact on search rankings.

Google bases its page evaluation on the concept of “citations” in academic papers.

Just as high-quality papers are frequently cited in other studies and papers, the idea is that “a good page should receive more citations from other sites”.

Google also states in its “Ten Things We Know to Be True” that “Democracy on the web works,” and backlinks are interpreted as a kind of “popularity vote”.

Recently, the four elements of “Expertise,” “Experience,” “Authoritativeness,” and “Trustworthiness” (E-E-A-T) are said to be important for SEO, and link evaluations also affect “Authoritativeness.”

However, unlike the past when increasing backlinks alone could lead to higher rankings, the situation in SEO today is different.

Now, not only the “number” of backlinks but also their “quality” is important, so the practice of creating self-made links to increase rankings (black hat SEO) is no longer effective.

In fact, low-quality backlinks can lead to a decrease in Google’s evaluation of your site.

In other words, increasing low-quality links does not help in current SEO, so measures to increase high-quality backlinks are necessary.

The next section explains the standards for high-quality backlinks that should be increased, so be sure to check it out.

Criteria for High-Quality Backlinks

What exactly constitutes a “high-quality backlink” that enhances your Google ranking?

As mentioned earlier, clearly manipulated links, such as those that are self-created or purchased, are not considered “high-quality” since they are not “naturally occurring.”

The ideal scenario is to naturally acquire links because your content is so good that people want to share it with others. This is the ideal state.

Additionally, factors such as the credibility of the linking site, its relevance to your own site, and the context in which the link is placed all play a role.

For example, the following types of backlinks are considered valuable and high-quality for SEO purposes:

However, even with high-quality backlinks, having a greater number of domains linking to your site, rather than just a high number of backlinks, is more beneficial for SEO.

A higher number of domains means that the links come from a variety of sites rather than from just one site. This diversity is key.

Let’s move on to the next section to see how you can enhance your site’s evaluation through backlink strategies.

Backlink Strategies

Here are seven external measures to help you gather high-quality backlinks.

Backlink Strategy 1.
Engage in Backlink Outreach

You might wonder, “Is it okay to actively reach out for links?” In fact, this is a common link-building technique in overseas SEO.

Of course, buying and selling links is a no-go, so you should instead ask for backlinks and request that your link be placed on other sites.

For example, you can use tools like Ahrefs to check the backlink sources of your competitors and find sites that might be willing to link back to you. You can then reach out to these sites via email.

However, it’s challenging to get links placed if there is no benefit for the other party or if there isn’t an established relationship.

It’s more effective to ask for links from:

• Companies with which you already have a business relationship
• Companies with which you’ve built a rapport

These are more likely to agree to link placement.

Recently, there has been a focus on maximizing the impact of SEO link-building efforts by tying them with PR activities.

As a foundation, it’s crucial to maintain good relationships with surrounding media and companies on a regular basis.

On top of that, propose high-quality content through dialogue, offering benefits to encourage others to feature your content.

This type of activity is also known as digital PR.

Backlink Strategy 2.
Create Trend Articles

Content that makes other companies or users think, “I want to share this!” can lead to acquiring backlinks.

One type of content that is often shared on other sites is “trend articles.”

As the name suggests, trend articles are articles summarizing trending topics, the latest information, or news.

By providing fresh and timely information before it becomes widely available on the internet, you can expect a significant increase in backlinks.

Stay alert to the latest information in your field and consider whether you can turn it into content that is currently trending in the world.

Additionally, by using a tool like Google Trends, you can easily research rising keywords.

Backlink Strategy 3.
Publish Primary Data Based on Research

Publishing unique information such as in-house research or original data can lead to acquiring backlinks.

This is because content creators on any site want to present evidence to support their claims and build user trust.

Therefore, content with originality and primary data is more likely to be cited on other sites and, as a result, more likely to receive backlinks.

Furthermore, primary data is effective not only for acquiring backlinks but also for enhancing the overall evaluation of the content itself.

Google explicitly states that it ranks unique content higher.
Reference:Google Webmaster Central Blog – Improving the Quality of Japanese Search

If possible, try conducting surveys or questionnaires and turn the data you obtain into content by summarizing it in graphs or articles.

Backlink Strategy 4.
Create Interview Articles

Creating interview articles is a highly recommended method for acquiring backlinks.

This is because it allows you to approach the party from whom you want to receive backlinks and because it offers benefits to your company, the other company, and users.

The process of acquiring backlinks through interview articles is as follows:

1. Contact the company you want to collaborate with and conduct an interview
2. Summarize the interview content into an article and publish it on your site
3. Ask the other company to link to the interview article on their media

This way, the other party is likely to be pleased to introduce your content on their homepage or blog with a phrase like, “We were featured on (site name)!”

In other words, you can increase high-quality backlinks for both parties, creating a win-win relationship.

Additionally, readers of the article benefit from gaining unique and high-quality information not available elsewhere.

Instead of just waiting for backlinks to come to you, this method allows you to strategically choose whom to get backlinks from, making it a highly effective strategy for acquiring backlinks.

Backlink Strategy 5.
Write Guest Articles

Writing guest articles can also be an effective method for acquiring backlinks.

By contributing articles to reputable media related to your site and having a link to your site included, you can acquire “high-quality backlinks” from high-quality sources and create points of contact with users of the media who may not be familiar with your site.

However, since you are asking to have your article published, you need to submit an article that benefits the target media and utilizes the writer’s expertise.

Also, if you reprint or slightly modify content already published on your site, it may be considered duplicate content and lead to a negative evaluation, so be careful.

If you can provide an article that is beneficial to the target media, proactively reach out and ask for your guest article to be published.

Backlink Strategy 6.
Link to Your Corporate Site

Natural links on your corporate site or recruitment site that introduce the relevant site to users are beneficial because they enhance usability.

Backlinks from your corporate site can also have the effect of communicating the site operator information to search engines and enhancing the site’s credibility.

Since these are self-created links, you can’t expect a significant effect as backlinks, but if you have a corporate site, it’s a good idea to include links.

However,do not create satellite sites with the sole purpose of increasing backlinks.

A satellite site is a separate site from the main site, offering different value from the main site.

In the past, generating a large number of backlinks using satellite sites was common, but as of 2023, the risks and costs outweigh the benefits.

So far, we have discussed “backlink” strategies, but the other element of off-page SEO, “citations,” also impacts SEO.

In the next chapter, we will introduce strategies to increase user citations and have citations recognized by search engines, so be sure to check them out as well.

Citation Strategies

Let’s now introduce eight strategies for citation improvement.

Citation Strategy 1.
Give your website an easy-to-understand name

Increasing citations means creating a situation where your name appears repeatedly in social media, internet searches, and on other websites.

If you’re about to launch a new website, be sure to give it a name that is easy for users to understand.

With a name like those listed below, it becomes difficult for users to remember, reducing the likelihood of citation in the first place.

Even if you do get cited, there is a chance that misspellings or abbreviations will increase.

If your site is not cited with the correct name, search engines are less likely to recognize it as a citation.

To avoid losing citation opportunities, give your site a unique and easy-to-understand name.

Citation Strategy 2.
Share on social media

To increase citations, utilizing social media (X, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) is essential.

As mentioned earlier, even if a user links to a social media post, the link will have a “nofollow” tag, meaning it does not count as a backlink.

However, it does have a significant effect as a citation.

On social media, engaging content and valuable information spread quickly.

If you consistently produce quality content and share it regularly on social media, your content will likely be shared among users, increasing positive citations.

Furthermore, if shared content reaches blog operators or writers, there is a possibility they will feature it on their sites, providing an indirect backlink effect.

Including the following information in your account profile makes it easier for search engines to recognize user mentions about your site, products, or services as citations.

Citation Strategy 3.
Add social media buttons to your site

To make it easy for users who like your content to share it on social media, be sure to add social media buttons to your site.

On our site “Webma,” we have placed social media buttons on the left side of the screen.

The Facebook and X share buttons are particularly important.

To add social media buttons, you can install one of the following plugins on WordPress:

Recent WordPress themes often come with social media buttons pre-installed, so choosing such a theme from the start is a good idea.

Citation Strategy 4.
Set up OGP

OGP (Open Graph Protocol) settings allow you to predefine the title, thumbnail image, and description displayed when content is shared on social media.

By setting up OGP, you can display the information you have specified to convey the page content accurately, rather than having social media platforms automatically generate it.

Compared to just a URL, it is more visually striking and makes it easier to understand what kind of content is on the link’s destination.

When OGP is displayed, the amount of information conveyed to users increases, making it easier for the page to spread on social media.

As a result, your content is more likely to be seen by a larger audience, making citations more likely to occur.

To set up OGP, use specific tags in the HTML <head> section.

Citation Strategy 5.
Issue a Press Release

Using press release sites to disseminate your company’s information can increase your citations.

Fundamentally, backlinks and citations cannot be generated if your company’s activities and content do not reach a wide audience.

While there are costs associated with distributing press releases, they are frequently viewed by media professionals such as journalists, which increases the likelihood of secondary dissemination.

Issuing press releases is sure to help expand recognition.

Citation Strategy 6.
Markup Basic Information with Structured Data

Markup your website’s basic information with structured data to increase the likelihood that search engines will accurately recognize your citations.

Structured data is code that adds meaning to HTML text to make it easier for search engines to understand the content of your pages or site.

Information such as NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) and URL should be marked up with structured data.

When it comes to NAP, make sure to maintain consistent formatting on your website, social media, portal sites, and Google My Business, which we will introduce next.

For example, search engines may not recognize that “XYZ Co., Ltd.” and “(XYZ) Ltd.” are the same company due to differences in notation.

In other words, even slight inconsistencies in formatting can cause the evaluation of your citations to be spread out.

Structured markup can be directly written into HTML files, or you can use Google’s “Structured Data Markup Helper“.

Citation Strategy 7.
Register on Portal Sites

The more exposure your company name or website name gets on the internet, the greater the awareness, and the higher the likelihood of being cited.

If your name appears frequently on other sites, users will have more opportunities to see it.

If you find a portal site that seems useful, be sure to register.

In doing so, be mindful of NAP formatting and ensure there are no errors in your information, as mentioned earlier.

Citation Strategy 8.
Register with Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is a free service from Google that allows you to register and manage business and store information.

You can provide Google in advance with all business-related information, including company name, address, phone number, URL, images, and business category.

By doing so, you make it easier for Google to recognize your citations.

Additionally, the information you register can appear in Google search results and on Google Maps, which can significantly improve your ranking on Google.

If you have a physical store, using Google Business Profile is especially effective, so it is highly recommended to register your business and store information.

What Not to Do in External SEO Strategies

As mentioned earlier, artificially increasing backlinks does not enhance your ranking on Google.

On the contrary, if it is considered part of a “link scheme“, you risk a penalty for violating guidelines.

Penalties can result not only in a significant drop in search rankings but, in the worst case, the removal of your site from the index.

Avoid the following backlink acquisition methods that aim to manipulate rankings:

Reciprocal linking between sites (“reciprocal linking“) is acceptable if it’s relevant and beneficial to users.

However, using reciprocal link exchange sites or automatic reciprocal link generation sites to manipulate backlinks is likely to be considered fraudulent.

[Summary] External SEO Strategies Include Backlink and Citation Strategies! The Most Important Thing is to Acquire High-Quality Backlinks

This article discussed external SEO strategies.

In 2023, it is important for external SEO strategies to focus on increasing “high-quality backlinks” and “positive citations”.

Google reflects backlinks as external evaluations in its rankings, and also pays attention to citations for websites and companies.

If you feel that your site needs external strategies, try implementing the 14 strategies we introduced here first.

When implementing SEO strategies, it is essential to check that all internal measures are fully in place and to use Google Search Console to measure the effectiveness of your strategies.

Only implement external SEO strategies after confirming that internal strategies are sufficiently established.

Thank you for reading this article. Please check out our other articles for more useful SEO strategies.