Off-page optimization (off-page SEO) is what can be done off the pages of a website to maximise its performance in the search engines for target keywords related to the on-page content and keywords in off-page direct-links.
Some of the factors considered by the major search engines in evaluating the off-page optimization of your web site include:
* Which web sites are linking to your site? It's critical that the web sites linking to your site are relevant to the content on your site and the linking site is considered an authority in its field by the search engine.
* How many web sites are linking to your site? The number of relevant sites that link to you is a significant plus for your site.
* What is the Google page rank (1-10) of each web site that links to your site? This is a major factor because a high page rank relevant site linking to your site is much better than a low page rank site. A site's voting power increases as the page rank of the site increases.
* What is the anchor text of each link to your site? The anchor text indicates the area of relevance the linking site places on your site. This anchor text should include your primary keywords. The text in the linking anchor text should not be the same in every site linking to your site. This is not seen as natural linking by the search engines. You need to get variability in the anchor text.
* What is the page title of the web page that is linking to your site? It is better if the title page of the linking web page is relevant to your site and contains one of your keywords in its title. If it just says "link directory" then that is not good.
* Is the link to your site a reciprocal link or a one-way link? A reciprocal link means you have linked back to the web site that linked to you. This can be a negative to your site because you lose some of your site's page rank to the other site. If you do resort to reciprocal links, make certain the page rank of the other site is the same or higher that the page rank of your linking page. The one- way link to your site is a much better deal because you do not lose any of your site's page rank.
* How many inbound and outbound links are on the web page linking to your site? The page rank of the site linking to you is influenced by the inbound and outbound links. The linking site will pass you more of its rank as it decreases the number of outbound links.
* How important is the web site that is linking to your site in its area of relevance? You will get more bang for your buck if the site linking to you is considered an authority in its area.