Top 5 Off Page SEO Tips 2013

1. Directory Submissions

Submit your website to credible online directories like Yelp, YellowPages or White Pages. This is especially important for local businesses. Make sure that you fill out your listing as thoroughly as possible. Insert important keywords into the description or services fields. The more information you enter, the more likely it will be that your listing will show up in search engine results.

2. Local Listings

Submit your website to local listing sites like Google Maps or Yahoo Local. Local listings are very important for local businesses, especially with the rise of mobile search. People often view these listings on mobile devices through GPS.  Make sure these listings are as informative as possible as well. Add photos and multimedia to make your listing stand out. Click here for a list of great Directory and Local Listing sites.

3. Social Media

It is debatable whether or not social media directly affects SEO however, there are so many ways social media can benefit your website and online marketing. If there is one social media website you should utilize, it's Google +. Google owns it. Enough said. Social media  is a great way to drive traffic to your site while building brand loyalty and engagement. Click here to learn more about Social Media SEO.

4. Guest Blogging (the right way)

Guest Blogging is a great way to widen your audience and attract new customers online. Search engines favor fresh, new content which means that guest blog posts are likely to rank well. There has been controversy surrounding guest blogging in the industry since Google's Matt Cutts posted an article seemingly against the marketing technique however, if you read the article/watch the video you will see that he is only rejecting guest blogging as a form of link building.

5. Press Releases

Press releases are a proven form of marketing that have developed and adapted to the online space. Press releases, like guest blogging, are a great way to reach new customers and build a network around your brand. If you release an online press release through a service like PRWeb (no affiliation, we just happen to use them and like them) your release can get picked up by hundreds of other outlets like news websites and journals. Press releases also make great content for social media. Click here to learn more about optimizing online press releases for SEO.