SEO Beginner's Guide: Finding Your Perfect "Housing Agent" on the Web

Orwell AI SEO LogoOrwell Team
Last updated: June 5, 2025

Off-Page SEO & Backlinks: Earning Recommendations

While on-page and technical SEO focus on optimizing your own website, off-page SEO is about improving your site's reputation and authority through external factors—primarily backlinks from other websites.

What is Off-Page SEO?

Off-page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages (SERPs). This primarily revolves around building backlinks—links from other websites to yours—but also includes other external signals like brand mentions, social media presence, and online reviews.

The Housing Agent Analogy

People recommending and referring a housing agent

"Think of backlinks as personal recommendations for your housing agent from respected community members."

Remember how you'd ask friends for referrals to a good housing agent? Those referrals are based on trust. In the online world:

  • Backlinks are like referrals or recommendations from other websites
  • A recommendation from a highly respected friend (authoritative website) carries more weight
  • Recommendations from friends in related fields (relevant websites) are more valuable
  • Too many recommendations from dubious sources can hurt your reputation

If many reputable people in the community recommend our housing agent, they'll naturally get more business. Similarly, if many reputable sites "recommend" your content by linking to it, search engines view your site as more authoritative and trustworthy.

Off-page SEO signals help search engines determine how others perceive your website. If many quality sites link to your pages, it's a strong indication that your content provides value and deserves to rank higher.

Official Guidelines:

For Google's official recommendations on link building and off-page factors, refer to their Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide.

Link Building Practices to Avoid

While building your off-page SEO strategy, be aware of these risky tactics that can lead to Google penalties:

  • Buying links - Purchasing links violates Google's Webmaster Guidelines
  • Link exchanges or schemes - "I'll link to you if you link to me" arrangements at scale
  • Automated link building - Using software to generate links
  • Low-quality guest posting - Mass posting on irrelevant or spammy sites
  • Comment spam - Leaving irrelevant comments with linked signatures on blogs
  • Private Blog Networks (PBNs) - Networks of sites created solely for link building
  • Hidden or invisible links - Links that users can't see but search engines can

Key Takeaways from Off-Page SEO

  • Off-page SEO is primarily about earning quality backlinks from relevant, authoritative websites
  • Focus on the quality and relevance of backlinks, not just quantity
  • Create link-worthy content that provides unique value to your audience
  • Build relationships with other site owners through outreach and networking
  • Use guest blogging and expert contributions to reach new audiences
  • Consider other off-page factors like brand mentions, social signals, and online reviews
  • Avoid manipulative link building tactics that can lead to penalties