The main off-page methods
- Backlinks: links to your site from other sites. A link from a trusted, relevant site counts for more than many weak ones. See backlink.
- Brand mentions: places where your name appears, even without a link, such as a news story or a trade report.
- Local listings: your business details on Google Business Profile and trusted directories. Keep them the same everywhere.
- Reviews: honest ratings on Google and other review sites.
- Social and video presence: active pages that point back to your site.
A made-up example
Say an auto-parts maker has a good website, but few sites link to it. In six months, it does the following. This is a made-up example.
- Gets listed in its trade association's member directory.
- Sends a useful guide on choosing parts to two trade magazines. One publishes it with a link.
- Fixes its business details on its Google profile and three supplier directories.
- Asks 20 happy dealers to leave a review.
None of these is a trick. Each gives a real reason for people, and search engines, to trust the business. Keep a sheet of your links, with the source and the date.
How off-page SEO works for an Indian business
Look for places in your own world. Start with trade bodies and chambers of commerce. Then try local news sites and industry portals. Supplier and dealer lists count too. So do event pages. For local shops, correct listings and reviews in your city matter most. AI assistants also draw on sources they can find about you, so clear mentions in trusted places help there too. Read about GEO for that.
Common mistakes
- Buying links. Google's spam policies say paying for links that pass ranking credit is link spam, and it can hurt your site.
- Posting comments or profiles on random sites just to get a link.
- Using the same keyword as link text every time.
- Chasing the number of links, not their quality.
- Keeping messy or different business details across listings.
To pick the keywords your links should support, read about keyword research.
Related terms
- Backlink: a link from another site to yours.
- SEO: the whole practice of earning organic visits from search engines.
- AEO: shaping your content so that answer boxes and assistants quote it.
For a plan that covers links, listings and your own site, see our SEO work.
Sources
- Google Search Central, "Spam policies for Google web search", link spam section (developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies), read 9 October 2026.
