Lets start with something fun and easy, forums. Forums are a great way to get your name out there, get interaction with other people, and also backlinks from ads and signatures. Most forums allow you to post ads in a designated section within the forums. These ads alone are a good way to get yourself out there, and promote some deals that you have, and not to mention you can post some links in those ads to snag some backlinks while you’re at it. And trust me, if you go to the right forums, people scour those threads looking for good deals and something. But the main benefit of forums, is the interaction with other people, and those backlinks in each post from signatures. Professionally talking with other people and getting your company known as intelligent and friendly is huge, and can drive some traffic just from being polite to others. Each forum allows signatures, and every time you make a post, that signature pops up. Lets say you have 2 links in your signature, every single time you make a post, that’s 2 backlinks! Now imagine if you’re on multiple forums, and actively posting on them! Count them up…that’s backlinks from signatures, getting interaction with people and getting your name out there. and FREE advertising. But be careful, while forums can be a great part of SEO, it can also trash you entire company from a single thread. This is why you need to post professionally and politely, no matter how badly at times you just want to yell at people, and trust me, there will be those times.

With all those great things from forums, you might think that that’s all you have to do for off-page optimization, because that’s enough. Wrong. There are still many other off-page optimization techniques that need to be applied to your SEO arsenal to ensure it’s top-notch and kicking some butt.

Blogs are an interesting topic topic, where there are two areas of blogs that need to be discussed. Posting on your own blogs with new information and content, as well as commenting on well known and good PR blogs. Firstly, posting your own blogs is hands down a great tool for SEO. Updated blogs are yet another way for people to keep up with your company, read about you and your products and services you offer, as well as posting quality and relevant links on them. The other part of blogs, are commenting on them, and this is a subject that many people will have differing opinions on. Comments on blogs are almost always going to be “nofollow” links, meaning Search Engines will not see them, meaning they won’t count as backlinks. That’s where a lot of people are like, well who cares then, and moves on. But I personally disagree and see use in them. This little story I’m about to tell is a true story, and validates an importance in blog commenting… This guy used to post on someone’s blog all the time, and after awhile he became known with the author, and well respected. Later down the road, the commenter started up his own business, and because of the fact that he became close with the author of the blog, and brought him a couple posters, he posted ads and links on his blogs, and good reviews about his company. This blog is still to this day, that commenter’s biggest source for referral traffic. So you can clearly see why I see a relevance in commenting in blogs, whether they’re “nofollows” or not, because you never know what the future may bring.

Another quick and easy part of your off-page optimization efforts, should be online directories. There are TONS of FREE online directories out there, that you can post your site into under the appropriate category, providing information about your site, and giving a nice backlink. And a lot of Search Engines and other SEO tools look at certain online directories to see if you’re listed or not. These are quick and easy, you usually click on submit link, fill out a couple boxes, and then move onto the next one. Until you really can’t stand them, try to get on a lot of directories, as long as you are submitting your link under appropriate and RELEVANT categories for your site.

Here’s a HUGE part of your SEO…social media. Social media includes sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Technorati, Squidoo, Digg, Diigo, and sites like that. These are huge, and to start, each different site should contain a UNIQUE profile about the company, with a link or two in it. Why does each one have to be unique and not just copied and pasted to save time? Because Google doesn’t like duplicate content, and it’s nice to get used to having unique content everywhere. And once again, social media sites are a great way to get people familiar with your company, as well as keep updated on current information and specials.

While there are still many other factors in off-page optimization, these are some solid techniques that are a must for your SEO efforts, and here’s a quick review of the article. Make sure content is unique, and keyword rich. Don’t rush things, take your time, and make sure it’s done right. Be polite and professional to others, no matter how frustrated you will get at times. Reciprocal linking is pointless, and should be avoided. Avoid creating farming sites. New content should be posted onto your off-page sites as much as possible. And a huge tip I forgot to mention so far, make sure that your links are coming from relevant sites with a good PR. If the site isn’t relevant to yours, and it doesn’t have a good PR, it’s not going to progress your SEO very fast, or even very far for that matter.

The biggest thing about SEO though, is that it takes time. Don’t expect to be on page 1 of Google overnight. It takes time, patience, and constant attention. But done correctly, SEO is a beautiful art, not just a job