--- name: rampstackco/seo-offpage source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/rampstackco-seo-offpage@2/SKILL.md source_sha256: 1a8b3eb352c8 --- # Off-Page SEO Build the external signals that earn rankings: backlinks, brand mentions, citations, and trusted sources pointing back to the site. Stack-agnostic. --- ## When to use - Planning a link-building strategy - Running digital PR or earned-media campaigns - Building citations for a local business - Developing linkable assets (research, tools, calculators) - Recovering lost backlinks after a migration or audit - Auditing a backlink profile for spam or toxicity - Pitching guest posts, podcast appearances, or expert quotes ## When NOT to use - On-site optimization (use `seo-onpage` or `seo-technical`) - Keyword research and content planning (use `seo-keyword`) - Competitor backlink research alone (start with `seo-competitor`, then return here for outreach planning) - Paid link buying (this skill does not endorse or facilitate that) --- ## Required inputs - The site or brand getting the links - The audience and category - A backlink tool (Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, Majestic, or similar) for prospecting and monitoring - A target outcome (rank for X, build authority in Y, recover from Z) --- ## The framework: 4 strategies Off-page work splits into four strategy types. Most programs blend them. Pick the mix that fits your phase. ### 1. Earned media Links and mentions you earn through coverage, journalism, or contribution. - Digital PR (data-driven studies, original research, surveys) - Expert quotes (HARO, journalist platforms, expert request services) - Podcast appearances (relevant shows in your category) - Speaking engagements and conference content - Newsworthy product launches or company milestones **Strength:** Highest authority, hardest to replicate. **Cost:** Time-intensive, often requires PR or content budget. **Volume:** Low to medium per quarter. ### 2. Owned assets Linkable assets on your own site that attract links passively over time. - Original research and reports - Free tools, calculators, and generators - Comprehensive guides (the kind that become "the X resource for Y") - Visualizations and interactive content - Templates and frameworks - Industry data trackers (regularly updated benchmarks) **Strength:** Compounds over time. Each link points at an evergreen asset. **Cost:** Upfront content investment. **Volume:** Slow to start, accelerates as the asset earns mentions. ### 3. Partnerships and relationships Links earned through real business relationships. - Customer case studies (where they link back) - Partner programs and integrations - Co-marketing campaigns - Industry association memberships - Speaker and expert contributor relationships - Affiliate and referral programs **Strength:** Trustworthy, contextually relevant. **Cost:** Time to develop relationships. **Volume:** Medium and consistent. ### 4. Citations and listings Local and category-specific listings that establish entity legitimacy. - Google Business Profile (for local businesses) - Bing Places, Apple Business (formerly Apple Business Connect) - Industry directories (review-quality only, skip spam directories) - Niche association directories - Wikipedia entry (where the brand qualifies for notability) - Wikidata entry - Trade publications and category indexes **Strength:** Foundational for local and entity SEO. **Cost:** Low to medium, mostly setup time. **Volume:** One-time foundation, occasional refresh. --- ## Workflow 1. **Audit the current profile.** Where a metric below cannot be obtained, state the gap per the data-availability rule. - Total referring domains - Domain rating trend - Top referring pages by traffic value - Anchor text distribution (over-optimized exact-match anchors are a risk) - Toxic links (spam directories, link farms, irrelevant categories) - Lost links (referring domains that disappeared) 2. **Define the goal.** "Rank top 3 for X by Q4" requires a different tactic mix than "build category authority." 3. **Pick the strategy mix.** Allocate effort across the 4 strategies. A new site typically goes 70/20/10/0 (assets/citations/partnerships/earned) for the first year. An established site can lean more toward earned media. 4. **Build the prospecting list.** - For earned media: relevant journalists, podcast hosts, publication beats - For owned assets: identify what assets to build based on what gets linked in your category - For partnerships: list 50 to 100 potential partner sites - For citations: standard list per category, plus niche directories 5. **Outreach.** Personalized, value-first. Generic templated pitches damage the brand more than they help. 6. **Track and measure.** - Referring domains gained per month - Domain rating trend - Anchor text mix (avoid over-optimization) - Pages on the site attracting links - Lost link recovery rate 7. **Audit and disavow.** Quarterly review for toxic links. Disavow only when there is real evidence of harm (manual penalty notice, sudden drop after spam attack). Most sites should not need to disavow. --- ## Failure patterns - **Volume over quality.** 100 directory submissions help less than 5 editorial links from category-relevant sites. - **Buying links.** Risk of manual penalties is real. Cost-adjusted, the ROI rarely works out. - **Over-optimized anchor text.** If 40 percent of your inbound anchors are "best running shoes," it looks engineered. Aim for natural distribution: brand, naked URL, generic, partial-match, exact-match (in roughly that order of frequency). - **Generic outreach templates.** "Dear [first name], I love your blog about [topic]" gets archived in seconds. Personalize or do not send. - **Ignoring lost links.** A 5 percent monthly loss in referring domains compounds. Build a recovery workflow. - **Treating disavow as a routine cleanup tool.** Disavow is for confirmed spam attacks or penalty recovery, not preemptive hygiene. - **Working off-page before the site is worth linking to.** A poorly-designed, thin-content site will not convert outreach. Fix on-site first. --- ## Output format Default output is a markdown plan at `offpage-strategy.md` plus tracking spreadsheets for prospects and outreach. Structure: 1. Current backlink profile summary 2. Goal and target metrics 3. Strategy mix (allocation across the 4 types) 4. Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 tactical plan 5. Prospecting lists (in spreadsheets) 6. Outreach templates (personalized, never generic) 7. Tracking and measurement plan --- ## If required data is unavailable This skill's output depends on data, measurements, or tool results it cannot generate on its own. When a required input, tool, or data source is unavailable or unverifiable, the sanctioned output is the deliverable with the gap stated: what was needed, what was actually obtained or verified, and which parts of the output are affected. Fabricating, estimating, or interpolating a required number to complete the deliverable is never sanctioned. A stated gap is a complete answer. --- ## Reference files - [`references/outreach-templates.md`](references/outreach-templates.md) - Templates for guest posting, expert quotes, broken-link outreach, podcast pitches. - [`references/linkable-assets-guide.md`](references/linkable-assets-guide.md) - Categories of linkable assets with examples and effort estimates.