Off Page SEO Checklist

These are the tasks I run on a cycle, roughly every month, for any site I work on. I don't do them all at once – I pick the ones that move the needle for the current phase of the site.

• Audit your existing backlinks. I export from Search Console and run through a [backlink audit](/backlink-audit/) tool to check for spammy, irrelevant, or broken links. If I find any, I disavow them or ask for removal. Last month I found 12 links from a PBN network that I hadn't spotted before – those went straight to the disavow file.
• Reclaim unlinked brand mentions. I set up a Google Alerts for my brand name and check mentions that aren't linked. I reach out with a polite request to add a link, usually within 48 hours of the mention. This has a 30-40% success rate for me.
• Find broken links on relevant sites. Using Ahrefs' broken link checker, I find dead resources on industry blogs and offer my own content as a replacement. I got a backlink from a .edu site this way by replacing a resource that dated back to 2018.
• Analyse competitor backlinks. I pick two or three competitors that rank above me and pull their best link sources. If they have a link from a site that would also be relevant to me, I add it to my outreach list. This often reveals content gaps too.
• Create a linkable asset. I don't start outreach without something worth linking to. For a client in the finance niche, I published a calculator that now earns 15 new backlinks per month without any manual work.
• For local sites, check Google Business Profile and citations. I verify the NAP is consistent across directories and that the GBP is fully filled in. One local client lost 30% of organic traffic because their address was different on Yelp – fixed that and traffic recovered.

I stop building links for a specific piece when it already outranks the competition or when the next link would cost more time than it returns. A rule of thumb: if a page has more than 30 referring domains and still doesn't rank, the issue is likely on-page, not off-page. I also stop chasing links from sites that ask for payment or reciprocal links – those are a waste of time and can get you penalised. Another stop signal: when your [backlink profile](/backlink-profile/) looks unnatural, e.g. 80% exact match [anchor text](/anchor-text/), you should pause and diversify existing links before adding more. I once ignored this and had to spend two months cleaning up a site that had been hit by a link spam update.

Some SEOs argue you never stop, but I've found that obsessing over off-page at the expense of content quality leads to diminishing returns. When my [domain authority](/domain-authority/) reaches the average of the top 10 for my target keywords, I shift focus to internal linking and content updates. At that point, the marginal gain from another backlink is often smaller than improving the page's own relevance and user experience.

I used to think any backlink was a good backlink. I bought cheap links from Fiverr and saw a quick ranking bump that lasted three weeks before the penalty hit. That taught me the value of [editorial links](/editorial-links/) and manual outreach. I also ignored unlinked brand mentions for years, assuming they were worthless. Now I know they're often the fastest way to get a link from an already-invested audience.

Another mistake: using overly commercial anchor text. I had a client where 60% of links said 'best SEO services' – Google sees that as unnatural. I now maintain a diverse anchor text profile with brand, naked URL, and generic phrases. And I still sometimes forget to run a backlink audit before starting a new campaign, which means I build links on top of a shaky foundation. Now it's the first thing I do, even if I feel tempted to jump straight to outreach.