What is off-page SEO?

Off-page SEO is everything that influences your search ranking from outside your own website — most of all, the links and mentions other sites make about you. Where on-page SEO is what you write and structure on your own pages, off-page SEO is the reputation the rest of the web assigns you. The main signals:

• Backlinks — links from other sites, weighted heavily by how trusted and relevant the linking site is
• Brand mentions — your business named on other sites, even without a link (increasingly important for AI search)
• Local citations — consistent listings in directories like an industry body or a council register

For a small business, off-page SEO is earned, not bought: real listings, partner mentions, and content other people genuinely want to cite. One link from a relevant .gov.au or .org.au site does more than hundreds from anonymous directories — quality of source beats quantity every time.