SEO Off-Page SEO 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'link velocity' in the context of off-page SEO?
- The speed at which a page loads external resources
- The rate at which a website acquires new backlinks over time (Correct answer)
- The time it takes for a backlink to be indexed by Google
- The ratio of dofollow to nofollow links in a profile
Correct answer: The rate at which a website acquires new backlinks over time
Link velocity refers to how quickly a site gains new backlinks; unnatural spikes can trigger Google's spam filters.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes 'co-citation' as an off-page SEO signal?
- Two sites linking to each other reciprocally
- Your brand being mentioned alongside authoritative sources without a direct link (Correct answer)
- A link placed inside a citation or footnote on an academic site
- Google crediting multiple authors for one piece of content
Correct answer: Your brand being mentioned alongside authoritative sources without a direct link
Co-citation occurs when your brand or URL is mentioned near other trusted entities, helping search engines associate your site with relevant topics.
Question 3: A digital PR campaign earns 50 mentions on news sites but only 10 include a hyperlink. Which statement is most accurate?
- The 40 unlinked mentions have zero SEO value
- Unlinked brand mentions can still contribute to off-page authority as co-occurrence signals (Correct answer)
- Only dofollow hyperlinks count; unlinked mentions are irrelevant
- Google penalizes sites that receive brand mentions without links
Correct answer: Unlinked brand mentions can still contribute to off-page authority as co-occurrence signals
Google's algorithms can interpret unlinked mentions as brand signals, contributing to entity authority even without a clickable link.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of a 'disavow file' submitted through Google Search Console?
- To request faster indexing of new backlinks
- To tell Google to ignore specific spammy or toxic backlinks pointing to your site (Correct answer)
- To remove internal links from Google's index
- To block competitors from linking to your website
Correct answer: To tell Google to ignore specific spammy or toxic backlinks pointing to your site
The disavow tool lets site owners ask Google to ignore harmful backlinks that could hurt their rankings.
Question 5: Which metric best represents the overall quality and authority passed by a single backlink?
- Crawl budget
- Page Authority (PA) or URL Rating (UR) of the linking page (Correct answer)
- The anchor text length
- The number of images on the linking page
Correct answer: Page Authority (PA) or URL Rating (UR) of the linking page
Metrics like Moz's Page Authority or Ahrefs' URL Rating estimate how much authority a specific page can pass through its outbound links.
Question 6: In link building, what is a 'resource page'?
- A page that lists a company's internal documentation
- A curated page on a website that links out to helpful external resources on a topic (Correct answer)
- A page specifically built to attract paid advertising
- A private blog network landing page
Correct answer: A curated page on a website that links out to helpful external resources on a topic
Resource pages aggregate useful links on a subject and are prime targets for outreach because earning a spot provides a relevant, editorial backlink.
Question 7: What does 'topical authority' mean in the context of off-page SEO?
- Having the most pages indexed for a given keyword
- Being recognized by search engines as an expert source in a specific subject area, often reinforced by backlinks from relevant sites (Correct answer)
- Paying for sponsored content on authority news websites
- Having the highest Alexa rank in a niche
Correct answer: Being recognized by search engines as an expert source in a specific subject area, often reinforced by backlinks from relevant sites
Topical authority is built when a site consistently earns links and mentions from relevant industry sources, signaling deep expertise to search engines.
SEO Off-Page SEO 2
What is 'link velocity' in the context of off-page SEO?