Which is more important? Onpage optimization or Offpage optimization? If you are serious about getting your website to top of search engines, you MUST know answer to this question...

Quick Review

Onpage search engine optimization are things that you can change ON your webpage.

* Title tag * Header tags * Bolding, Italicizing, Underlining * Alt image tags * Meta Tags * Etc.

Offpage search engine optimization comes down to basically 1 thing, which websites are linking to your wesbite and how they're doing it.

* Anchor text uses in your link * The title of page your link is on * The page rank of page your link is on * The "theme" of website your link is on * Etc.

By now, I'm hoping you see that it's offpage search engine optimization factors that will get your website to top of search engines. Again, onpage factors are things you SHOULD do, but are not nearly as important as offpage factors.

Ok... Let me show you why.

Let's analyze a website!

In this example I'm going to analyze #1 ranked website on Google for search term "click here".

First, let's go to Google and enter "click here".

You'll notice that #1 ranked website is www.adobe.com. That's interesting...

Now, why would adobe.com rank #1 for that search term? I would think adobe.com would rank well for terms like:

* graphic design programs * create printable documents * web design programs * and other keywords related to what they sell...

A few things that you should notice by looking at picture above.

1. The word "click here" isn't in page title 2. The word "click here" isn't in URL of website. 3. The word "click here" isn't even in description listed by Google!

Now, let's click on listing in Google and check out actual webpage.

Now, get this... The words "click here" aren't even on webpage, anywhere!

If all of those onpage optimization techniques that many SEO companies talk about were true, then don't you think a different website would rank #1 for this term?

Onpage optimization factors like:

* keyword density * keyword prominence * keyword proximity * bolding, italicizing, underlining * etc.

are NOT critical to worry about when trying to rank well for a search term.

Yes, you should spinkle your keyword throughout webpage and do other onpage optimization techniques I've taught you in previous lessons, but again, I really want to drill this into your head. It is offpage optimization that will increase your rankings in search engines; specifically Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

One of most difficult challenges that website owners and designers face today is how to get a brand new website noticed. In other words, how to get your site indexed by major search engines so that it can start appearing within search results.

The best approach to this problem is on a case by case scenario of course, but there are some fundamental activities that you can undertake that will expedite process and give you that kick start that your site needs.

(There are a variety of tools that can help you get these tasks done. The most popular include WebPosition Gold, WebCEO and IBP)

On-page Factors

Before any search engines arrive at your front door you want to ensure that your content is going to be indexed favourably. This has to do with what are called “on-page” factors. This includes your visible content, META tags, page names, directory names, ALT tags, TITLE tags, HTML structure, etc. Using one of aforementioned tools can help to ensure that your pages are optimized for particular keyphrases relevant to your business.

Of course, before you optimize your pages you’ll need to know what keyphrases to optimize them for. One of best tools for researching search engine landscape is WordTracker. It’s an affordable service that you can make use of on an as-needed basis. There are a couple of nice free tools, however, including Overture’s Keyword Selection Tool and Google’s AdWords Selection Tool.

Once you’ve identified your most potentially lucrative keyphrases you can then proceed to work on your “on-page” factors and optimize your web pages.

Off-page Factors

Off-page factors are things outside of your website and web pages. Essentially, they are how other websites link to your site. This is where life gets a bit tricky. It’s no wonder that Google, world’s number one search engine, is placing more and more emphasis on “off-page” factors; they’re much more difficult to control.

Submission Still Works

Contrary to what you may have heard (or perhaps right in line with what you’ve heard) website submissions still work. This is not to say that all website submission tools are created equal, however. Some tools (like SubmitWolf) will submit to thousands of search engines and directories – this is not very useful. You need to focus on handful of search engines and directories that mean something.

Using a tool like WebPosition Gold, WebCEO or IBP can help automate this process. Keep in mind that true goal of website submission is to get your site indexed by major search engines (i.e. Google, Yahoo, MSN). Once your site and most of its web pages have been indexed there is no point in further website submissions. This is an early task only and shouldn’t be necessary for a site older than about 6 months.

Inbound Links

Getting quality, relevant links to your website from other websites is essential to your site’s success. Each of these “inbound links” is considered a “vote” for your website. But, unlike democracies of our modern era, all votes are not created equal. Differentiating factors include: