On page vs Off page characteristics

Where does SEO begin?

The first thing that one must realize about search engine optimization is that to be implemented correctly it must be broken down into 2 distinct factors "on-page" and "off-page" criteria.

Always remember that search engines do not consider "websites" they consider the "pages" of those websites. There should never be a debate as to which is more important between "on page" and "off page" characteristics as the truth is both are equally as important. However once one defines the two there is a logical order in which they should be considered.

On page/Off page characteristics defined

Simply stated, On Page Characteristics are anything you can effect within the construction of a single page. This includes everything that is placed in the headers, body, and on-page links (both internal and external). Special attention should be given to: Title, meta description, H1, H2...H6, <b>, <i>. Keyword proximity, keyword density and relevance...more on this later.

Off Page Characteristics refer to all links (both from pages contained within your own website and from pages of other websites) that point to your specific page(s). The term "pagerank" is specifically designated to evaluate and weight "off page" criteria. Special attention should be given to: anchor text, Reference_tags, "title" attribute and "target_"... more on this later.

Search Engine Optimization Tutorial

An SEO Consultant should never hide behind phrases like "I cannot reveal my proprietary SEO techniques" when asked what SEO work he plans on doing to a client site. As a professional SEO consultant I freely share my knowledge and advice to any novice webmaster that would like to learn the art of SEO. If you are an aspiring webmaster looking to learn more about SEO check out SEO Guy's Free SEO Tutorial

Search Engine Optimization Resources and SEO Tools

SEO Forum
Come visit our recently launched SEO Forum, If you are looking for Tools to track rankings or resources and articles about SEO, you will find a great collection of search engine fodder for your seo cannon in my Search Engine Optimization - "SEO" resources. I have also included links to the top SEO forums on the internet so that you can learn S-E-O as so many others have: (From other SEO optimization experts)