Search engine optimization is comprised of two different disciplines that must work with one another to be truly successful. The two areas you have to master including on page optimization and off page optimization. Web sites that are expert at both can achieve search engine optimization success.

Any powerful search engine optimization strategy is a combination of having the write strategy and applying necessary elements of that strategy in the right order. The same can be said for SEO. To win at the game of SEO, you need to be willing to focus on on-page optimization before off-page optimization. This means that you are concentrating your efforts on navigation, web site architecture, and Meta tags. Beginning with on-page optimization ensures long-term success.

When thinking about on-page optimization, most people like to start with URLs. It is true that having your keyword in a domain name can help, but it’s not all you should be focused on. This is more of a factor in rankings for Yahoo and MSN versus Google. Google weighs nearly 200 factors when evaluating your web site and many of them are off page related. Regardless, consider URLs that include part or all of your keyword phrase.

A really good way to implement a sub-domain strategy is by evaluating your keywords and identifying a small handful of sub-domains to implement. Choose your most important keywords to set up as sub-domains and focus your efforts on a top level domain with direct links to your subdomains. This ensures that your sub-domains are crawled on a routine basis and appear within search results.

If you’re not sold on a sub-domain strategy, there is an alternative. The good news is that the alternative is just as effective and just as easy to implement. Essentially you want to follow the same strategy of determining which keywords you want to promote. After doing so all you need to do is set up a separate page on your site. It would look something like www.yoursite.com/keyword where keyword is the keyword you are promoting and yoursite is your domain name. This promotes your specific keyword and keeps it close to your home page.

After focusing your optimization efforts on your URL, its time to focus on other on page attributes. One of the most important is page load time. This is a function of the number of images you have on your page, scripts, the number of external calls made by your code, etc. and requires a good deal of experience from a programming perspective. Your best bet is to have someone with SEO experience review your pages to make sure that you are applying SEO best practices from an on page perspective.

If you’ve done a good job at on-page optimization, then you’re ready to start focusing your effort on off-page optimization. Off page optimization comes down to building links to your web site from a number of sources. These sources could be authority web sites, blogs, directories, or social media web sites. The thing to keep in mind is that off-page optimization is an ongoing process that requires ongoing effort.

Start with on page optimization to build a strong foundation to your web site. Once you have the proper domain structure and address other on page optimization factors, you’ll be in a good position to roll out your link building strategy. As you develop more inbound links, your search engine results will improve.

Seeking help with your SEO? Learn how to Improve Search Engine Rankings in less than 48 hours with our helpful SEO guide. Also, be sure to check out our latest review of today’s leading search engine optimization software by visiting our SEO Elite Software Review.

Tags: SEO