Judging entirely by the questions posted on my blog, the flavor of the month seems to be whether off-page or on-page optimization is more important. One reader in particular shared with me that he had invested the time and money to optimize his page with the help of Word Presser, but he didn’t see any of the expected improvements in search engine ranking.

Those of us who make a living online have known for a while how important optimization can be.

We all understand that a guy has to sleep eventually, too.

So, given the importance of optimization, the set number of hours in a day, and the

potential income at risk, how much of our time should be spent optimizing on-page versus off-page? That’s a pretty straightforward question, but I don’t have a straightforward answer.

I can only say… it depends.

Attention-Getting Backlinks

The first thing a good writer wants to do is produce good writing, and we all absolutely need to start there. A badly written or uninformative article will be a complete waste of cyber-space on your site.

Unfortunately, your webpage’s Google ranking is based less on the content of your page than on what others think of the content of your page. Quality content, of course, is required for this as well, but your content has to be useful and readable enough that one reader will recommend it to another.

Google operates on the premise that if one human decides an article is good enough to Like on Facebook, Tweet about or talk about on a blog and include a backlink to it, then there’s more to it than a mathematically based analysis could figure out.

You should also keep in mind, though, that Google operates on the premise that you’re only as good as the company you keep. If your website offers online car insurance quotes, but has a bunch of backlinks from places like edsautoinsuranceblog.com, your webpages might actually be punished, and will end up ranking lower than it should for the highly competitive, shorter keywords.

Attention-Grabbing Keywords and Content

Of course, backlinks will only appear if your article is worth reading and then sharing, and that’s where on-page optimization comes in. First, Google needs to be able to access your keywords quickly and easily. You can simplify the process for them by placing your target keyword in both your title and your introductory paragraph.

Another way to make Google’s job easier is by providing them with a good meta description of your article. Most WordPress-type sites offer a meta description box that will usually appear as a blub under your site on the Google search results page.

A well-written meta description will provide both Google and your potential visitors with keywords, keyword phrases, and a detailed description of the information available on your webpage.

Producing quality content is also a form of natural on-page optimization. A well-written page may or may not rank well for the highly competitive keywords in your niche.

However, a well-written article is likely to include many of the long-tail keywords which are less competitive and therefore easier to rank well for.

Between the improved rankings for both the short keywords and the long-tailed keyword phrases, your domain name will eventually acquire a great search engine ranking by itself, because Google will have learned to trust it. That’s called Google juice, and if you have enough of it, than any page from your website will rank well simply because it’s on your website.

The Whole Optimization Enchilada

Webpages that sell pet supplies, offer free auto insurance quotes, or refer family dentists will all benefit from both on-line and off-line optimization. However, the way you should prioritize these optimization tasks will depend on what you are trying to accomplish.

If you are producing a new webpage, you’ll need to spend about 80% of your time off-page establishing backlinks and about 20% of your time on-page developing your content and placing your keywords. If you intend to improve an existing page, then you’ll probably need to spend time doing whatever kind of optimization that you didn’t do the first time.

Of course, this is entirely my opinion, based on a few years’ worth of internet marketing experience. I’m interested in your views on the subject, though, and I hope you’ll leave a comment in the box below.

About the Author:

Jason Monroe may be a young gun in the affiliate industry but his attention to detail and passion for research has led to a solid understanding of what it takes to succeed online in the affiliate industry. From watching NFL football to relaxing with his friends Jason enjoys knowing his online business is running in the background and he aims to help you find that same pleasure.