My reputation regarding organic search really came about from my work on off-page factors.  In fact, most of the questions I get are still related to this aspect of optimization.  The funny thing is that I really spend most of my time concentrating on the opposite - - on page factors.

Why?

The main reason is that I have found about 60% of all ranking factor comes from the URL combined with on page factors.  That leaves only 40% for off page.  Now I must admit that I really take off page for granted.  I am usually very confident that I can put forward the required off page juice to be successful in any market.  It has gotten to the point where the off page is almost now on auto pilot.

Here is the real opportunity.  Most of my competition only really concentrates on off page factors.  In fact, I have found that the SIGNIFICANT majority of all websites get a failing grade as it relates to on page factors.  The real magic happens when you combine solid on page and off page factors together in a very focused SEO strategy.  When done correctly, you need significantly less off page factor to win a niche (against the competition), when your on page is fully optimized.

You might ask, "how much less off page factor"?

The answer is really surprising.  I have won 1st page Google rankings with up to 10X less back links because of my work with on page factors.

The other great part is that on page is just as much a science as off page.  Good analytics, hard work and great organizational structure can win the on page battle everyday.

The "art" of SEO is quickly becoming a pure science.

This is great news for those of us who want their online business to be exactly that….a business….not a casino game.

–Nicolas