Newbie looking for advice on SEO

I agree with this 100%.

There are different benefits to SEO that go beyond relying on page rank or reaching #1 on Google, which in many cases is NOT easy, or perhaps the best approach to learning SEO basics.

I am trying desperately to remember exactly where I learned on-page SEO and for some reason, I'm drawing a blank.

What I retained from that unknown source was this...

Website HTML SEO

• Add meta Title and site description
• Add meta 'keywords' (*they say this no longer works, but I still do it) as it helps identify and let crawlers/spiders index your content
• Add author meta data (*optional)

When writing articles or posts (a.k.a. On-page SEO)

• Include Title tags: at least one <h1>Title</h1> tag (*which should include your main targeted keyword or keywords)
• Include sub-headings: <h2>Subtitles or article breaks</h2>
• Occassionally a sub-sub heading <h3>Sub-headings</h3>
• Keyword Density: (*your targeted keyword or keywords) whereby, you maintain a 2-4% density throughout your articles or posts. (*Simply put for every 100 words written, your keyword(s) appear 2-4 times.
• Images: always add alt tags, and image title, and descriptions
• Bullet Points, Bolded Text (or strong tags), Italics (over keywords to emphasize their importance: not sure if these score any points, but it helps the flow of your writing and keeps the readers attention if done correctly, and search engines acknowledge the emphasis being placed.
• URL anchor text... basically known as permalinks and URL structuring in posts, wherby you include the Title (being your keyword target) so search engines recognize the relationship of your content
• Inter-linking: Basically, when your content grows, it's good to reference other pages, posts, or articles on your site, as search engines see you are building a hierarchy of content relative to your main keyword or your sites main focus
• Unique Content: nothing to explain here other than write 100% unique and informative content, as search engines prefer this over regurgitated crap that everyone else is using
• Link backs: this is where your unique content or subject matter links back to a specific category, sub category, or homepage as it builds credibility to the website.

Generally, linking back to your homepage can be done with an image link, such as a 'logo' as it can be used to define your website, and also serves as a suitable practice to establish the content being unique to your site.

Again, this is all from memory, and if your using WordPress the "All-In-One-SEO" plugin establishes most of this, as does uploading media via WP (images/video) as they allow you to add Title, description, and put alt tags in place for search engines to recognize. Always a good practice.

A helpful FREE SEO tool is TrafficTravis.com - it will analyze your on-page SEO, and report warnings in areas you can correct to have better SEO scores. It also analyzes your competitors SEO, and shows you keyword rankings, etc... be it best to watch the tutorials, as they will better explain it's many functions. Again, a great free too in aiding you to learn SEO.

It takes awhile to learn, but I do most of this by habit, as any extra boost helps, even if your main marketing methods do not center around ranking #1 on Google, as I am in that don't rely on this camp, lol. Personally, I employ these practices, but do not concern myself with ranking... I believe focusing on quality content is the key. Especially, if your marketing methods include article syndication... another good practice for highly targeted traffic, and building relative back links, as is guest blogging and/or commenting on relative high ranking sites.

Hope that helps, and W3Schools.com is a good resource if you are learning to craft websites, tags, css, etc... in building search engine friendly websites.

All the Best,

Art

PS - adding a WP Google XML Sitemap plugin also helps, as it indexes your sites content on a stand alone page, and boosts your SEO as well.

At points SEO matters and at points it does not. Purely depends on the niche you choose. If it is something that is general, you can promote it on social networking sites and if it is limited to some industry, you will need to consider SEO because users usually utilize search engines to search for the specific services they need and do not search on social networking sites. For this, you will need to work on activities like building links from relevant and high PR sites.

Read this SEO: The Free Beginner?s Guide From SEOmoz its the best guide available all in one. Read it over and over till you get to a point where you atleast have a understanding. From there on you have a brain and will realize how each piece of the puzzle connects. Most warriorforum members have no idea what they are doing.