SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Search Engine Optimization (also known as SEO) is the practice of making modifications to a website's architecture, design, content, navigation, META tags and popularity so the site will naturally rank higher in search results for a given set of keywords. Optimization impacts your "organic results" or your "natural placement".

Optimization is not a one-time effort, but rather an ongoing, iterative process that involves modifying your website, increasing popularity, and submitting your site to directories and possibly search engines. The objective is first, to be included in these databases and indexes, and second, to rank higher than your competition in the results.

SEO is based on the fact that search engines rely on well-defined methodologies, formulas and rules to rank Web sites. Unfortunately, these algorithms are not published, vary from search engine to search engine, and change often!

In general, the following things will improve your search visibility:

• Optimized page text. Every page should be optimized for a few key search phrases. These are phrases that people actually use when searching for information related to that page.
• Crawler-friendly navigation. Make sure a crawler can easily navigate your entire site. This is often accomplished by providing a secondary text-link navigation scheme.
• In-bound links from important sites. Links to your website from important sites (such as the most popular directories) will boost your popularity ranking.
• Proper use of Page Title and META tags. Write a unique and compelling Title for every web page. Include target phrases in each page's Title and META Tags.
• Search engine friendly website design. Excessive use of design features that cause problems for crawlers (such as flash, frames, and dynamic content) will negatively impact your search engine visibility.