Search engine optimization (SEO) are various methods which are used in order to improve the search engine ranking of a website. So what is search engine ranking? This is the position on the list of results which a search engine return for a given keyword.

Why is search engine ranking important?

The higher your site is on the list of search engine result pages (or SERPs), the higher the likelihood that it will be seen; meaning more traffic for you. The most popular search engine, Google features 10 results per page. Most people don’t look past the first page of results – this is why SEO is so important. If your page is in the top ten results you will get far more traffic than if you were on later pages.

SEO techniques fall under two broad categories, on-page and off-page.

On Page SEO

These are the things which you can do on your actual site to increase your search engine ranking. This generally involves keywords and their use to let search engines know what the content of your site is about. These techniques include the placement of keywords in metatags, alt tags for images, keywords in your HTML header tags and the actual content of your site.

Off Page SEO

These are also related to keywords usage, as well as the creation of back links. A back link is a link on another website which points to your site and are also called inbound links.

Steps You Can Take To Improve Your SEO

1. Always use keyword and description meta tags.

Every page which is part of your website should have its own unique meta tags. These tags are pieces of HTML code which are found near the top of the page when you are looking at the HTML code of a webpage. Here is a good reference for understanding meta tags and their use: http://www.freelancedesigners.com/tools/meta_tags.cfm

For a keyword meta tag, use a comma separated list of keywords which are relevant to the content of your website. These can be phrases as well as single words; just make sure that they are relevant to your site’s content.

The description meta tag is where you should write a description of your site which is compelling enough to make someone want to visit it. This description is used by search engines (including Google) to describe your site. It is not for the search engine alone, it can also be seen by web users and can get them interested enough to visit.

2. Where there are images on your site, there should always be an alt tag.

An alt(short for alternative text) tag is a piece of HTML code which tells people who have images turned off, are using text only browsers or a screen reader what the image which they cannot view is about. Search engines also use these tags to help them determine the content of your site.

The alt tag should also contain relevant keywords and a description of the image they are replacing. Rather than just placing “header” in your alt tag for a heading image, take this chance to help search engines know the content of your site – for instance “birdbaths” if your website is about birdbaths. Don’t overstuff this tag with keywords though – there is a good guide to appropriately using these tags here: http://www.htmlgoodies.com/primers/html/article.php/3478181

3. Use header tags wisely.

The header tags (known as H1, H2, etc.) are looked at search engines to find the important keywords are for your website. You can use style sheets to change the appearance of these tags. Instead, use standard HTML for these headers and not style sheets. Then all you need to do is make sure that these header tags contain relevant keywords – H1 the primary keywords, H2 the secondary and so on.

4. Get backlinks with relevant keywords.

You will want back links. All of the back links you can get. This should be an ongoing process as part of your SEO strategy. If you can get a few back links a week, this looks much better than getting 5,000 all at once – since these links will have been bought from a link farm, more than likely. Search engines watch for this kind of activity and penalize pages who use these tactics.

However, there are plenty of other ways to get back links. You can go the traditional route and exchange links with other sites. You can also become active in forums and use your link in your signature. Articles which you write can be submitted to directories, with a link to your site in the resource box. HubPages and Squidoo lenses can be built which include links to your site. You can also start a blog and submit the RSS feed to an aggregator, encouraging readers of your blog to follow suit. Twitter can be used to inform the public whenever you have new content up. These are just a few of the possibilities.

You will also want to come up with some good anchor text for your back links to use when possible. The anchor text is the text which is actually clicked as the link (usually visible by being blue and underlined on a website). Search engines also examine this text to determine the content of your site. Us your main keywords or variations on them – whatever looks more natural on the page while still being relevant to your site. Remember to use appropriate keywords for the specific page on your site which the link points to.

Sometimes you will not be able to specify the anchor text to be used. But when you can, you shouldn’t pass up the opportunity. Reciprocal links between your site and another are a place where you can usually specify the text you’d like used. The other site owner probably won’t mind, since they won’t have to think about what text to use. You also are able to specify anchor text on HubPages and Squidoo lenses, as well as your signature in forum postings.

These are some of the basics of SEO. There is much more to learn of course, but these tips are a good place to start in a SEO campaign. Use these methods until they become ingrained. You’ll see an increase in your page ranking as well as your traffic.

You may not believe this, but even though traffic from searches is still very good, there are other excellent options open to you. Having spent a great amount of time targeting search engine traffic, I became quite familiar with the subject of search engine optimization and although many marketing experts would suggest it is difficult, it really is not the case. Nonetheless I am pleased to say there is a way of finding a mix of traffic without having to completely rely on the work of the search engines to get results.

Blogging is a super way of getting traffic, but this has to be done in the right way and needs to be updated at regular intervals. When you blog, you must, of course, social bookmark your post to the top directories, and for your guidance, some of these are listed below.

1. Digg
2. Onlywire.com (with this method you will get into twenty two directories with one simple click)
3. Propeller
4. Stumbleupon

Carry out a Google search for The Authority Black Book. When you download this information, which is free of charge, make sure you read and understand it. This will tell you all you need to know about using blogging to drive excellent quality traffic in high numbers on a daily basis to your blog.

Another way of getting great traffic is to use Article Marketing. These days if you write for traffic and get your articles into a few of the best article directories, there is no worry about duplicate content penalties.

The top 5 article directories for your articles to appear in are as follows:-

1. Ezinearticles.com
2. AssociatedContent.com
3. Goarticles.com
4. IdeaMarketers.com
5. SearchWarp.com IdeaMarketers.com

No doubt by now you will have noticed the theme taking place here. It’s the theme of getting traffic from your social booking marking directories and from article directories too.

The job of search engines is to give their searchers new and relevant material. You can easily do this for your visitors without having to be concerned with the search engines now or at any time in the future.

It’s a great feeling when you know you are getting traffic every day and will continue to do so even if Google were to totally rearrange the top ranked sites in the blink of an eye, as this will not affect you and your traffic at all.

We have all seen adverts like this on the Internet so many times. Why is it that every business wants their website to be at the top of Google? The answer to that question is that due to the fierce competitiveness on the Internet, if your website does not appear on the first few pages, the only person who is likely to be looking at it is you.

Adverts such as these are not completely true. There is no guarantee that you will be in the number one spot on Google, or any other search engine for that matter, and if by chance you find yourself up there in first place it may well be down to keywords that none of your potential readers are actually looking for anyway.

How is this, you may ask? Well, Google’s programmers keep the precise basis on which websites are rated and located a well guarded secret. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts have in the past been able to discover many of the factors that Google weighs to decide which position to allocate to any particular website. Nonetheless, no-one is aware of exactly how much weight Google attaches to each single factor. This way, even the experts don’t always get it right and spending large amounts of money on SEO sometimes turns out to be fruitless.

So how does this affect your business when you are trying to increase the visibility of your website? Is it possible for your site to climb to the top of Google? The answer to this question is yes, possibly! With extremely hard work and taking into account many factors including the nature of what you are promoting, you can get into the top ten positions. Your sites domain name, its number of pages and how well you use your keywords all go into making up the equation.

Here are a few tips to boost your website position and the ensuing sales.

First or all your website needs to be the best one possible for the products and services you are offering. If your site does not look professional, is not user friendly, is not eye-catching and is not proving the products people want, it will make no difference even if you do get into the top search engine positions, you will still not sell anything.

Try adding regular features including special offers and articles to your site. Watch what your competitors are up to and most of all keep up with new trends. A little research goes a long way and this allows you to improve your site with updates on a regular basis. Use website forms to collate details of your visitors and use this method of communicating with them.

Then you need to identify the keywords best suited to your website. When folks surf the net they type in relevant words. The search engines then do their job of finding and listing the sites with matching content. If you include the items people are looking for in the text of your website, you will help your site to be found. Which words would people who are looking for your products type in the search box? Have a look at the words your competitors are emphasizing on their sites. That’s always worth doing.

Following on from above, you should apply standard website optimization techniques to your site. Good website developers understand the basic technical aspects of SEO (the density of the keywords, using keywords in the page titles, selecting keywords and tags etc) so you should really be focusing on the actions you can take and have influence over as the owner of the site.

You are providing the content so make sure you sprinkle the keywords throughout the site. Take a look at how often the words “website” and “products” can be found in this article. However, make sure you use the keywords in the right context. Combine your phrases but let them flow in a natural way. Let’s face it you do not want to get right up there with Google then lose customers because they do not like the way your website reads.

Another good move is to get websites to link to yours. These links count in your favor.

In conclusion, whilst SEO is necessary and worth the price you pay for it, there are quite a few things you can do yourself to optimize your site instead of SEO or in addition to it. Don’t forget that the results of doing this will take time to show but wherever you are on the Google rankings putting these things into practice will be of great benefit to your website and to your business.

Because a great deal of time and effort is spent when creating a website, it is always beneficial to catalogue the basic principles that need to be enforced in order to increase website traffic and search engine rankings before you actually begin. Commence using the correct principles and your website is sure to be successful.

- Use valuable content, services and products when creating a site.

- For the purposes of attracting your target audience, then it is vital that you use the correct keywords and phrases on your site.

- Place keywords, both primary and secondary, within the first 25 words of your page content ensuring that you continue to spread them evenly throughout the entire document.

- Ensure that your keywords are used in the correct fields and references within your web page, such as headers, META tags, and title.

- Make certain that your site designs are kept simple to enable potential customers to easily navigate between web pages, find what they require, and to purchase products and services.

- Ensure that all of your web pages are submitted. For example, submit every web page that you have, not only the home page, to the most popular directory services and search engines. If you do not wish to do this yourself, then you can hire someone to do it for you. However, it is crucial to ensure that this is submitted manually, rather than using an automated submission service.

- Monitor any changes in search engine algorithms and processes and modify your web pages accordingly. This will allow your search engine ranking to remain high. Monitor your website by using online tools and utilities.

- Always keep an eye on your competitors as well as the top ranked websites and have a look at what they are doing in the way of design, content, keywords, navigation etc.

- Have a look at where your website traffic is coming from, using reports and logs from your web hosting company. Check the locations of your visitors as well as their incoming sources, whether they are through search engines or links from other websites, as well as the keywords that they are using to locate your website.

- Make certain that your customers can visit your site with ease and allow them enough ways in which they will remember your site, such as providing them with newsletters, free reports, reduction coupons etc.

- Write and submit articles for your website or article banks to demonstrate your product or service expertise. This will ensure that you are seen as being an expert in your field.

- Use simple payment and shipping methods when you are selling products online. This will make it much simpler for your customers to purchase your products or services.

- If you are not sure of how to undergo these things yourself then it is always advised to hire professionals. Even though this may seem to be a costly process, it will be much less expensive than using your money to create a website that no one visits.

- Never look at your website as a static brochure. Ensure that you treat it as a dynamic, ever changing sales tool and location. Look at it as you would look at a real store and treat your customers with exactly the same seriousness.