Search engine optimization is the process of discovering keywords and optimizing your site so that it will rank highly in the search engines for them. How a search engine works: Search engines send out small programs called spiders or robots that basically surf the web and grab key information about the pages they visit for storage and analysis. The search engine then uses an algorithm to compile this information into a ranking for a particular keyword or keyword phrase. When a user searches for a particular term or phrase in a search engine, that term or phrase is referred to as a keyword or keyword phrase.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consists of:

1. Researching the keywords and keyword phrases that searchers are likely to search for to find your site
2. Optimizing the pages of your site with respect to these keywords and keyword phrases.  Optimizing a site means making the pages as “search engine friendly” for the keywords that are important to your site.
3. Analyzing the performance of your site for the keywords you are targeting, and making the necessary adjustments to the keywords, and the site.

Keyword Research

Based on your knowledge of your business and industry, your content and your initial ideas of what searchers might be searching for to find your site, you will come up with an initial list of keywords and keyword phrases. The next step is to utilize a keyword research tool such as WordTracker.com or the Google Keyword Suggestion tool to find other terms and to get an idea of the competition for the terms you plan to use. These tools suggest alternate terms based on your terms, and show how often all terms are searched for, and how many sites are buying the keywords in PPC programs such as Google AdWords. Ideally you will find keyword phrases with little competition that you hadn’t thought of initially. These are prime keywords to target, as it is more likely you can achieve a high ranking on less competitive keywords.

Optimization

To optimize a page for a particular keyword, that keyword should appear in the title tag, heading tags and main text of a page. It should also appear as linked text on the page, and in the alt attribute of images on the page. The meta description and keywords tags should also include the keyword. If possible the file name of the page should also contain the keyword. The page attributes the search engines generally look at to arrive at their rankings is listed below:

• Title tag <title></title>
• Heading tags <h1></h1>, <h2></h2> etc.
• Keyword density in the main text of a page – the ratio keywords to total words
• Linked text – the text that a visitor clicks to use a link
• Alt attribute of image tags – the alt attribute should contain keywords
• Link relevance – the number of inbound links
• Domain name and file name of the page
• Meta description – should be included, but limited support with major search engines
• Meta keywords- not used anymore by many search engines, including Google

There is also the concept of landing page optimization, in which the content of the actual page that the visitor hits is changed to increase effectiveness. Experiments such as A/B testing are performed to gauge the effectiveness of pages with identical content, but different presentations. A certain goal is defined, and Page A is tested versus Page B to see which converts visitors more effectively. This process can be continually repeated.

Analysis

Once enough time has passed for your pages to begin appearing in the search engines, you will test your keywords by searching and seeing where your pages rank. There are many software packages available to automate this process. Your analytics program will also log the search terms used to reach your site. You may discover new terms or determine the most effective terms in this manner.

SEO software examples: WebPosition Gold, Web CEO

Other SEO practices:

Link Exchange

Google revolutionized search with the concept of measuring inbound links and having that play a part in the search engine ranking. For this reason, Link Exchange can be a valuable tool in increasing your rankings. Link exchange is the process of seeking out links from other sites to your site in return for doing the same. The more links that exist on the web pointing to your site, the higher your link relevance, which should contribute to a higher search engine rank for the keywords relevant to your site.

Content Development

The more relevant, meaningful content your site provides, the more sites will begin linking to your site. This will increase traffic and increase the number of inbound links, which will have positive effect on your search engine ranking. Also, since more content means more pages, the site will have more possible entry points. Blogs are useful tools for adding content to your site, as they allow you to easily publish articles on various topics related to your business. Each article is a potential entry point to your site.

Directory Sites
There are many directories on the web that accept business web site submissions. Listing your site in these directories can increase exposure and the number of inbound links to your site.

Maintain Sitemaps

A sitemap is a page of links to all pages of your site. It is easily scanned by search engine robots and enhances the chance that your entire site will be indexed into the search engine. In addition, Google has a program called Google Sitemaps that allows an XML sitemap to be fed to their system, theoretically keeping your site’s pages up to date in their databases.