Now what?



Search engine optimization or SEO, is not that difficult. If you follow a few guidelines and do it yourself you can save hundreds of dollars.

You can also get the same results as the professionals do.

Basic SEO is simple and easy. It's all about content. The content of your website the focus of what SEO is all about. Here are the top points to think about when you're doing it yourself.

Follow these five simple steps and watch your site move higher in the rankings.

1. Get The Right Domain Name

Keep it short and related to your site. Being as specific as you can. Choose the name after one of your products or services, for example. Another method is to get a sub domain of a popular domain. This will generally help you get indexed more quickly though it will not appear quite as professional to your visitors. Weigh the difference as sub domains are quicker and generally cheaper but domain names are more memorable and better for your indexing.

2. Write A Good Page Title

The HTML title tag is critical in letting search engines see what the page is about. It is the first item looked at by search engines to determine site relevance. Put your most important keywords in your title tags. NEVER call your home page "Home." Make it a mini-description of the page and your keyword.

3. Use Metatags And Descriptions

The two primary meta tags aren't as important as they used to be but it is still a good idea to use them. The description tag is still used by some search engines to display information about your website to users. Not all search engines bother with this, though most put some bearing on it. For very short descriptions the alt tag can be used. Alt tags let you describe an image or graphic file - they're the pop-up descriptions that appear when you hover your mouse over a graphic. Never post invisible text, i.e. white text on a white background or hide keywords this way. This will get you banned from the search engines.

4. Keyword Density

Having keyword density in all of your content is good, but keep in mind that each search engine has its own requirements when it comes to how many times that a keyword or phrase should be in the content for the page. Somewhere between 5 and 8 percent is a roughly optimal level. Do not force it or overdo it or the search engines might mark you down.

5. Links

Many search engines judge web page importance on the number and quality of incoming links from other sites. Though not as important as it used to be, incoming links still matter in seo ranking. Link to some related sites, but not too many. Don't overdo incoming links either, and keep them related your site's content. It's also good to get sites to use your keywords as the text of these links.