“Once it has been built and the traffic will creep in”- this methodology has lost its days in regards to market websites. Internet marketing has now become very legitimate. Every business professional must take adequate time to understanding how they can get a substantial increase in "free" web site traffic through basic search engine optimization begins with the fundamentals. These recommendations assume a site does not possess any technical issues that may cause a search engine to avoid indexing it or to not index it properly.



First, what is search engine optimization? Also known as "SEO", search engine optimization can be defined as a set of methodologies aimed at improving the visibility of a website in search engine listings.

If you have a web site, no one will find it unless you promote it. Promotion opportunities for a web site vary and should include both offline and online tactics. On the Internet, the most common way for users to find web sites is through search engines. In fact, a recent study shows more people are using search engines than the Yellow Pages to find vendors.

Search engines work by "crawling" the internet, following known links to find updated pages and new web sites, saving copies along the way. The information from the saved web page text is analyzed by sophisticated algorithms that assign values for categorization and ranking. Additionally, the linking relationship of the indexed site is compared to similar sites and communities of sites.

Even though there are many variations in types of web sites and search engines are constantly refining their ranking methodologies, there are a common set of rules to follow for better search engine placement.

1. Do your keyword homework: People can gain important insight into what types of phrases are being used to find your type of web site with keyword research tools. and offer free tools for this purpose. As you categorize and create content, keep keywords in mind.

2. Use keywords in title tags: The title tag is critical for a search engine to understand and rank a page. Make sure each page of your web site includes a unique, keyword-rich, descriptive and readable title tag of 8 – 10 words.

3. On page text: Use a version of your title tag on the visible page of your site - the higher up on the page, the better. A keyword-rich tagline will also do. This is important for search engines and your site visitors.

4. Content is the key: Fresh content is better. Plan to add new pages of content on a regular basis. New pages should follow a theme and be placed into categories. If you sell "clothes" then add product reviews, press releases, customer comments, how-to information, etc on a regular basis. Incorporate "clothes" related keywords in the title tags, on-page titles and descriptive text on the new content being created. Search engines will give a preference to sites that offer new content over time.

5. To submit or not to submit: While Google, Yahoo and MSN offer free submission forms, the fastest way for your site to be included in a search engine is to be linked by sites that are already in. Rather than pay a service to submit your site, pay for a press release and have it submitted through an online newswire service. Include links to your company web site in the release and each web site that publishes the release becomes a link to your company. Take the time to research and submit to important online directory submission services .

6. Link in, link out: All major search engines use incoming and outgoing links as a way to measure a site's popularity with a preference to incoming links from authoritative and information rich web sites. Ask distributors, marketing partners and clients to link to your site using keyword rich link text and descriptions. For example, if you sell impeccable clothes, the link text might be: "Company ABC Impeccable Clothes" and link to the page on your web site that offers the best information on "impeccable clothes". Avoid exchanging links with other sites that have nothing to do with your industry. In fact, you might consider avoiding link exchanges altogether. Link out to other web sites related to your content such as an industry associations, organizations, manufacturers, publications, articles, etc.

7. Link smart. Linking the pages within your site is important especially if you can link keywords in a sentence to another page that provides more detail. Example: "Company ABC offers a complete range of clothes for every type of occasion or event." where "clothes" is linked to your clothes product page. This applies to links within the pages of your site as well as links from other web sites.

There are some measures to drive the traffic to the website as per the renowned Search engine optimization tools, but while observation with the patient is the main thing to get the high rank on the Search Engines.