SEO is a rather a complex and ongoing process which normally takes to show its true potential.

There are 2 procedures which most be followed to start the optimization process which are on-page and off-page optimization

On-page optimization deals with the common coding and information placement issues such as the proper use of html tags, divisions, and code. A proper analysis of the html HEAD section must also be performed. In the HEAD section the most important parts which often need optimization are the "Title" and "Description" sections since the "Keywords" section doesn't have much impact due to the fact that many webmasters stuffed this section with keywords in order to manipulate search result pages.

Off-page optimization is perhaps the most important process of the two mentioned. During the off-page optimization a link building campaign is planned and developed. Links can carry different weight and can be classified as reciprocal, one-way, two-way and three-way links. The most common of the already mentioned are one-way and reciprocal links. One way links are links which carry more weight and are considered to be better than reciprocal links due to the fact that they are harder to acquire and often indicate the value of a certain source. Reciprocal links can be acquired through webmaster relationship or agreements in order to boost both site's popularity. It is often said that good reciprocal links are the ones which are niche related and offer value to the visitors.

An important idea which needs to be kept in mind while optimizing a website through link building is to keep the link growth "natural". Natural link growth refers to the process of gradually acquiring a certain number of links in order to avoid penalization from the search engines. An example of un-natural link optimization would be acquiring thousands of links from one day to the other, while the natural way suggests you should start small and gradually acquire more and more links over time.

There are a few exceptions to link penalizations from search engines, they are usually applied to news sites which acquire thousands of links overnight due to the quality and importance of news columns.

Reciprocal links can be acquired by contacting webmasters through online communities such as Digital Point, Webmaster's World, etc. while one way links are often acquired through directory submissions, article submissions and by third parties which link to your site because it may be useful and related to theirs.

SEO is constantly growing and recent pay per click analysis show that the term search engine optimization is becoming more expensive as the increasing amount of websites create a strong demand. If properly studied and practiced SEO can be an extremely lucrative practice for every webmaster.