Great websites are not only based on its design or content. It should also have adequate traffic or exposure. No matter how well designed a website is, it cannot generate substantial profits if it is not visited by a significant number of visitors. This is why a lot of website owners are putting premium on their search engine ranking. Since there is an estimated 1 billion pages available in the Internet today, how do you make sure that your website stands out? Here are a few practical guidelines.

Many studies indicate that at least 90 percent of those who use the Internet depend on the results of search engines in their browsing for information. Further studies reveal that 93 percent of these users look only at the three top results displayed by search engines like Google and Yahoo. Thus if a website does not crack the top three search results for a given keyword, there's a good chance that a target consumer will not visit the site.

The good thing is that improving the search engine ranking of a particular website doesn't have to be a difficult task.

First, a website owner should make the content of the website informative, relevant, and easy to read. Keep in mind that most basic search engine algorithms make use of the content of the pages in raking websites. Popular directories also list only websites with sensible and practical content, so it is a must that the content of the website is well written. You should have great copy on the products and services you are promoting in the website. Use your key phrases naturally. The focus of your content should be directed to your customers as well as search engines.

There are also tried and tested general optimization techniques like the use of meta tags, title tags, and optimized keyword density, all of which are considered by search engines in scoring pages. One does need to be an expert programmer in order to do this, as there are automated tools that can be used in tweaking a website.

Then you should have enough links in your website. You can make good use of your networking skills in talking with webmasters and owners of other websites which you can link in your own webpage. However, make sure that the websites you are linking with are relevant to your content. Most search engines take into consideration the number of links that you have to your site. Search engines also determine the relevance of the links by using some complicated applications, and then rank the websites accordingly.

You can also research on various key phrases that could be related to the products or services found in your website. You can also get ideas from your current clients who might have stumbled upon you by keying in a different keyword from what your website is usually associated with.