Having a website that’s not been optimized for the search engines is somewhat like having a business listing in the white pages–it exists in the public domain for anyone to find, only no one’s looking. That’s why the yellow pages were invented. But unlike an ad in the yellow pages, a high ranking in the natural (i.e., unsponsored) search results is not something that can be bought. Rather, it is something that must be achieved through time and effort. This is not to say that SEO has to be difficult. Like anything, once you know how to do it, it’s easy.

SEO Tips for Optimizing Your Website:

• Try to select a domain name that contains your most important keyword(s). The search engines take clues from your URL to determine what your site is about. The most weight is placed on the first word, followed by the second, third and so on. From an SEO perspective, shorter URL’s are better than longer ones.

• Choose a page title that contains your most important keyword for that particular page. This is probably the most important SEO tip of them all when it comes to helping the search engines figure out what your page is about. Also, it functions as your headline in the search results.

• Be sure to use your keywords throughout  the web page. Increasingly, search engines penalize sites for ‘keyword stuffing’ (i.e., overloading a page with particular keywords), so try to limit your keyword density to something in the neighborhood of 3 to 7 percent.

• Place relevant keywords and synonyms between your <h1>, <h2> and <h3> tags. This is a way of indicating to the search engines which keywords are especially important. Your main keyword or a synonym should used with the <h1> tag.

• Write a good meta description, including your keywords. This helps web users to decide whether the destination page is worth visiting. Offer just enough information to peak their curiosity.

Website optimization through link-building:
This SEO tip concerns the single biggest factor next to site design in determining your site’s rank: link-building. Simply put, you must have unreciprocal, inbound links from relevant authority sites pointing to your site. Search engines such as Google confer more trust upon older, more established sites. A link from one of these sites is like a credible endorsement for your site and it’s relevancy to certain keywords. Optimally, the keyword will be contained in the anchor text of the link. Contact webmasters and ask for links. Assuming you have useful and interesting content, you should be able to find at least a few sites that are willing to give you some ‘link love’. Also, realize that over time links to your site will grow organically as more and more people discover your site. Hence the importance of good content.

One final SEO tip: be patient and realize that you’re not going to reach page #1 of Google overnight. That’s what pay-per-click advertising if for!