Search Engine Optimization is the process and steps that you do in order to cause your website to rank higher in search engines such as Google or Yahoo. What words should your website come up on when they are searched? You want to use these key words and tactics to pump your site in your search engine results.

Domain Name – Your domain name should include as many key words as possible without making it confusing. You don’t want a domain like affordableprofessionalwebsiteintoronto.com. This is just too confusing and not easy to remember. Keep it simple and too the point. Remember if you have several domains that redirect to the same site, you will want to make your key word domain the main one. All others should be directed to this domain.

Meta Tags – It’s not required although can be good, when building a website, to use HTML Meta tags. When a search engine scans a page, it reads your HTML and can verify what your website is about by viewing these Meta tags. This is information that is put in the head of your website. These are not seen by those viewing your website in a browser.

Flash or HTML – Flash is often used within a site in order to attract or grab attention of the viewers. Although this is a great way to do this, it is unwise to design your whole site in flash. Search engines do not scan flash text, just as you can copy and paste this text, it can not be crawled. If you combined HTML text between your flash files, this will help with your SEO.

Age of Site – Believe it or not, search engines like Google look at the reliability of the site. In order for your site to look reliable to Google, it has to be established for a few years. Look at your competition, how long has their hosting been established for? You want to exceed the reliability of your competitors in order to rank higher then them. Although this is not something you can control as much, you can bring yourself up in other ways such as what has been stated here. Try not to change your main domain name or DNS if all possible.

Links – Search engines such as Google also look at how many other web sites are linking back to your site. If you can find websites that are willing to put your link on their site for free, this is a great tool! Another thing you can do is find partners who are willing to do link exchanges with you. Many will give you a link if you reciprocate a link back. This is not as good as just receiving a free link, but it can help.

Directories – Another way you can receive links is to submit to directories. Not only is it good to be found on directories, but many are willing to give you a free link by posting within their site. A great tool for this is www.easysubmits.com. All you do is punch in your own information and you can go through several sites and add yourself quickly and easily. Most of these sites give you free links.

Forums – Another great way to get links is to post on forums. These are sites where you can go and express your expertise and opinions and receive a link back. Most sites ask for you to be a member of their forum for a specific amount of time or post a specific amount of replies before they offer you a link.

Content – The content of your website is important. The best place to stuff your key words is on your home page. Your home page should not be cluttered, and have one to two paragraphs describing what your website has to offer. In these few paragraphs, take this time to jam as many key words into your sentences as possible. Not only is this what the search engines will pick up on, but when a viewer is searching and several results come up, most search engines show the title of the page, as well as the first few sentences found on the site. These first few sentences could determine who is going to your site or by passing it. Make sure your content is relevant and full of key words.