The best and cheapest way to receive free traffic for your website or blog is to be indexed by the major search engines including Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Although this process can take several months to show results, it should be the cornerstone of your efforts to drive visitors to your site. So what are the basic steps to begin optimizing your website or blog for indexing? Here are the first three to help you get started on the path to successful optimization:

Title

This may be easily overlooked when starting a website. You may be inclined to use an obscure name as Google and Yahoo have done. However, it is best to include a keyword or two about your site in the title. For example, if your blog is about our changing knowledge of the planet Mars, you would benefit most by using a title such as Mars Today or Mars - Current Understanding. These titles contain your strongest keyword: Mars.

Description

Like the title, your description should be as on topic as possible. Do not simply list keywords in your description. The search engines tend to frown on this tactic. Instead, make you description as accurate as possible in two to three sentences. The sentences should be grammatically correct and include your keywords as often as possible.

Keywords

Most website and blog software will allow you to fill in your keyword section. This should not be overlooked. Fill this section with as many different words as possible that relate to your topic. I stress the word different because simply repeating the same keywords over and over will not be acceptable to search engines. However, you can and should use various forms of the same words such as Mars rover, Mars rovers, Mars robots, etc.

These three steps should help you get started in your quest to being indexed by the major search engines. Each is very easy to implement and should always remain in your mind as you begin a new website or blog.

Be sure to follow this series of articles for further tips on optimizing your website or blog for the major search engines. Remember, this is not the get rich quick scheme of website traffic. It is, however, the best and most effective way to drive large amounts of targeted visitors to your site over the long term.