SEO is an acronym for "Search Engine Optimization" and is way to get your website top billing in the search engine results organic page. There are tons of folks who go around claiming to be SEO experts or website services that charge hundreds if not thousands of dollars for this information.
It really is funny that some of these folks who are selling this information are they themselves in need of their own services.
I've been doing my own SEO for the last 8 years or so. Starting a site or blog and trying to figure how to get your site to rank can become quite a task. Particularly with all the bull that seems to be floating around in IM forums, blogs and websites.
Here are some of my findings concerning SEO. It is geared for those who are just starting out with their own site or blog.
Following is what most SEO experts forget to mention, SEO changes all the time. What works today might not work tomorrow.
Most Search Engines do not use the keywords meta-tags any more. However google still uses the title meta-tag. It is important to use the correct title that corresponds with your web-page. If your page is about giant green lizards your title tag should be "All about Green Lizards" or, something similar.
Google's algorithm. Do not worry about it, just develop or write content that is useful and provides the world wide web with information that we as searchers are looking for.
Google still uses the description tag as a snippet in the search results. But, it has no bearing in the ranking process.
There are still some search engines that use the meta-tags for search engine rankings. But, these are in the minority. It does not hurt your rankings if you use them but you must not do any spammy tricks such as stuffing your keywords in the "keywords-tag". Stay away from over-using your keywords in the first paragraph. For one thing it might not make sense or it might seem repetitive.
Header tags...yes use them. H1, h2 and h3 should be used as a new paragraph or as a title tag. Do not duplicate header tags on your pages.
Latent Semantic Indexing. Say what? I hate to get geeky or technical but there is an ongoing debate on whether Google uses LSI in factoring your content for ranking purposes. Basically it means using other keywords that have the same meaning. I could write a book bigger than War and Peace on this subject alone. But, for now just google it.
You've got good content you do your best not to do anything spammy or black-hat. But you still can't get that top spot. I've got three words for you..."Research your Keywords". Are you using keywords that are too competitive? Is anyone really looking for what you are selling or services that are viable online? There are hundreds of online tools that can help you with keyword research. Use google's keyword tool it has been updated and I recommend to actually type your keywords in the search box. This will give you good overall results.
Without lots of good relevant back-links you will have a hard time ranking for your keywords. Here a few tips that will get you good back-links.
1. Write articles about your niche and publish them on article directories, specifically ezinearticles.com
2. Submit your site to relevant article directories.
3. Comment on blogs that are relevant to your niche.
4. Use social media websites to publish your own content.
5. Do offer link exchanges with other sites that have similar content as yours.
Things NOT to do regarding backlinks
1. Do not purchase back-links.
2. Do not request a back-link from an un-related site.
3. Do not get thousands of back-links in a short time span.
Search engine optimization for the beginner is really easy once you get the hang of it. The one underlying factor is "white hat techniques" always do the right thing. Spammers and scammers are always looking for ways to cheat, and manipulate the search engines. And just like in real life sometimes they succeed. This is one reason why changes are so frequent.
For some really good tips on SEO for the beginner visit Paul Guzman's easy to read website at SEO for the Beginner Tips.
Paul Guzman has been doing successful websites since 2002. Get Paul's free traffic generating Ebooks at: Good Content Newsletter
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Guzman
