Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process of configuring a new or existing web site for maximum exposure to the search engine spiders to ensure relevant placement within the search engine's database structure and results.

The motive of search engine optimization and submission is to prepare and promote a web page so that it attracts targeted traffic from the search engines. It does so by attaining a very high position in the search results for the most appropriate keywords relevant to the content of a web site. Search Engine Optimization is an ongoing process. Even though a web site is optimized this month, ongoing changes in search engine algorithms mean there may be major or minor changes required to keep the web site optimized.

Everything about the design and construction of a web site should be done from the perspective of functionality, with an eye to search engine performance. The only way to attain and retain top search engine positioning for relevant keywords over an extended period of time is by having great content. The simplest step in the search engine process starts here. If your web site is not a content rich site, add the content necessary to make it one.

A more lengthy explanation of the search engine optimization (SEO) process would refer to it as part of a web site marketing strategy, designed around the process of preparing and promoting a web site for maximum results and reach within the search engines. Less frequently, SEO is also referred to as Web Site Optimization.

A successful search engine strategy will start with proper web site design, and build on that by incorporating a regular, consistent SEO service into the web site's regular maintenance schedule. This SEO service should ensure the web site always stays up-to-date with all of the latest search engine trends and algorithms to build and maintain placement.

Search Engine Optimization has become the premier marketing vehicle in terms of acquiring new customers and delivering improved ROI (Return On Investment). A company without a marketing strategy is a company awash, and a marketing strategy without an online component is incomplete. An online marketing strategy without a search engine optimization component is doomed to fail. The reason for this is simple. A visitor from a search engine is someone who is actively searching for the product or service the web site is promoting. Depending on the analysis, between 87% and 94% of first time visitors, or brand new web site traffic, comes from the search engines. If search engines bring qualified visitors, and almost all new visitors to an online business come from search engines, how can a web site succeed without even the most basic search engine marketing strategies?

The cost of acquiring a customer through a search engine is virtually zero compared to the cost of generating a single customer lead via advertising which can cost hundreds of dollars. If search engines are the way most people find web sites, and the cost of acquiring a customer in this way is negligible, then significant value can be added to a web site simply by optimizing the web pages for the search engines. Remember, the search engines will look at more than just the top page of a web site, so as much of the web site as possible needs to be optimized. We suggest you should consider optimizing all of the main category, or topic pages within a web site.

Good search engine optimization and online marketing does not involve finding loopholes in search engine algorithms and exploiting them. These practices may occasionally give better rankings in the short term but always result in medium to long term disaster. These techniques often border on Search engine optimization is the foundation on which any campaign has to be built. Any SEO campaign has to have the fundamentals of their plan for search engine strategies laid out. Without these strategies as an integral part of a search engime marketing plan, no marketing campaign is solid, because any such campaign is not simply designed to increase traffic to a web site, but to increase targeted traffic to the site.

Once the design is finished, and the web site built, the optimization process begins. This is where "Search Engine Optimization" comes into play. This servicing of a web site needs to be a complete solution for marketing your web site to the search engines. It must include these 4 major steps, performed on a regular schedule to keep up with the ongoing changes in the search engines industry, and search engine algorithm changes:

• Optimization - Includes Analysis and Optimization.
• Submission - Includes Search Engine and Directory Submissions.
• Promotion - Includes building Relevant Reciprocal Links to and from your web site.
• Reporting - Includes a Graphical Web Stats Report.

The result of an effective SEO strategy is increased "Relevant Traffic."

Search Engine Optimization in itself will not and should not guarantee you placement in the "top ten" or "top thirty" within the search engines. Search Engine Optimization is a distinct process from, and should not be confused with, Search Engine Placement or pay for click positioning.

If you are unsure where to start, we recommend reading the section called where to start the search engine optimization process, as well the sections contained in our page search engine strategies.