Search engine optimization begins even before designing your site. It starts by selecting a very narrow and focused topic for your site, and choosing the right domain name. You must then select the right keywords for each of your individual pages (keywords, or search terms, are what you expect search engine users will type in the search box to find a page like yours).

After that, site design can begin and, with it, web page optimization. Web page optimization involves optimizing page copy for your selected keywords and making your web page design friendly to search engines. This usually translates into using your keywords several times in your web page copy, and building a site that offers good navigation, a straightforward architecture, plenty of text, and easy access to all the site's pages by following links from the most important pages.

The third step, the most difficult and time consuming, involves getting inbound links from quality sites related to your topic, with your keywords in the anchor text. It is virtually impossible to rank high in the most important search engines without a wide array of quality inbound links. Until now, reciprocal linking has been a common way to get inbound links. Search engines, though, tend to favor one-way links developed naturally (over time) coming from many different sources.

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Also include the following, among others:
1) Optimize your META title, keywords and description
2) Ensure your HTML is clean
3) Images should have alt tags
4) Minimize use of flash
5) Don't use splash pages
6) Article submissions, with links to your site.