What exactly is SEO?

If you've been wondering what SEO is its because you haven't caught onto the internet lingo: It stands for Search Engine Optimization.

SEO is a process & a set of methods by which businesses online can market themselves by increasing their visibility on search engines.

So for example lets say you were in the sofa business. You would want to market yourself using the following keywords: Sofa, couch, chesterfield, chaise longue, convertible couch, davenport, daybed, divan, futon, love seat, ottoman, settee, sofa bed, window seat, furniture, furnishing, decor, etc.

Then what you need to do is place those keywords on various websites (the more on topic the better) with a link going back to your sofa business.

You will likely want to seek out the advice of a professional who deals with SEO daily because they will know all the White Hat tricks of the trade. Avoid using Black Hat techniques like link spamming and link farming.

It will take awhile to take effect, but the end result will eventually be a high search ranking in popular search engines like Google. So for example if you type in Bicycle Mechanic Toronto one of the top listings will be The Bicycle Mechanic blog, which operates out of Toronto.

20 SEO TIPS

1. Newsletters
2. Include Text Links with your images
3. Multiple domains or sub-domains for specific topics
4. Exchange articles/links with colleagues
5. Include titles on your links (time consuming but it helps a little)
6. Use a variety of link anchor text
7. Include a sitemap on your website
8. Don't use Black Hat techniques or you will get banned by search engines
9. Social bookmarking helps
10. The more links the better
11. The more on topic the pages are linking to you the better
12. The higher the linking pages' PageRank the better
13. Keep track of your progress by periodically checking your keywords once/week
14. Track your PageRank
15. Get listed in Search Directories & Business Directories
16. Keep making more content
17. Remember to update old content
18. Update your website regularly with more recent info
19. Avoid pushy SEO salespeople (they're sham artists)

20. Lastly, SEO is an ongoing process. You have to keep working on it to stay ahead of the competition.