To start with, you need to understand that this is a page by page process.  Generally, if all of your pages are related to the same subject and the home page is optimized for that subject, then the site will do well in the search results.  But for now we will pick one page and work on that.  If the page has already been created, you'll probably need to update it but if the page is new, you can start the process from the beginning.

So, we can see that if you choose to optimize your website for Search Engine Optimization, you should consider using the phrase Search Engine Optimization Tips For Google since the term will directly match the following search queries:

• Search Engine Optimization
• Search Engine Optimization Tips
• Search Engine Optimization Tips For Google
• Optimization Tips
• Optimization Tips For Google

•  Search Engine Optimization For Google
• Optimization For Google
• etc...

Keep in mind that search engines first look for an exact match (all of the same words together and in same order) to the search query, then to a near match (most of the same words together or seperated in the same order), then a close match (some of the same words or seperated or in the wrong order), and finally a possible match (any of the words in any order sperated or not).  There are a number of other factors like where on the page a keyword is founs, links to the page, formating, etc. but this is the basic prnciple for search results.

 So if we optimize for  Search Engine Optimization Tips For Google, we will not do as well for the search query Google Search Engine Optimization Tips as we will for Search Engine Optimization Tips For Google.  We have the right words but different order.

Another thing to remember, Search Engine and Search Engines are not the same The searchbots reguard singular and plural words as different! 

Testing Your Keywords

So you have a nice long list of keywords and you want to know if they are good.  That is a reasonable consideration.  Afterall, why optimize your site for a keyword that nobody searches for?

The quickest way to see if your keyword is being searched for is to search for it!  Go to Google and perform a search that would likely match your keyword(s).  In our example, Search Engine Optimization would work.  When you get the results page, look ans see if there are any ads or sponsored links on the page.  The more paid content on the page the more likely it is that someone is searching for that keyword!  How do I know?  Well, why would all of those advertisers choose that keyword if they didn't already know that people are searching for the word.  There are a number of tools available to see how many searches are performed for a keyword each month but let someone else do al of that work unless you want to pursue the possibility of optimizing for a keyword that is searched for often that nobody else knows about, has optimized for, or is advertising for.

While you are on the search results page, look and se how many results there are.  If there are several million or billion, then you  may have a hard time getting on the first search results page.  Even if you manage to get in the top .000001% of a billion sites, you are only in the top 100 so you may be on page 10!  So if there are millions of results returned and the page is filled with ads, you can be sure that there are a lot of site that have optimized for that keyword and the competition may be very high.  However, you may find that the phrase you wnat to optimize for still does very well for a different search query that has less competition.  By the way, if you already have the page and it shows up on the first page of the highly competitive search query, congratulations, keep doing what you've been doing.  Remember, someone is out there trying to knock you down at least one spot!

Applying Your Keyword 

If you don't use the keyword on you page, thenyou can optimize the page!

You pretty much have to use your keyword in your title!  If your page title doesn't contain your keyword or at least a similar keyword, then you are wasting your time.  This is the title that you place in the <title></title> tag of your web document.  This tag really needs to be the first item in you <head> tag.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just pass the information on to your web developer.  The search engines and their searchbots assume that the title of the page is what the page is about.  A reasonable assumption!  Remember, the longer your title, the more words that might match.

While most search engines do not assume that  the meta description and meta keywords are relevant, you still need to use the tags.  The description needs to include your optimized keyword as well as provide a good summary of the page.  This information may be used in some smaller search engines as the description of you website in the search results page.  It is reasonable to believe that if your description matches the content of your page, the search engines will assume that the description has some relevance.  Do not make your description too long.  Failure to have a description will likely be a negative influence on the position of your page in the search results.  The same is true about the keyword tag.  Keep your keywords to 15 or less.

You should try and get your keyword into the first 100 words of your page at least once.  It would be even better if the keyword was in a header tag like <h1>, <h2>, or <h3>.   Do not use <h1> more than one time on any one web page!  Use <h2> three times or less.  <h3> and other headers may be used more frequently but don't over do it.  If the entire page is in headers, then they lose their effect with both people and search engines.  Try to use the keyword frequently but absolutely do not exceed 10% of the total content.  Overuse of a keyword will convince the search engines that you don't have any content and just want to trick it into ranking you page high in the search results.  Using bold, underline, italics, colors, fonts, and sizes to accent your keywords will be noticed by the search engines.  If you make the text stand out, the search engines will assume it is important.  Items in bulleted lists also are assumed to be important.

Get It All Linked Together

Be sure to link to your page from your other pages and more importantly, be sure to link back to you other pages.  Don't let your new page be a dead end for the searchbots to get trapped in. Never use read more or click here for your links!  People already know how to click on links so use real text.  People want to know what they are clicking on and the search engines assume that text used for the links is what the page is going to be about.  Use your keyword in the text of links pointing to your site.  For example:
Read more about search engine optimization tips for Google.

Have other websites that link to you page use the same text.  It may be a good idea to provide the code that you prefer to have people use when they want to link to your site.  Have it in different formats like for website, bulleting boards, etc...  This way they can cut-n-paste so they will likely use the code as is and will be glad to do so as long as it was easy to do!

Along with using your keyword in the link text, it is a good idea to use it in your file name as well!  For example:
search-engine-optimization-tips-for-google.html is much better than page_12.html.  This is because the search engines replace hyphens (-) with spaces so the search engine reads search-engine-optimization-tips-for-google.html like search engine optimization tips for google.html. On the other hand, search_engine_optimization_tips_for_google.html is not good because the search engine will see that is one single word because underscores (_) are treated as a binding character by the search engines! So, use hyphens and avoid underscores!  This all works on the idea that if you took the time to name the file  with the keywords then the content inside is probably  about the  keyword.  This also gives you the chance to use your keyword in your links even if the text does not include it!

The more links to your page the better!  Beg, swindle, trick, or trade with other website owners to include a link to your page on their websites.  The search engines assume that if their are a lot of links to your page, it must be important.  Makes sense right.  So if you have a thousand links to your page each using your optimized filename and link text, and you page actually has the same keywords as the links, chances are very good that the search engines will notice and give your page a better ranking.

A Word About The Search Engines

 There are countless search engines available.  Trying to find all of them is a lot of work and it turns out not very useful.  As we all know, Google is the number 1 search engine followed by Yahoo, Ask, and MSN.  What you may not know is that all of the other search engines are fed by these four!  So when it comes to making sure that you are getting listed, just worry about these 4 search engines.  You will then find that the rest of the search engines will also include your page.  Most search engine allow you to submit your page but in the end, it is the searchbots crawling around the internet that actually puts you in the search engine results!  You will also need to get listed in the Open Directory Project (DMOZ) which feeds a lot of even smaller search engines and websites.  Being in the Yahoo directory is also a good idea for the same reasons.  The directories only include your home page in most cases.

Once you are listed in these 5 resources, you will probably see a real increase in traffic to all of your pages.  Since you linked everything on your page, people will likely visit more than one page on your site.  Being listed in all of the major search resources, you'll find that smaller sites that use feeds from the larger sites now have your link in them which the search engines will notice and give you credit for the link, etc, etc...

A Word About Your Content

The more relevant your content the better! If your content is good then people will look at it and if they like it they may link to it, bookmark it, or send it to a friend.  This might result in another link to your page that the search engines or users will see which results in more traffic for you.  Search engines seem to be pretty good about identifying good content.  So make good content.  Spell check your work with a good spell checker then print the text and look at it!  Look at it again!  Now have someone else look at it.  Misspelled words won't match search queries so you may be excluded from the search results that you would have been listed in if you could spell.  Note however, commonly misspelled word in your content may help!  Since so many people misspell some words, using the most common misspelling can match a lot search queries.  You may want to integrate misspelled words but not at the detriment of your optimized keywords.

It isn't clear if grammar or lack of is noticed by  the search engines.  If not, it probably will be some day.  Regardless of whether or not the search engines check your grammar, it is a good idea to used proper grammar.  Assume that users type their search queries grammatically correct so that your grammatically correct website has a better change of matching!

Site Submission

Submitting your website isn't a bad idea but don't spend any money on the task! Companies that promise to get you listed in hundreds of search engines are simply doing their best to list you in the 5 main search resources and wait for the smaller sites to pick you up.  However, when you don't show up, they simply explain that they submitted you to the resources that would result in hundreds of results if your submission is accepted.  There are some free search engine submission tools available.  Go ahead and use them!  Then just concentrate on getting links to your site and getting into the search engines through the automated process.  Using search engine sitemaps is also a good idea but don't expect it to automatically get you listed.  Yahoo has a paid option for their directory which is recommended since it assures you that you will be included in the directory but the web search is still automated.  

Follow Up

After a few weeks, you should be able to find your page in the search results for a number of different but related search queries.  I suggest tht you sign up with Google webmaster tools to see which search queries you are being included in and which search queries people usually click for your site.  You'll need to check to see if you page has even been indexed!  Goto Google and type cache:url.to/your.page.  Of course, replace the url with the url to your page.  If there isn't a cache of you page, then Google hasn't found your page yet in most cases.  Check your robots.txt file to be sure you aren't blocking that page from the searchbots.  Most of the major search engines have advanced searches that allow you to find out who is linked to you, what pages on your site are indexed, and what pages are related to yours so that you know who your competition is, who your friends are, and which pages you need to check up on.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, it is possible to optimize your website for the search engines abut usually for only one or two keywords.  In this case, a keyword can be a phrase or group of words. You may need to tweak your keywords to increase your page rank in the search results.  With a little work, you can out optimize most of the pages that are your competition but with a lot of work, you can beat them all!

There are a number of free SEO tools available to use.  It is sometimes difficult to figure out what the data provided means but once you understand the tools, you'll be in a better situation. 

 Remember, pick your topic, find your keyword, create your page, and get your links done and before you know it, you'll be in those search results.

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