SEO, or search engine optimization, refers to making certain changes to your web site so that it gets ranked higher in search engines. In a recent study, it was found that over 85% of all web users use search engines on a regular basis to surf the web. Hence, website owners want to get their web sites ranked high in search engines for terms that are commonly searched. There are two ways to improve your search engine ranking, having other sites link to your web site and updating your site with fresh new content.

Getting links to your site is considered by many, including myself, to be the most important aspect of search engine optimization. The more links you have to your web site, the higher your page rank will be and the better your search engine rankings will be. When building links, the quantity and quality of the links both matter. For example, having 100 links in link directories, link farms, and forums is usually just as effective as 5 or 6 links on a reputable web site with a high page rank. Hence, many people both submit their web sites to a large number of link directories, but also take the time to make exchanges or purchase links on web sites with high page ranks. (When purchasing links, make sure that the link you are purchasing is from a site with a high page rank and a good amount of traffic as many search engines, including Google often penalize web sites for purchasing links.)

Article directories are also an effective method of building content embedded links. To use article directories, simply write an article and include your links within the article. Then, submit the article to a number of article directories. Other web site owners will visit these article directories, take the articles you have written, and place them, along with your links, on their site. If many people like your article and use it on their web site, you can build a large number of quality links. Also, Links that are embedded in content generally are more valuable then regular side bar text links.

The other main aspect of search engine optimization is content writing. Search engine spiders that crawl your web sites like to see fresh content and the more original articles you have on your site the higher your web site will rank in search engines. When writing articles for search engines, it is helpful if the articles are unique so that can not be found on any other web site on the Internet and are keyword dense. (Keyword density refers to featuring a certain keyword many times in your article while still making the article sound natural. The purpose for this is that search engine crawlers will see that your web site is about the keyword you use and your web site will rank higher in search engines. However, if you overdo this, you will often be penalized by search engines.)

If you have a web site, you should spend some time with SEO. For best results, focus on building as many quality links to your site as possible and be sure to keep your site updated with fresh original content.