Search engine optimization, or SEO as it’s known to its friends, has always been something of a talking point in the Internet community. General Internet users don’t need to be aware of SEO and its functions, but for anybody who wants to run a successful website; this is something you cannot ignore…

Essentially, SEO is the process by which you optimize your website in order to get good rankings in the major search engines. Good rankings lead to high volumes of traffic which in turn convert to sales (hopefully!). One could argue that pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is as effective, but in truth you would need to have an extremely focused campaign to see a good return on your investment.

So, how do you prepare your website for indexing by the search engine giants?

First things first - the title of your page is the most important page element. The title appears in the browser title bar, and in the HTML it is wrapped between . The text held within the title tags is what is presented to the user when your website appears in the search engine results pages (SERPS). The reason for the importance of this element is simple; it tells the user instantly what the page is about. Remember, however, to include your business function in this tag. For example, if are a company called Father Time and sell watch batteries, your tag should look like “Watch Batteries by Father Time”, or “Buy Watch Batteries at Father Time”.

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