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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not as hard as you may think it is. Many people want you to think it is hard because they want you to visit their websites or buy their products. Truthfully, if you want to be ranked at the top of the search engines all you have to do are these 4 simple things.

This article is important for anyone who already has a website or who is planning on acquiring one.

1. Pick 10 great keywords and phrases

Preliminary words

The very first thing you need to do if you want great search engine placement is to pick 30 keywords and phrases that best describe your main website. These are the words that when people type them into a search engine, your site will show up first.

Test (check the author's box at the bottom for a link to free testing services)

Once you have these keywords and phrases, you need to test them to see (1.) if people are searching for these words, (2.) how many results are already in the search engines, (3.) how many of the results have to do with your service or product, (4.) if you have a chance of getting to the top with that specific word.

Narrow

Using your judgment from the above tests, start crossing off the words or phrases that very few people are searching for. Next, cross of the words and phrases that sites like Wikipedia, About, or other very popular sites hold the first few spots.

Create a bigger list (Use the free tools in the Author Bio Box)

Use a tool that will give you related keywords and phrases to your narrowed list. This tool will give not only give you related words, it will tell you how many people a month search that key term.

Repeat Test

This is the hardest part. You are going to get about 100 good suggestions that you now need to narrow down to 10.

2. Pick a keyword rich domain name

Now that you have found your 10 best keywords and phrases, you need to make sure that your domain name has some of the keywords in the actual name. A name like 'jacobsandsons.xxx' is not going to rank you very high on the search engines.

If you already have a domain name, that is okay. But, it would be wise to buy another domain ($10/year) that will automatically forward to your website. A name which applies directly to your keywords

3. Use your keywords

Your keywords and phrases are your websites life blood. Therefore, your keywords should be in the title, the meta-tags, the headlines, the body, and the footer of your pages. It is rumored that a lot of search engines don't look at meta-tags, but, better safe than sorry. (If you don't know how to change the meta-tags, follow the link in the author's bio).

4. Promote your keyword rich website.

There are many ways to promote your website: search engines, business directories, off-line advertising, rss feed directories, etc.. For the sake of brevity, you can read the 1,000's of articles already written, or visit a complete resource at the website in the author's box.