Lowdown on Search Engine Optimization

This article was written by Jon Rognerud of Entrepreneur.com

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a subset of the umbrella term "search engine marketing," or SEM. Properly applied, search engine optimization allows your site to not only be seen by the search engines but, when a search term (either keywords or phrases) is entered, offers the ability to rank very high in the search engine results pages. The results pages are typically a combination of natural (sometimes called organic) results, paid inclusions (directories) and pay-per-click, or PPC, ads.

But why is SEO so critical to the success of your business online? The holy grail for online marketers centers around getting your site on the first page of a Google (GOOG Quote) search results page. Why Google? Because it currently owns well over half the market of all searches.

If you further optimize your site in such a way that it brings in quality traffic, you'll get the ultimate return on your investment (assuming you have a solid back office process). And if you've optimized well for Google, you'll rank well in the other major search engines, such as Yahoo! (YHOO Quote) and MSN, as well. ...