You’ve heard all the hype about search engine optimization. You know that to register high on search engines, you need to be strategic.

And while really delving into the SEO world might require an outside firm or consultant who specializes in search engine readability (hint hint), there are a few things you can do yourself to optimize your site for search engines.

Analyze!

In order to measure the success of your efforts, you’ll need a benchmark. This is why it is vital to monitor where you currently stand in search engine results. There are simple (and free) tools out there – like the Google Toolbar—that can help you to see where your page is currently ranking. You’ll also want to check your referrer log to track where your visitors are coming from and how they’re finding your page.

Get some keyword action.

You may have heard the buzz around “keywords,” but have you actually incorporated any into your website? Or identified them for that matter? There are several tools you can use to determine the best keywords for your site, but you can create many yourself using a little logic and the help of search engines. Think about it – what words or phrases would your customers use to find a company who does what you do? Once you identify those, make sure to incorporate them – inconspicuously – into your website content. Keep in mind that the title page and your page headers are the most important spots on your page to incorporate keywords.

Link away!

There’s one thing you need to know about search engines – they love links! You can improve your SEO quickly and easily by incorporating internal links onto all of your pages. Make sure every page links back to the home page, site archives, etc. Make sure that the anchor text for these links include your identified keywords so that there are several relevant points on your page.

Got some quick SEO tricks that have worked for you? Let us know and we’ll share them.