Search Engine Optimization is something that can be very beneficial for most. Ironically, many small businesses and individuals with smaller websites do not consider search engine optimization as a viable option. This is understandable due to the fact that there are so many misconceptions about SEO. The industry is filled with Snake Oil salesman and it tends to get a bad rap. We have all heard of the offers to get your site to the top of the Search Engines in two weeks for a low monthly price of $30. Does that sound too good to be true? It is.

On the other hand, a thorough and well thought out campaign that targets on-site as well as off-site optimization can be costly. Most SEO firms charge heavily for their services and rightfully so as true search engine optimization can be resource intensive and time consuming.

So, what is the small business or individual to do? You don’t want to get caught in a scheme nor do you have the budget to pay for a huge campaign. Well, just because you are a small business does not mean your search engine presence has to be small. The best option for someone with a low budget is to do basic SEO in-house and try to make your website as search engine friendly as possible.

Here are the basics, and even some free resources to help you out:

Keyword Research
I cannot stress how important this is. Keyword research is the basis for your SEO campaign’s success. You are looking for “diamond in the rough” keywords. These are keywords that get a heavier search volume, yet they have relatively little competition. After finding the most significant keywords, half the battle is won. For guidance, follow this mini-guide below, and leverage the recommended tools.

• Get to know your target market. How would they think? What would they search for? Compile a list.

• Use keyword tools to determine relative search volumes and trends. A few great tools include:
  
  Google Adwords
  MSN AdCenter
  Wordtracker

• Take these new keywords and now check for competition
• A quick search in Google or Yahoo to get a feel for the competition. Use quotes and/or brackets to view sites that are actually vying and competing for those exact keyword phrases. Why compete against the “800 lb gorilla”, when in certain instances merely making a keyword plural will give you more search volume and less competition.

• Finalize your keyword list by taking the ones with higher volumes of search and less competition. This will essentially become your “word checklist” to be dispersed throughout your website.

Content
Search engines cannot survive without content, it is their food supply and they eat it up. Content is king with SEO. Utilizing the keywords you have just found through your keyword research you create new and unique content for your site. Another option is to “sprinkle” these keywords into existing content whenever possible.

Meta Tags
Even though meta tags are cliché and over-used, they are still an important factor in providing proper information about a web page to search engine spiders. If this were the fashion industry, the title tags would be the timeless classic. At a minimum, make sure that you have the proper title tags optimized with your keywords. The description meta tag is still relevant and something to consider.

W3C Validation
CSS and HTML should be formatted according to the W3C standards because many search engines cannot properly index a site that has serious HTML errors. Make sure that your site is properly built according to the most recent webs standards. To do this, you can use the W3C Validation Tool.

Sitemap Creation
Sitemaps help search engines spiders understand precisely what your site is about and the hierarchy of the web pages. It gives them a link structure to follow. If your current site does not automatically generate this, you can use this Free Online Google Sitemap Generator to create one yourself.

Search Engine submission
Once you have completed the aforementioned steps, the site should be ready to submit to the major search engines. Here are the links…

http://www.google.com/addurl.html

http://www.bing.com/docs/submit.aspx

http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/in/free/request

Web Analytics
Web analytics measure the behavior of visitors to a website. You can use these tools to validate your keyword research. Are your keywords climbing the engine rankings? Are they brining in new visitors? Most importantly, are they attracting visitors that convert? There are plenty of free web analytics software and services available to help you reap the fruits of your SEO labor. Google Analytics is one of the better tools.

The bottom line here is don’t fall for an SEO scam nor pay prices that you really cannot afford. Here are the essentials (hopefully provide value for you) with provided resources. If there’s something that I’ve missed here, or if you have any additional tips for readers, let us know your comments.