There are “dummies” guides to everything these days and so there is no shortage of search engine optimization for dummies websites (SEO) on the internet. All these sources do contain useful information of some kind (Google’s inputs are the best because theirs is be biggest search engine); the problem arises out of the fact that everyone has different ideas of how optimization should be done. There are, however, some issues on which there appears to be general agreement and this is where any search engine optimization for dummies should begin. Here are two very basic rules which, if followed, will get dummies started off on the right foot and from which they can go on to more advance search engine optimization.

Newbies often get carried away with the idea of using keywords – a tactic that can backfire on them because search engines are very sophisticated and will skip any sites that they feel are artificially stuffed with keywords to boost their ranking in the search results. Before worrying about keywords, make sure that the content of your website is clear, concise and relevant because the final aim is not just to get people to your site but to get them to buy what you are selling and garbled content is not the way to do that. Once you have what you want to say in place, use a website like Google AdWords to research what are the best keywords for you to use in your page and revise your material to integrate them in a natural and seamless way. A good thumb rule to keep in mind is to make sure your keywords are as short and simple as possible.

You need to balance the use of keywords because if you are caught stuffing, and you will be- new technology means that search engines can find keyword stuffed site and block them – you will be in trouble, so keep your keyword density below 3%. It can be higher if the keywords really fit in naturally into the text, but even then the normal limit is 7% keyword density. Since search engines place importance on keywords used in titles, make sure you use them in your page titles and also in the headers. Also use keywords as links to other pages of the site as these are also noticed by the search engines.

Okay, you now know the first steps of search engine optimization for dummies but you need to keep on learning – things move fast in the cyber world and keeping abreast of the new developments in how search engines work will enable you to keep your site high in the search results.  Staying on top of SEO takes time.