How high does your Web site rank?

Google--arguably the Web's leading search engine--has officially become a household verb. A friend mentions the new restaurant down the road and you Google it. Need to read up on some best practices for your business? Just Google it.

Someone wants to find a Web site like yours? They Google it. But if your site doesn't know Google very well, you may not show up until the umpteenth page of the search results. And studies show that users generally don't look past page three.

If you want your site to be seen, you've got to be friends with search engines like Google.

How do search engines work?

A search engine sends programs called spiders to crawl through the Internet looking for Web sites and pages to put in its index. Your Web site's overall structure, keywords and phrases in your site's header, metatags, and overall content, and several other factors play a big part in this hunt.

The way you play the game (or practice SEO) determines how much the search engine likes you and how much traffic goes to your Web site.

How do I play nicely with search engines?

Optimizing your Web site is a sure way to become friends with search engines. SEO is simply the continual and skilled practice of optimizing your Web site in terms of the two main things the spiders look for:

• Relevance-relevance happens with the increased number of times the search phrase or keywords occur in your document, especially when these words are in your title or subheaders.

• Popularity-your site gains popularity every time another web page links to it.  It helps if the page linking to your site is similar in content.

Is it worth it?

Taking the time to practice SEO can move you from page umpteen to page one in search engine results. This naturally leads to increased traffic, sales, and brand visibility. SEO is a vital part in Increasing Your Internet worth!