When you first start selling online, SEO (search engine optimization) is a phrase you see a lot of, but in reality what exactly does it mean?

This is a quick introduction to SEO basics:

Meta tags Each and every web page on your site should have it's own unique page title, description, keywords etc.. Remember to keep descriptions short and to the point.

Although keywords are less important these days you should still add them. Use 25 or less per web page, and make sure you use different ones for different pages on you website.

You can see the meta tags for web sites by clicking "view" and then "page source" in your browser menu.

Meta tags look like this:

Page Title:

< title>Showbiz, entertainment and media news - Digital Spy< /title>

Meta Description:

< meta name="description" content= "Entertainment news about the biggest TV shows, films and celebrities, updated around the clock." / >

Meta Keywords:

< meta name ="keywords" content="showbiz, big brother, x factor, torchwood, doctor who, tv, media, sky, freeview, cable" / >

If you're having problems spotting meta tags amongst the code, then click ctrl F and search for "meta" on the web page.

Links

You build links to your website - one way links are links from one website to you - reciprocal links are links where a site links to you and you link back

SEO "hats"

White hat seo ~ good natural ways of optimizing your website, like using meta tags, writing good content and gaining quality backlinks from related websites.

Black hat seo ~ sneaky and not so honest ways of optimizing your website which can get ultimately get you banned from search engines. This includes naughty stuff like using white text on a white background to add lots and lots of keywords to a site which are only visible to search engines.

Optimizing your website brings you free targeted traffic. -- Alison Rothwell

Why is it all Important?

Optimizing your website brings you free targeted traffic. Millions of people search online for millions of things every single day and most online purchases begin with the customer using search engines of some kind, in fact, over 90% of internet users use a search engine.

SEO also means more targeted visitors, which in turn means more sales and higher conversion rates for you. It also helps you to develop a strong brand that is recognizable in your marketplace or your industry.

Sites which rank highly in search engines give customers the impression that the website is a professional market leader.