Introduction to search engine optimization

What is optimization?
Search engine optimization, also known as placement and positioning, is the process of improving a web site for higher search engine rankings. It's the first step in achieving higher rankings. Only after optimization can you submit a site and hope for good results.

This section is designed for webmasters and others interested in search engine promotion.

Optimization guide
Follow our easy guide to search engine optimization:

1. Search engines 101 - Find out how search engines work and how they differ from directories.

2. Factors that influence search engine rankings - Learn how search engines rank web sites. This section covers ranking factors such as HTML title, site design and link popularity.

3. Search engine information - Learn what makes each search engine unique. We provide tables containing the information you need to optimize for each of the major engines. For example, we will tell you who provides Hotbot's directory, what AltaVista considers "spam" and so on.

4. Doorway pages - Put your new knowledge to use by creating specially optimized pages for every search engine.

5. What engines don't like - Understand what spam is and why you should avoid it. We'll also tell you how to keep from being overlooked if you use dynamic content or frames.

6. Analyze your competition - Rely on one of the most useful techniques in search engine optimization to focus your efforts.

After you're done optimizing, it's time to submit your pages to search engines. But that's a whole different section.