In this part . . .
T
he basics of search engine optimization are surpris-
ingly, um, basic. In fact, you may be able to make
small changes to your Web site that make a huge differ-
ence in your site’s ranking in the search results.
This part starts with the basics. I begin by explaining
which search engines are important. You may have heard
the names of dozens of sites and heard that, in fact, hun-
dreds of search engines exist. You’ll be happy to hear that
the vast majority of search results are provided by no
more than four systems, and half of all the results come
from a single company.
You also discover how to make some quick and easy
changes to your Web site that may fix serious search
engine problems for you. On the other hand, you may dis-
cover a significant (and common) problem in your site
that must be resolved before you have any chance of get-
ting into the search engines at all, let alone ranking well.
This part of the book also includes basic information on
how to create a Web site that works well for both visitors
and search engines, and you find out about one of the
most important first steps you can take: carrying out a
detailed keyword analysis.
