Search Engine Optimization is the techniques and strategies used to build websites and make them friendly to be indexed by the search engines.
How your website ranks in Google and the other search engines is the result of your optimization skills.
A top Google ranking is considered as a valuable piece of real estate.
It is akin to having a storefront on a very busy street.
It is important to be at the top of a Google page because few people actually click links that are listed on the second or third pages.
The attention span of a searcher is very short so being on top of the first page is critical.
It is possible to reach the top if you know how to place your keywords and the competition that you are up against.
The easiest method of getting listed at the top of a Google ranking page is by using keyword meta tags in your website code.
A meta tag is a line of code embedded in your website that describes its content but is not visible to the reader.
The code is especially important to search engine spiders as they capture the relevant information on your website.
Your keywords, content and algorithms are sent back for indexing and that will determine your position in Google and the other search engines.
To be at the top, you also need to build on link exchanges with other relevant websites.
Spend time building this link exchanges by participating in forums on relevant topics, writing articles and press releases.
I find that writing articles for article directories as the most effective because there are practically thousands of publishers hungry on content for their websites.
Most of the article directories are free with EzineArticles and GoArticles being at the forefront.
There are practices to avoid when optimizing your website.
Today's search engine spiders are intelligent enough to look at the placement of keywords.
Overuse of keywords is as good as spamming and you will be penalized for that.
Your content and keyword also has to flow grammatically correct or else you will rank lower.
At whatever ranking your website is currently on, you can improve on it with the simple SEO techniques above.
Tweaking your website is also fun because you can see the improvement in the rankings as you progress.
And as you gain more experience in SEO optimization, you will find it faster and easier to be at the top of a Google ranking page.