Hi John,

The domain name you choose can be a factor.  For example, if a firm is called Dynamic Solutions and sells accounting software, a domain name accountingsoftware.com would rank better for the phrase "accounting software" than dynamicsoftware.com.  Some people also think a hyphen helps, so accounting-software.com would rank even better.

Here is a very condensed list of some of the factors that affect ranking along with things you can do to help.

1.  Have a text rich site - search engines ignore the graphics on your site.

2.  Have text links to each page of your site - search engines can't "push" your navigation buttons..

3.  Avoid Flash and frames when designing your site.

4.  Avoid content management systems that don't let you have a different title tag on each page.

5.  Research to find out what key words are getting the most traffic with less competition using tools like NicheFinder.

6.  Set up a single page of your site for each high traffic key word, using the key word in the title and content of the site.

7.  Manually submit your site to search engines and directories.  I have a list of free search engines and directories where you can submit your site to.

8.  Try to get high ranking sites to link to yours.  A good way to do this is to write lots of articles and publish them in article directories on the web.  I also maintain a list of free article directories you can submit your articles to.

You can use a tool like Web Position Gold to analyze your site and help you adapting your site to improve your ranking.

Gaining higher ranking is a lot of work with no guarantee of success because the search engines keep changing the way they rank sites.  You should not rely on search engine optimization as your primary source of traffic, but it can be effective as part of an overall traffic building program.

Garland Coulson, "The E-Business Tutor"
Download my FREE e-book, "Promote Your Web Site for Free"
Moderator, Internet Marketing Tools

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