• Page Title: The page title is the text that appears in the blue bar at the top of your browser. Google uses the page title (also called the title tag) to identify pages and show users the relevance of the page. The page title also shows up as the link when a search result is returned. Keep title tags short and precise, between 8-9 words. Every page should have a different unique and relevant page title.
• Metadata: While meta tags aren't as important as they used to be, including your main keywords in your page metadata can help Google differentiate between different pages. Make sure your metadata is specific to each individual page and that it doesn't include any words that are not related to the text of that page.
• URL: The URL is the web address of a web page. Including relevant keywords in the page URL can help your rankings, so work with your webmaster to create static URLs with keywords included. Strike a balance, though ? don't try to have 10 different keywords in a URL.
• Text: The content of the page should be relevant to the topic mentioned in your title tag, metadata and URL. Make sure you mention your keywords as well as other words that relate to the basic theme of the page.

Please note: Lots of people focus on things like keyword density (the number of times the keyword is mentioned) and keyword patterns (where the keyword is found, like in the first paragraph, first sentence, last sentence, etc.). Google algorithms continue to become more intelligent, and in my opinion, your best bet is to instead write your content with the user in mind. Write for your visitors and you will almost always create content that Google "likes" too.

Think of it this way: Being number one in the search rankings is important, but if you're number two and you've optimized your content for the user, you'll probably get more repeat visitors and sales than if you create pages focusing exclusively on getting better search rankings.

If you currently operate a website, your webmaster can help you with each of the items above.

If you're developing a new site, be sure your site is set up properly from the ground up. Make sure you can create title tags for each page, name each page with a separate URL, and include page specific metadata. The last thing you'll want to do is to go back later and correct any basic site structure problems that you could have done right the first time.

Take Advantage of Internal Links
Internal links are links from pages on your site to other pages on your site. (In this case I'm referring to links within your text, not to navigation bar links.) You can improve your page rankings by linking directly to pages on your website by using one of your keywords as the link text. Google will follow those links and know your page is relevant for that topic. You've probably noticed Wikipedia uses internal links extensively; whenever a word is used that has a relevant article somewhere else on Wikipedia, that word gets an internal link.

Let's go back to our Napoleon example. If a page on your site is devoted to Napoleon, and you also have a page devoted to the Duke of Wellington, link occurrences of "Duke of Wellington" on the Napoleon page to the Duke's page ? and when you mention Napoleon on the Duke's page, link back to the Napoleon page. Your site will be more convenient for visitors and you will improve your search rankings too.

Get Relevant Inbound Links
Inbound links are links to your site from other sites. Relevant inbound links are links from sites that contain content related to your site. If you sell computer hardware, an inbound link from a software site is relevant; an inbound link from a pet supply store is not.

Google follows inbound links and uses them as a popularity contest of sorts; the more inbound links you have from relevant sites, the higher your page rankings. When you have links from "authority" sites ? sites Google ranks highly ? your pages will rank even higher. Again, getting inbound links is not just a way to optimize your site for SEO purposes; each inbound link also creates a natural way for a visitor to find you by following that link.

Your goal is to get as many relevant inbound links as possible. Find sites that provide related products or related services that don't specifically compete with you. Ask for an inbound link to the relevant page. (You may also decide to link back to their site, but only do this with relevant content that makes sense for your readers. Don't trade links with the sole purpose of better rankings.)