Optimization is the action of making changes to a web page in order to make it show up higher in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Optimization is all about analysis, record keeping and experimentation.

Optimization will get your site listed better. It may not get you to the #1 position. It depends on too many factors and in some cases, the competition is so far ahead of you that you just can't catch up.

Google claims to have 200 (or so I hear, others say 100) different items that they take into account when they rank a web page. Each of these items gets a score. All these things get analyzed by the algorithm and determine where a page will show up for a given search.

Some of the most important parts of a web page to develop are Headline tags, Keywords, Keyword Density, Title tag and I maintain that META tags are an absolute necessity. A new twist on the game is that Google is often using the META description tag as the description in their Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). They used to use a few words here and a few words there from all over your page, often contain the keywords you searched for. Lately, by far it seems, the description listed for searches comes from the META description tag!

Each and every page that Google indexes gets a rating which is called PageRank. You should download and install the Google Tool Bar which will allow you to instantly see the PageRank for every site that you visit. You can also search Google right there from the toolbar, no matter where you are, and it's got one of the best pop-up blockers going. You can download and install the Google Toolbar from their site at toolbar.google.com.

A little further into this course I provide you with my credentials, as they are, and hope you get to know me and trust me at least a little through that introduction. Most of the information I am conveying to you, that is considered the right way to do things, is from the W3C. The W3C is the official word on HTML, how HTML and the WWW is evolving, and just about everything else related to the web and the code and processes involved in getting your message onto the WWW. Here is a brief thought on what they say about themselves: The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding..

The reason I go by what the W3C says, is because they are the bottom line. They wrote the code so to speak, so I figure they know how it should be used. Since proper and valid HTML is one of the important parts of making a website Search Engine Friendly I think it is well worth following their advice, and instructions, on proper HTML. This is another reason why I consider this course to be superior to the others I've seen.