Search Engine Optimization is the process of fine-tuning your website code and content to rank well in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN. The basics of the SEO process are to:

- Choose keywords and keyword phrases that describe what you do and that your target market will use to search for your services.

- Use those keywords throughout the code and text for your website.

- Place links back to your site, containing those keyword phrases, on other websites. The search engines look at incoming links from other sites-not at outgoing links from your site-to improve your rankings

There's a whole field of consulting built up around Search Engine Optimization, mainly because the search engines are constantly changing how they work, to discourage unethical or unfair Search Engine Optimization processes, such as loading a page with invisible keywords or using code in the page that specifies words that have nothing to do with your business.

Given the rate of search engine changes, you might wonder if SEO is cost-effective for your small business, or if your limited marketing budget would be better spent elsewhere. The benefits of SEO are:

- You'll get more visitors to your website. It naturally follows that if more people visit your site and learn about your fabulous products and services, then more people will buy from you.

- You'll get more inquiries. You get the thrill of getting calls and emails from clients you otherwise might never have met. Imagine, the phone rings, and it's a new potential client on the other end! You ask them how they found out about your services, and they say "Oh, I found you on Google." High search engine rankings will make finding new prospects easier.

- Your leads will pre-qualify themselves. Before the phone call or email even comes through to you, it's likely that the new prospect will read through your site and determine whether your services or products are a good match for their needs. This saves you time and effort in the sales cycle.

- SEO opens the doors to doing business internationally. There is no "Global Edition" of the Yellow Pages, but the Internet makes your business information available to everyone around the world... if they can find you. Being ranked well in your business category in the search engines is the first step towards a building a global business.

- Higher rankings give you more credibility. Google is a particularly respected search engine. Many buyers have consumer confidence in the companies that Google returns at the top of its results.

- Ranking well increases your visibility. Coming up in the search engine rankings is one more way to get noticed by your target market.

A caution on getting your site optimized for the Search Engines

Beware of SEO companies that offer optimization that sounds too good to be true-it probably is. If they offer to get you top-ranked search engine positioning in a short amount of time or for a small sum of money, then they are probably not going to use effective or ethical methods, and you won't get the positioning you want. Some of these companies even use methods that will result in your site being banned from Google, which will take you out of its index entirely, and it's very difficult to be allowed back in.

But don't let this scare you; using a little discretion, you will be able to find the perfect SEO company for your small business. And with its help-increasing your website's traffic and credibility-you just might take your small business to the level of big business!