Every subject, or so it seems, has a dummies guide to it and so why should search engine optimization for dummies be an exception; there are innumerable websites on this subject.  All these sources do contain useful information of some kind (Google inputs are the best because theirs is be biggest search engine); the problem arises out of the fact that everyone has different ideas of how optimization should be done.  Luckily there are some basic points on which there seems to be general agreement and these are what are given here, the beginning point of search engine optimization for dummies.  Here are two very basic rules which, if followed, will get dummies started off on the right foot and from which they can go on to more advance search engine optimization.

Newbies often get carried away with the idea of using keywords; a tactic that can backfire on them because search engines are very sophisticated and will skip any sites that they feel are artificially stuffed with keywords to boost their ranking in the search results.  First of all begin by ensuring that the content of your webpage is well written, concise and relevant ‚Äì there is no point getting your webpage high in the results if people who come there are put off by the way your material is presented.  Once you have what you want to say in place, use a website like Google AdWords to research what are the best keywords for you to use in your page and revise your material to integrate them in a natural and seamless way.  A rule of the thumb is to keep your keywords and phrases as short and simple as possible.

When adding keywords to your content be careful about, stuffing‚ the forced use of keywords just to attract search engine attention because engines can now spot this and then the websites are blocked out of the search results so limit your keyword density to around 3%.  In case the keywords are such that they are common phrases or words that fit into the text as part of normal usage, you can think of a higher density, but be careful of stuffing.  Make sure that you use the keywords in your page title and in the headers and sub headers as most search engines place greater importance on keywords used in these places.  Also use keywords as links to other pages of the site as these are also noticed by the search engines.

If you follow these two simple steps, you are on your way to optimizing your website but remember that this is only search engine optimization for dummies and there is a lot more you need to learn, something you can do as you develop your online business.