These are the top ten SEO tricks you should know when optimizing your site for search engines. These tricks will help score your site to a high position on the rankings.

Be Unique

There nothing is more exciting than something totally unique, especially in today's Internet. One fantastic side benefit is that searchers will use keywords that belong only to you. Build a web site that shows your uniqueness. Create a unique theme so that you will boldly stand out from the other sites on the Internet. This way you will never have to obtain in-bound links. People will want to link to you and your site.

Do Some Killer Keyword Research

Do it right from the start – nothing else matters is search engine optimization if you do not get the foundation of your SEO correct in the beginning. All great SEO foundations are made up of optimal keyword research and of course, selection. In addition, do not aim for highly competitive keywords. Go for a wider reach using a "long tail" approach. However, if you are in a niche market, or the keywords are not highly competitive, use the targeted keyword selection approach. Otherwise, go wide in your keyword selection.

Hot Keyword Rich Anchor Text and Domain Names

Make your domain name keyword rich. For added pay off, be unique. Directories and search engines look at the domain names when ranking. They benefit is small when using keywords in your domain name, however to your searchers it is a huge deal.

Remember, search engines also use link popularity to determine ranking. They also look at the anchor text of the inbound links that point to your website. The text used in an anchor link pointing to your site should always contain your keywords. By using keywords in your domain, it encourages other webmasters to use the same keywords in the anchor text when they give you an inbound link from their website. If the keywords are in your domain, you will get links pointing to your site, which increases your popularity.

Keep your domain name easy to say, easy to spell and short. Better yet, create a buzz factor or hip feeling domain name.

Fantastic Folders, Paths, and File Names

The keyword rich theory also applies. Folders and file names should be short, descriptive, and easy to read. This allows searchers to see the bolded, relevant words in the search engine results – from your domain name down to the actual HTML file name.

Keep the path shallow – do not bury your web pages too deep. A rule of thumb is if the users has to click more than three times to see the information they are looking for, it is buried too deep.

Another tip is to separate keywords with a hyphen or underscore to make reading them much easier – this works really well in domain or file names.

Content Wins Every Time if it is Radical and Relevant

Search engines use robots to search text to index and rank your web pages. Give them what they want – relevant keyword-rich text. Write for humans first, then the search bots second. Put yourself in your searchers' shoes. What will people type into a search query field to find my website? Then give them what they want with relevant content and keywords lightly drizzled throughout the text.

Touching Page Titles that ROCK!

Part of the first impression searchers usually get after they look at search results is how the web page titles weigh in the algorithms. This is important to understand. It is crucial to have top keywords in your page titles – in the order that a searcher typed into the query field. Put the top category keywords at the beginning, in search order appearance. Each page should be unique, with three most important and three least important keywords in each. Consider adding your location where you do business.

Meaningful Description and Meta Keyword Tags

Many SEO experts say that Meta Tags or search engine keyword description tags are no longer used. There is proof that contradicts this statement. Play it safe and use them. Write a great description tag with call to action words like "free shipping", "gift with purchase", or other attention getting phrases. As well, they are better than no description. Surveys show that what searchers read most is the search query description.

H1 to H6 Tags

Searchers scan before reading text. For one main reason. Bold headings point out what is on the page. If the headings do not have any of the keywords or subject that the searcher is looking for, they will leave the site and go back to their search results.

Links – Love Them!

The Internet got started with links. Hypertext links are what search engines follow to rank and index web pages. If the spiders cannot simply and easily follow the links to your website from other sites, then your site will not be found – which is the whole point of having a website. The more links you have pointing to your website, the more your site will be found.

Quick SEO Ranking Tricks and Guarantees

Ok, so there are no guarantees. If you are a patient person, you will have success with SEO. Search Engine Optimization takes time, as in months. If you are not a patient person, check out Google's AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing accounts.

Do not take any unethical risks with search engines or searchers. This will get you banned. Little unethical changes will cause your site to disappear from Google, MSN, Yahoo!, and other search engines. Your competitors will be checking your site often for anything out of the ordinary, and if they find anything, they will be quick to report you to the search engine in hopes of getting you banned. One less competitor.

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