Search Engine Optimization (SEO) focuses on enhancing a website or web page's Internet presence by gaining a higher position on search engine results pages, commonly referred to as SERP's. The process of SEO involves a combination of programming, development, content management, linking and more.  There are  two main categories of Search Engine Optimization: On-site SEO and Off-site SEO. On-site SEO focuses on manipulating the code, content, and structure of the website or web pages with the goal to create more optimal results from search engines in relation to specific search queries.

On-site SEO Keyword Research - Keyword research is the first step in search engine optimization.  By utilizing different online research tools, specific keywords and keyword phrases can be analyzed in terms of their search volume or search popularity.  Selected keywords can then be used to optimize web pages by inserting them in Meta data which is part of the underlying programming code of a website, and through Content Optimization which is the visible text and images of each web page. Meta data or meta tags are HTML codes that are not seen by users, but instead provide data directly to search engines. Meta tags include Title, Description, and Keywords which are developed from keyword research.
 
Off-site SEO consists mainly of developing and gaining links to a website from outside websites. In the past, Google developed the idea that the number of links to a website was a key measurement of the site's importance. More recently, however, links from "high authority" websites have far more importance to ranking than the quantity of backlinks.

Content Optimization - Content optimization may be the most important component of SEO. In the business of search engine optimization, content is king.  Creating content that is optimally prepared for search engine indexing is the focus of any SEO campaign and it's an art that blends the creative skills of a copywriter and the technical skills of an SEO specialist.  Content optimization is about prominently and tactfully including select keywords and keyword phrases into the copy on a web page to appeal to prospects searching for specific goods and services.