"SEO", which stands for "Search Engine Optimization" , is the process of attempting to increase a website's search engine rankings for various popular search engines through a combination of "on-site" and "off-site" actions designed to improve the chances that major search engines will include your website in search results for specific keyword combinations.

Assuming you are already aware of the major search engines we're talking about (Google, Yahoo, and Bing), the first thing to learn in regards to SEO is the significance of "Keywords", and more accurately - "Keyword Phrases".

As you probably know, keywords are what you use to initiate a search in any search engine. But what is important to know about Keywords in terms of Search Engine Optimization, is to focus on the Keyword Phrases that are being used by your prospective customers to find your products and services.

Keyword Phrases, also known as "keyphrases" are groupings of words used to initiate a search, such as "build my website". While identifying these Keyword Phrases for your market may sound like guesswork, there are several tools such as WordTracker and others that help you locate and pick out keyword phrases that fit your marketing strategies according to the number of searches made using that exact keyword phrase as well as the number of other sites competing for that phrase in the search engine. The shorter and more generic the keyword phrase, the higher the number of searches will be, as well as the number of other websites competing for those keywords.

The goal of researching keyword phrases is to build a list of phrases that you want to target in terms of optimizing your site for your market. While I've seen lists hundreds of phrases long, I suggest starting with 20 keyword phrases to start with for the purpose of optimizing your website.

Once you have completed the process of developing your list of keyphrases, you're now ready to start using these keyphrases in your website, press releases, and off-site SEO campaign material (more on this to come soon).