If you want to rank high in the search engines, make sure you read check out this page and there is additional information in the other pages I have listed in the links section.  Most SEO companies will rip you off and there are ton of websites who have also been banned because of the methods that the SEO companies use. If you think that the only way you can rank high in the search engines is by paying a SEO company, think again. After being ripped off by 2 SEO companies, I decided to teach myself how to optimize my website and once I understood how the game was played, it became very easy. I optimized my own retail website in 2005 and have been sharing my SEO basics with others ever since. It was the success of our high ranking websites that I created Easywebsite101, so that everyone can see how easy it is to create and optimize a website. You do not need to have any special knowledge or skills. If others can use my SEO basics to succeed, anyone can.

• SEO Basics #1: If you want to rank high in the search engines, you must make sure that your website is optimized.
  Fact:  Simply hiring a SEO company or registering your website with the search engines won't work.  Whether you want to rank high in Google, Yahoo, or any of the other search engines, you must make sure that your website is actually optimized for the search engines using the SEO Basics that the search engines recommend.
   

• SEO Basics #2: Your website needs to have lots of relevant information.
  Fact: If your website only has a few pages, you are not going to rank high in Google or any other search engine.  It's that simple!!  Do a search for any product or service and you will see that virtually all top ranking websites have lots of information in many different web pages.  This is one of the reasons why I shun templates or some of the websites that promise great looking websites in minutes.
   

• SEO Basics #3: You need to place appropriate information where it matters.
  Fact: Some website owners think that you can just add a ton of information in all of the pages and that's it.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  To rank high in the search engines, you need to know how to add the information and what you need to avoid.  There is a difference between attracting the search engines and confusing them.
   

• SEO Basics #4: Make sure that your pictures are optimized.
  Fact:  The vast majority of website owners have no idea how important pictures are and simply think that they are there to display the products or services.  The search engines pay very close attention to pictures and if you don't optimize them, you will not rank well.  My websites rank high in the search engines in both the search and image results.  This is not by chance and taking care of the pictures is extremely important.
   

• SEO Basics #5: Stay away from automated link-exchanges or other SEO gimmicks.
  Fact:  I have already been victim to two different SEO companies that almost got my website banned from the search engines.  Many SEO companies use techniques or products that are shunned by the search engines and using them in one of easiest ways to get punished by the search engines with a low or no ranking.  Read my other web pages and you will see that using these so-called "Experts" can not only cost you a lot of money, but will also get you nowhere.
   

• SEO Basics #5: Check out what the search engines want and say.
  Fact:  Google is an excellent source for SEO information and it has a whole section devoted to this topic.  If you want to rank high in the search engines, you need to know what the search engines like and dislike.
   

• Lots of additional tips.
  Fact:  I have added many other SEO basics in my book that not only explains what you need to do, but more importantly how to do it.  Assuming that you are a beginner or run a small website, I have created simple step by step instructions that tell you exactly what to do, which button to press, and just as importantly, what not to do.