To achieve something you must know what you want to achieve. Search engine optimization is no different and the first thing you need is your aim - your target.

The target of any search engine optimization strategy should be to get listed in the top 10 websites in the top three search engines (Google, MSN and Yahoo) for the search terms that most relate to what your website (or individual webpages) are offering...be it a product, service or free information.

2. Analysis

Analysis therefore involves two things. Firstly, working out which keywords (search terms) you want to target. Once you've determined the search market that you want to "connect" with the second stage of analysis involves finding out who is currently at the top of the search engines for your favored search terms and breaking down what search engine optimization they have carried out to get where they are. If you can uncover your competitors strategy you can replicate and better it.

Furthermore, an important part of search engine optimzation is to know its function in the wider landscape of website promotion. A successful search engine optimization strategy is therefore one that does what is necessary - no more and no less - to achieve top 10 rankings for its target search terms. Knowledge of what is neccessary is therefore fundamental to successful search engine optimization and the easiest way to get this industry specifc knowledge is to analyze what your successful competitors have done.

3. Implementation

Through your competitor analysis you will have uncovered the onpage and offpage optimization that those successful websites have implemented to get there top positions. With this knowledge you will know what you need to do in order to get to the top page...the onpage optimization factors you will need to have in place and the offpage optimization you will need to carry out to prove your relevance to your target search terms.

4. Monitoring

The process of implementation is a gradual one which should last over several months. During this time monitoring is important to work out how your strategy is impacting upon your actual positions in the search engines. This will enable you to make neccessary adjustments / improvements to your strategy and is the real learning ground out of which SEO knowledge comes. Once you've implemented SEO and watched it take effect on one website, replicating the process for other websites in other niche markets becomes very easy, altough still as time consuming. As it has been said on many other websites...there are no shortcuts.

Go to Step 3 - Choosing Your Target Keywords

SEO Self Help recommends SEO Elite for successful search engine optimization campaigns.