Search engines like Google and others similar, are critical to helping people connect with the web businesses they are searching for. There are companies out there that claim to get your page rankings so high that you’ll gladly pay high prices to make it happen. Not every website can or wants to go that route however.

Getting organic web traffic is usually one of the most desirable goals in web promotion. This definition means when someone types in a search engine a word or phrase, these are the websites the search pulls up. This is different than the paid ads you find to the right column, which can be a very expensive route to go. Here’s what search engine optimization comes down to:

1. Content is key. Real content that is interesting for real people. Not just picking a keyword or phrase and writing a bunch of garbage that really makes no sense in order to trick the search engine spiders, otherwise known as keyword stuffing. You really don’t want your keywords to be much above 2-4% of the overall content.

2. Links back to your site from other’s sites provide validation. The more links particularly links that relate to your site’s content, the higher your page ranking will be. Methods to get link backs range from link exchanges with other websites in related topics, to writing articles about the topic you’re dealing with, to social bookmarking sites and such.

3. New and fresh content. You can’t just post a page and expect to keep the same page ranks. Your website should have new content. This is important not just for web crawlers, but for human visitors too. If they can anticipate to read new and interesting material at least three times a week preferably more, they’ll keep returning. It takes an average of seven visits before someone takes action such as post on a forum or purchase a product.

4. Navigational links that are clear and make sense from your main home page. There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to find what you are looking for easily, most visitors will leave quickly if it’s seems too confusing to find what they are looking for.

5. Text means everything. The search engine spiders ignore Javascript and graphics and until recently couldn’t read text in Flash animations. If the spiders can’t read these items, it doesn’t help your page rankings at all. So you need plenty of real content on your site.

The real secret of long term success in search optimization is to make your web site as usable as you can. Make it easy to navigate for real people, who want to read about your niche, and with content that makes them come back.