SEO stands for "search engine optimization" or "search engine optimizer".

English folk call it "search engine optimisation".

If you stop and think about it, it's an odd phrase because we don't optimize search engines, we optimize web pages for search engines.

However, hardly anyone talks about web page optimization.

I'd better warn you that, although I earn a good living from affiliate programs as a result of getting free traffic from search engines, I don't claim to be an expert search engine optimizer.

But I do know where to go for expert information.

What follows is a brief introduction, a rough guide to optimizing web pages so they'll be found in search engines.

Three things you must learn about SEO

1. The most important thing to understand is that you should take the time to learn SEO skills before you build a web site. SEO is NOT something you tack on afterwards.

Right from the first bit of HTML, the first word you write, you need to have search engine optimization in mind.

If you ignore this warning, you risk owning a site that ranks poorly and you'll have to do a lot of rejigging to improve it.

A marked exception is if you're using Site Build It! to build your site. It's a site-building, site-hosting, site-promoting tool used by thousands of small businesses and affiliates. It allows you to concentrate on creating good content and not worry about the techie stuff. It actually teaches you SEO skills as you build the site.

2. The second most important thing to learn is that search engines look at on-page and off-page factors.

Fiddling endlessly with your site won't help you at all if no one is linking to your site. You need lots of high quality, relevant links to your site if you want to rank well.

3. Which brings us to the third most important point which, sadly, many people overlook...

Build a useful, interesting site. If you do that, it will be much easier to encourage other sites to link to your site.

Search engine tips

For excellent search engine tips updated every month, the best source on the Net is Stephen Mahaney's Unfair Advantage Book On Winning The Search Engine Wars. This is the source the professionals use. I've been a subscriber for years.

Google Community

Elliot Lee's Google Community is a forum which discusses everything related to Google - including AdSense, Gmail, Orkut and SEO.