Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is intriguing. There seems to be no fast-rule that guarantees success – it is a combination of factors, both on page and off, which sums up the most plausible explanation for hitting the ranks big time. Success with SEO is definitely not a 24-hour online miracle, although there are those claiming they can make your site rank high overnight.

Often with temporary results.

You definitely want your success to last for as long as search results affect your site’s traffic, thus, “un-learning” of the shortcuts and getting down to the basics again is commonsense.

Success in search engine optimization entails a hierarchy of efforts, big and small, which builds up a site’s dominance in the rankings of most search engines, within a moderate length of time. Often, those that make or break your site’s potential are matters, to your mind, are of the least consequence.

Title Tags. Beware of title tags that exceed more than eighty characters, including spaces. Title tags should carry those keywords or phrases you want to target, however, refrain from getting too wordy, with unclear pattern of thought.

Title tags should appear on each page of your website and should have significance to your page’s content. Listing down just the keywords on your title tag is frowned at by most search engines.

When search engines want to find out information regarding your site, they always refer to your site’s “index”, which in internet parlance is called a “meta tag”.

Meta tags should accurately describe your site and its pages.

Meta tags should capture the interest of the viewer at once, otherwise his attention will drift somewhere, and you lose your traffic. To attract attention, meta tags should not be overly long. Descriptive metas are considerably long if they exceed 250 words, including spaces.

You may use the same keyword phrases in your Title tags; however refuse to overdo a good thing. You should not repeat a keyword more than five times.

Some techniques can do the trick: both singular and plural forms of keywords can be utilized in your meta tags. This technique guarantees that whichever form the word is searched, your site is accessed.

Error in spelling can also help your site’s listing, provided you chose which error online users most commonly commit.

Heading Tags should also contain those keywords or keyword phrases you used in your Title Tag and Meta Tags, however heading tags should complement the content of your page, support unity of thought, and not refer to an irrelevant idea.

Full-length articles can be separated into sections, each section preceded by a heading tag.

The Copy on your page should not be too short, or too long. It has to be written in a logical manner, where thoughts connect and create harmony among paragraphs. A clear thought pattern makes for an easy read. Online users have not much time to spare, thus a minimum of 200 words per page is reasonable.

Text Hyperlinks should be optimized as well, by placing keyword, or keyword phrases either before or after the hyperlink.

Factors that make up an effective SEO are nothing but the basics energized with new approaches that work. Getting at the top rank of search results is not a destination but a journey – reaching the top doesn’t mean staying there- thus, continuous study and research on what could work the next time, before your competitors think about it, should be your business if you want to succeed and lead in the highly competitive world of the internet.