As a small business with limited time or money for marketing, free traffic is key to your success. Once you've got the prerequisites, it's time to help your site move up in the search rankings.

Why is SEO powerful?

Search Engine Oprimization (SEO) helps move your site up the ranking for different terms that people search for. Suppose you are an upscale restaurant in lower manhattan. People who might be looking for a restaurant like yours might type american restaurants in new york or fancy restaurants in manhattan. If your restaurant appears on the first page, people will visit your website and some will make reservations.

How does SEO work?

Google's algorithm in particular depends on the links between sites on the web. In order for a site to rank high for a particular keyword, other sites have to link to it. The number and strength of the sites (for that keyword) that link to your site will determine your ranking.

The first step is to decide which keywords you would like to pursue. Is it american restaurants in new york or restaurants in manhattan or new restaurants? Google those terms to find out what appears there now. Are there any pages that have lists? See if there is a way to be included in the list. Other strategies are to see if a relevant blogger would write a story about your business and include a link. (Remember, if the blogger ordinarily blogs about kitchen knives and you operate a hotel, a link on their site won't help you much in the rankings).

The structure of the pages within your site is also important. Having pages with relevant titles or h1's will help google determine what keywords are important.

How do you measure SEO?

The best way to see whether your efforts are working is to set up Google Webmaster Tools. Within GWT, you can see how Google indexes and understands your site. It lists the keywords that google has extracted from your pages, which pages have links to your page, and how your page ranks for various searches.

You can also take the extra step of linking GWT with Google Analytics. This will help you see how people who come in through searches use your site.

What are the downsides of SEO?

Pursuing an SEO-heavy strategy puts you at the mercy of the search engines. Their strategies for ranking sites are (necessarily) held close to the chest, and may change frequently or without warning. It may take a while for an SEO strategy to take hold and begin to show progress. In the meantime, you may want to pursue other strategies.