Search Engine Optimization...Sounds boring.

Well it kind of is. But it's kind of interesting, too. Search Engine Optimization is essentially the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or algorithmic") search results. (Thank you Wikipedia)

So what does it mean to you, the webmaster? A lot. The most exhilarating part of the web design process (for me) is all about color, layout, typefaces, backgrounds, graphics, oh geesh you get the idea. However, the cold hard truth is that a beautiful website does your client no favors if search engines can't find that little sucker.

Google has a whole lot of resources for you to check out; here is the main page for Webmasters concerning SEO. Make sure to check out the Search Engine Optimization Guide at the top of that page. It's a handy little PDF and that's where I'm getting most of my info. Another helpful place is the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog.

I'm just going to touch on the first suggestion today, and it's pretty simple (collective sigh of relief): Indicate Page Titles by using Title Tags.

If you didn't know, a title tag tells both users and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. It shows up at the very top of your browser. Use the following suggestions from Google to title your pages.

1. Choose a title that effectively communicates the topic of the page's content. Accurately describe the page's content.
   
2. Avoid: choosing a title that has no relation to the content on the page using default or vague titles like "Untitled" or "New Page 1"
3. Create unique title tags for each page. Each of your pages should ideally have a unique title tag, which helps Google know how the page is distinct from the others on your site.
   
4. Avoid: using a single title tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages
5. Use brief, but descriptive titles. Titles can be both short and informative. If the title is too long, Google will show only a portion of it in the search result.
   
6. Avoid: using extremely lengthy titles that are unhelpful to users stuffing unneeded keywords in your title tags.

Pretty easy first step to search engine optimization. Remember, it's so very important when designing websites. Happy Designing!