Marketing a web site takes time, cash, effort and energy.

There are no fast and easy solutions in effective search engine optimisation. In actual fact the term search engine optimisation by its very nature is an anathema to its intentions.

If your site is heavily geared towards search engines then it is not likely to be very human friendly and will contain vast amounts of irrelevancies to your visitors.

Search engines want a clean and concise 'this is what we sell or do' type of site. Meet that criteria and you are on your way to being listed more effectively without risk of penalty.

So the start point is in the website itself:

• Develop a web site plan - think of the visitors, how it is going to be seen.
• Develop the site according to the plan. It is very easy to be distracted and get tied down by sites
• Ensure compliance and accessibility

Then look at the marketing

• Search engines are not your only marketing source
• List your site with the search engines in particular Google, Yahoo and DMOZ
• Check your keywords and meta descriptions - these are used by the search engines to ensure relevancy in your listings
• Make sure you have a site map

Getting a prominent position takes time and effort.

Keep your site fresh with new and unique content whenever possible.

Use the above simple points as a site starting point and the effort will eventually pay dividends. However, do not expect immediate results. Most sites will not achieve a decent search engine position in their first 2 years after publication.

Fact is - the more you put into your site, the more likely you are to achieve quicker and greater results.