As more and more competitors and rivals enter into the world of online commerce, it becomes increasingly difficult to win the attention of prospective customers. If your business is to succeed online, you must first master the art of search engine optimization, or SEO. Use these tips and tricks to create a competitive edge online.

Optimize a single page for a single keyword phrase. If you try to include too many keywords on a page it will get confusing. Focusing on a single topic leads you to include better content which readers will enjoy and come back for frequently. A loyal readership transcends search engine optimization!

To improve your search engine optimization, find out which keywords are used most to describe the concepts and ideas behind your website or business. This will mean that people searching for information or services related to your business, are most likely to find it, as it will be using words which are most meaningful to them.

Your articles may be for search engines, but they are still going to be read by real people. Do not insult the readers by writing content that is sloppy, false, or full of fluff just to reach a certain rank. It may seem like a smart idea to most new site owners, but this approach never works.

To maximize the effect of your photo ALT descriptions, include specific keywords like image or picture. Many people using image searches use one of these two keywords. Taking advantage of that will give your picture a higher ranking and bring you even more image search traffic. Try to vary what keywords you use to attract traffic from a variety of sources.

Use the blogging community to promote your blog. Ask people you know to post a link to your site, and comment on different blogs. You can also write guest posts on blogs related to your business: most blogs will allow you to link to your site when you do that.

Flash frames and other program-driven content are murder for search engine optimization. Since flash and similar programs display content as an image rather than text that can be parsed by computer programs, none of the content in these programs can be recognized by search engines, and thus your rankings will plummet. Stick to plain text wherever possible to improve search engine rankings.

You should incorporate your location into some of the text phrases that are on your site. Key phrases such as the name of your company or services you provide can easily be combined with your location. This is a great way to help your site become a result when someone searches for the specific area in which you are located.

If you want consumers to visit your site or search for your products and services, it is especially important that you are willing to follow through with SEO principles in your site's coding and content. Follow the advice from this article and you will begin to see improvements in your site's traffic and efficiency.

Kanute Fleming is the founder and manager of Start-Online-Business-Guide. On his web pages you can find out more about website optimization, together with ideas and strategies on starting a web based business.