I'm a big fan of search. That may seem obvious, but when we consider how far we've come in the last few decades, it really is outstanding. Search engine optimization is obviously good for business, but when you consider it in the context of the consumer it really is very important. You have to look at the search market just like any other market. It's always going to be difficult to get any group of people to do anything unless there is money in it. It would be impossible for google to properly index the web if sites didn't take the proper SEO precautions. With that in mind, there are literally hundreds of SEO guidelines and tools available to ensure that your site can be found.

This SEO piece is for me I'm a huge fan of website grader. My favorite part about this tool is that it takes into account lots of different types of content and then ranks your site on a scale of one to a hundred. This is supposed to somewhat accurately decide how well you will rise through the search rankings. I especially like this site because it takes into account how much of any given SEO strategy you are using. For example, if you have a lot of links, but are weak in other areas you will still rank favorably, because links are important. If you are using blogging as a tool for inreasing your search rankings, then it takes the ranking of your blog into consideration. It's also nice, because it provides simple and measurable steps that you can take to get it right.

I like to think of the web as a kind of 'economics of information.' It's very similar to actual economics, except that instead of money you pay in knowledge. Now, of course you can pay good money for SEO knowledge, but the beauty of it is that much of the good information is already available for free. SEO can be a bit of a crap shoot, but if you are representing yourself honestly there is no reason to believe that anything is impossible. Web 2.0 is here and there is MUCH more content than there once was. There is really a world for everyone here, and proper SEO practices will ensure that the best content for you rises to the top. Some terms are indeed very competitive. This competition keeps the web healthy. It's a big pie and there's enought to go around.