The thought of search engine marketing can be rather mind-boggling, especially considering the staggering number of seemingly "secret" methods employed by the professional search gurus. There are, however, quite a few basic techniques that EVERYONE can use to boost your search engine results organically. Keep the following things in mind when trying to create effective organic search engine rankings:

1. META Tags
META tags are part of HTML but exist for the sole use of search engine spiders. These tags contain various information that the site owner wants to deliver to these spiders. Meta Tags include, but are not limited to:
a. Site Title
Title refers to the META/HTML tag that contains the page title, which SHOULD be determined by the contents of that page. Many designers pay little attention to the page content versus the title.
b. Keyword Tag
This tag generally refers to any word or phrase the user might search for in order to find a website or a page. Each variation of a keyword, such as the plural form of the word, is treated like a separate keyword. Phrases (i.e., a string of multiple keywords) are generally used interchangeably.
c. Description Tag
Refers to the information contained in one of the META tags that holds the description of the page and/or website. As the information contained in this tag is the information that is displayed immediately after the main link on many search engine results, it's a good idea to make this text "sell" the page or site content.

2. HTML Navigation
Most people like to use JavaScript or Flash for the main navigation on websites for the simple reason that you can include many links without taking up a lot of space on your page. While technically this method will work, JavaScript and Flash are not readable by the search engines. Create your navigation using HTML to ensure that the search engines can read your navigation and follow the links to your content pages.

3. Place Keywords in Your Page Content
Search engines scan your website for keywords. Including your keywords in your site content will help ensure that your site is "Content Rich" and more likely to be ranked higher in organic search engine rankings.

4. Use Flash Sparingly
Flash is very popular due to the visually appealing presentation one can achieve with its use. However, Flash cannot be read by search engines and, if used too frequently, can actually hurt your optimization efforts.

5. Submit Your Website to the Search Engines
After you have optimized your website, you need to let the World Wide Web know that it is up and running! Submit your website URL (address) to directories such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and DMOZ.