I always like to add meta tags to my site, because I know they usually help. I also know they won't harm my chances of achieving a good listing if they're made correctly.

If you're unfamiliar with html, you might want to have someone help you add your tags to your webpages. However, it is pretty simple and you really don't even need any experience coding pages.

I suggest that you open your coding in a text editor like Notepad. You always want to place your tags in-between tags. This is what it will look like:

Enter meta tags here.

Quite simple. Now you want to add your tags. I like to start with keyword tags. You should spend some time finding best keywords for your site. One great place to look is GoTo's keywords suggestion page. Type in your main keyword and it will return a large list of relevant keywords and a number of how many times term was searched in past month.

The first step you want to take is to choose a good title. Most search engines index between 80 - 120 characters, so make sure you don't go over 120. Most engines give good weight to title in determining your placement, so be certain to use your best keywords in your title. I would use one or two, but I wouldn't recommend repeating them.

Now it's time to create your description tag. Always include title and description tags. If you don't, a title and description will be made for you and it could make your page sound unappealing. Most search engines will use about 150 - 300 characters of a description tag, so 200 characters would be a good size.

Remember that your description tag should make sense! List your main keywords, but just don't repeat them endlessly. Search engine surfers will think your site is garbage and won't visit it, and you most likely will receive a lower ranking.

These people are actively seeking you out when they type your keywords into that little search box. Question is "Are keywords they're using, same keywords you're using?" and if so, "How relevant are these keywords to what you're selling?"

You see, when you submit your web site to a search engine, some will ask you for a list of keywords *relevant* to your web site.

Other search engines will only send a spider to your site to look at your content. What they do, is take a kind of inventory of words you use on your main page. Whichever words you use most often on this page, spider will assume that's what your site is about and will base your listing on these words.

Then there are those search engines that will base your listing on keyword and description tags within heading tag of your page.

We are going to focus on getting right keywords in right places (optimizing) for free-to-get-listed search engines; then we will move on to pay-per-click and pay-per- inclusion engines.

Before you begin compiling your list of keywords, you need to do a little bit of research.

Start by putting yourself in your customer's shoes. Pretend that you know nothing about your product or service; this can be very difficult to do. The best way to find out what keywords your customers may use, is to ask them. Using your spouse or your friends as guinea pigs, is easiest way to do this.

Without telling them what your site is about, give them a very vague idea; as most of your customers really don't have any idea that they need your product. For example, you might say, "Honey, if you wanted to make some extra money for Christmas gifts this year, what words would you type in this little box?"

If your spouse has time and is willing to help you out, ask him/her to go to at least 3 different search engines and conduct at least 3-5 searches, using different keywords and phrases each time. Also, be sure that she/he clicks on a few of results, but only ones she/he feels is relevant her/his search.