What is Search Engine Optimization? How search engines work?

Search Engine Optimization is a web marketing technique. It's a normal tendency of a user to search the top websites. It becomes really important that your website appears in the top list. This is where search engine optimization comes into picture. It is a technique which puts your website higher than other websites when a particular search is made. SEO ensures web pages to be accessible to search engines and are more focused.
Search Engine Optimization are text driven.

The benefits of search engine optimization includes:
- SEO helps to put your website in the top rankings.
- SEO helps to build the company image and reputation.
- SEO helps in getting more business oppurtunities.
- SEO saves time and money both.
- SEO improves the competitive edge.
- SEO enhances sales.
- SEO improves the target audience.
- SEO improves the return that is got on investment.

The life cycle of search engine optimization includes:
- Generating key phrases.
- Cost per Click compaigns.
- Priortizing the phrases, traffic.
- Feed phrases into SEO.
- Competitor analysis and ranking audit.
- Audit ranked cmpetitor sites.

Some important points to remember about search engine optimization are:
- One has to keep patience. There are no shortcuts available that would make your website in the top list.
- To be able to found on net, the most important thing to remember is to write good and fresh content.
- Write content that is grammatically and factually correct.
- Page titles should be simple yet descriptive and easy to find because page titles links your site from search engine listings.
- Use the h1 - h6 elements for headings.
- The URLs that you use should be user friendly. Use search engine friendly, human readable URLs instead.
- Incoming links are very, very important for SEO.
- Use valid, semantic, lean, and accessible markup.
- Submitting a site to directories and search engines can be useful.