For example, with regard to how to create the appropriate tags within the source code of a Web site, Hall says that "there will be people who tell you that meta tags don’t matter anymore, but that is not correct. It is partially true in that they are not as important as they used to be, but they [meta tags] still create algorithm relevance calculations." Such calculations define the back-end methods in which a search engine spider combs the Web and ultimately produces and ranks search results. However, he continues, "algorithms change a lot - sometimes three to four times a year - so what I say now may not be as important seven or eight months down the road."

Hall is also a proponent of keyword weighting techniques, whereby at least four to five percent of the text you have on your Web pages should match the keywords you have in your source-code tags. However, "if you have a whole bunch of key words that you are trying to optimize for search results, it becomes very difficult to do that," he says.

In addition to optimizing your Web site home page through proper tagging and keyword weighting, all sub sections by subject or specific degree programs within a distance- education Web site should be similarly optimized with relevant matching keywords located inside the title tag, meta-description tag, meta-keyword tag and the text of the actual Web pages. Hall also says that links to sub sections should be listed on the home page.

As far as which keywords one should use inside a Web site, Hall suggests that beyond the obvious terms such as online degrees and distance education, marketers should "do some keyword research and find out what people are really searching for." For instance, Hall uses a company called Wordtracker based in London, UK. "They help us find suite spots and look at where and what people are looking for."

Additionally, Hall recommends that Webmasters not use a Macromedia Flash presentation as an opening Web page. "Flash presentations certainly look great on a Web site, but if you have it as the first page you see, it is almost impossible for the search engine spider to pick that up. If you are going to use Flash, make sure it is a sub part of a Web page."

A searchable site plan should also be included on any distance-education Web site. "Most good site designers will tell you to make sure you have a search site-plan page that a spider can go to and pick up anything you want to appear in a search result. There are also certain pages that you may not want to appear that you can put into a special directory, and the spider/bot will not find those pages."

The second part of SEO deals with links. In particular with Google, Web sites with a large number of high quality links coming into it from other Web sites typically get a boost in search results. According to information on the Google Web site, the heart of its software is PageRankTM, a system for ranking web pages developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. "In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves ‘important’ weigh more heavily and help to make other pages ‘important.’ Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. . ."

To sum things up, good SEO really boils down to the basics of putting the right information inside the tags of your Web site’s source code, using key weighting techniques wherever possible, researching and using the best keywords, avoiding Flash presentations on an opening page, incorporating a searchable site plan into your Web site, and getting well-known and respected Web sites to link to your Web site.