1. Picking strategic keywords.
2. Making sure these strategic keywords appear in the crucial locations on web pages.
3. Including lots of relevant text content in the body of the HTML page.
4. Avoiding image map links - some search engines can't follow these - use HTML hyperlinks instead.
5. Avoiding frames - some search engines can't follow framed links.
6. Avoiding dynamically generated pages - if pages are generated via CGI or database-delivery, it is expected that some of the search engines will not be able to index them. Consider creating static pages whenever possible, perhaps using the database to update the pages, not to generate them on the fly. Also, avoiding symbols in URLs, especially the symbol, as most search engines will not be able to read past these, and will not be able to index that page.
7. Using Meta Tags (including tags on images).
8. Including a reciprocal links page.
9. Including a site index / map page in plain HTML.
10. Submitting site to search engines via manual submissions and paid inclusion services, but avoiding unwittingly submitting to the same search engine database, and getting site banned from its index.
11. Remembering to submit the site to the major directories such as Yahoo and relevant minor directories.
12. Not relying on automated technology, it may get pages banned (e.g. Cloaked pages, IP redirects, meta-refresh, auto submissions etc).
13. It is not better to expect overnight success, the longer it takes time for optimization, the better the results.
14. It may seem easy to do in-house, but it will work out cheaper and much more effective using a specialist search engine marketing firm, who are constantly researching the market.
15. Use headings as h1, h2 because search engines interpret headline text as more important.
16. Bolded text is also considered more important by the search engines. Bolding the primary keyword phrase 1-3 times on the page is a good way to alert the engines to the phrases prominence and importance.
17. Image alt tags should contain a brief text description of the photo/image.
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