Six Steps to Optimizing Your Web Site for Search Engines

A good place to start, Quinn said, is getting linked by large directories, e.g., www.dmoz.org. But any site that's ranked highly itself is just as good, as the higher the linking site is ranked for relevant keywords, the better. Ask partners to link to you, and look for geographic or subject-matter directories.

3. Choose keywords for your site.
Search engines index your site based on keywords that match up to keywords people are searching on. Therefore, it's important to identify high-priority keywords for your organization. Start with the phrases associated with your organization, e.g., its name; if you're locally focused, your location and variations on your location; names of your programs; and common search strings people will use to find you.