Internet search engines are like a great PR firm: they can make your business look awfully good. But to achieve a top ranking on Google, for example, you must understand how to optimize your Web. It doesn’t require technical expertise or a big online advertising budget, but a focus on copywriting, among other tactics. “I call [SEO copywriting] one of the ‘secret weapons’ to online success,” says Scott Fox, an Internet advertising expert and author of e-Riches 2.0. Here are five proven Internet marketing techniques to improve your SEO efforts:

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1. Utilize free advice. Chris Finnegan, interactive media director at Planit, a Baltimore-based marketing and communications firm, highly recommends Google’s SEO handbook, available as a free download. Google also offers a free keyword tool to help you find relevant keywords for your business based on actual user searches.

2. Be the customer. Particularly in the b-to-b space, it’s important to think like a buyer. That means knowing how they search and how long and how precise their keyword entries are likely to be, says Linda Rigano, executive director of strategic services for ThomasNet, a leading industrial Web site.

3. Be original. Cutting and pasting text from another source is a big no-no, contends Radha Vij, associate director at New York–based Gutenberg Communications. “Instead, write copy that employs specific keywords and phrases most commonly searched online.” And since most online users scan copy, Vij advocates including keywords in headlines and subheads.

4. Key in on the title. The title tag, which appears at the top of the browser window, above the Web address, should include your most important keywords, says Kenneth Saunders, president of Cincinnati, Ohio–based Search Engine Experts. “Many companies like to see their name in the title,” he points out. In such a case, the company name should appear after the keywords.

5. Don’t go keyword crazy. Although it may be tempting to stuff your site’s content with keywords, Fox says that only creates unattractive copy for readers. “Improving your SEO won’t help if the people you attract find your site unreadable,” he adds.

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