Once your site is search engine friendly, and you have determined the keywords and phrases that you would like your site to be positioned for, the real work begins.
Search engines and directory editors both love relevant content. If your site has enough relevant, meaningful content, it's likely to fare well on the search sites. And with good reason! Visitors will also find your site relevant and meaningful.
Your home page is the most important page of your site. It sets the tone for your site's content. It's always a battle to get enough content on your home page, but it's worth the fight. Try to get 200-250 words on there, while still making it appealing to visitors.
Your site should contain a bare minimum of ten pages of content. The content should contain the keywords that you desire, but you must be careful not to go overboard. A page that is titled "Alligators" should talk about alligators, not crocodiles. If you want positioning for crocodiles, you should provide separate content for that.
The content of the site drives the positioning, and it does take some trial and error. Don't be afraid to change the content of your site. In fact, change it regularly! Sites that have updated content will do better on the search sites than those with stagnant outdated content.
Remember that the content on your site will be used by some search engines for descriptions. Let's say that your boss says that the sentence "We are not responsible for the information contained on this Web site" must be at the bottom of each page. You might want to consider creating a small graphic at the bottom of the page for that tidbit of information. While it's a legal disclaimer, it might keep viewers from clicking on your listing.
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