Google SEO

More searches are done on Google than any other search engine, thus making it the most important search engine to optimize a site for. Google uses its sophisticated PageRank algorithm to judge your site based on how many other sites link to it. Google also weighs each incoming link according to quality. It combines this data with content relevancy and other factors to determine how your site ranks. A white hat approach to search engine optimization for Google is key, otherwise your web site may suffer long term consequences and penalties.

Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools are essential tools offered by Google for any serious webmasters or SEOs.

Yahoo! SEO

In terms of user reach, Yahoo! is the next most important search engine. Following in the footsteps of Google, Yahoo! offers useful webmaster tools (check out Site Explorer) and a powerful pay per click advertising system. A listing in the Yahoo! directory is still important; however, it does not help with rankings in the organic search results. Although Yahoo! offers well known services like Mail and Messenger, the company had been trying to compete with Google for a share of the search market up until the announcement in July 2009 that they would be using Microsoft's Bing algorithm to power their organic search engine.

Building quality content on a regular basis was historically one of the most effective ways to see high rankings in Yahoo! Now the goal will be to master Bing.com's algorithm and have it transfered over to Yahoo!'s search too.

Microsoft Bing SEO

Microsoft's search engine underwent an overhaul inn 2009 and was re-launched as Bing.com. MSN search was lagging behind the big players and Microsoft invested in developing new search technology. Bing's goal is to hit niches in search such as travel, weather, movie times and definitions and display info right in the search results instead of requiring an extra step.

Microsoft's strength lies in its numerous services and brands such as Windows, Messenger and Hotmail, not its search engine. With a $100 million advertising campaign, Microsoft hopes to break the stereotype.