Internet advertising has been growing dramatically. In the first quarter of 2008 alone, $5.8 billion-yes, BILLION!- was spent on online ads by enterprises nationwide, big and small. This spending level is a huge jump of 18.2% from the same period one year ago, according to Interactive Advertising Bureau. Receiving the lion's share of this online ad business is...you guessed it: Google. This search engine juggernaut took in 61.8% of the big billion-dollar pot in May 2008. This information can be confirmed on ComScore Media Metrix.

Here are the goods on how you can optimize your site:

1. Spotlight your search term on the page.

Your site should be riddled with terms and phrases you would anticipate your target audience to enter into search engines. For example, a prospective real estate buyer may be searching for properties in the Las Vegas region of Nevada. A likely search would stem from the words "Las Vegas realty." Unfortunately, your real estate site that includes properties in the same region somehow is overlooked by the search engine, and your prospective buyer has no idea how to reach you! O, the horror! If your site is even more specific, say Las Vegas realty in retirement communities, then these keywords should be obviously stated throughout your pages, especially at the top of the page.

2. Fill in your "tags."

The two key tags of Internet coding language when creating websites are title and description. Fortunately for those of us that are not trained in software code language, programs such as Joomla My Blog, Adobe Dreamweaver and others allow for code writing in plain English. This is a crucial piece to creating a website that will be caught by search engines, which narrow its search results based on titles and descriptions.

To continue with our Las Vegas realty example, a well-tagged page would have been linked by a search engine with a description like, "Las Vegas Realtor - Las Vegas Homes for sale by John Doe."

There is an alternative third tag: keywords, or search terms.

3. Get other sites to "link" back to you.

In determining a sites viability and relevance, Google scrutinizes the searchable sites by looking at 100 pieces of data. Even though they may perform due diligence, the most weighted aspect of a site's viability is the categories of sites linked to it.

Basically, site popularity is the determining factor in Google's rankings. If authoritative sites link to yours, it lends credibility and legitimacy, therefore launching to the top of the list. Not every can get top sites such as Real Estate Journal or New York Times to link to them, try other sites operated by people in your network or other friends. If your connections in this arena are limited, there are other options, like blogs.

4. Create a blog and post often.

One of the newest ways of connecting to your market in an interactive manner is through blogging. Current and prospective clients can feel compelled to contact you regarding the information in a blog posting. Links can be provided, which can increase your traffic if they are referenced correctly. Most importantly, relationships are built with friends and associates. Blog posts can also serve as inspirations for the addition of content to your site, giving you an opportunity to research a given topic in more detail and become an "expert." Best of all, the only investment in gaining all of this advantage is the time you spend in writing and publishing each post; there is no financial investment!

The time you spend posting blogs (it is our opinion that you should post often, as much as weekly) can be perceived as less productive use of time than traditional marketing efforts, but when you consider the far-reaching benefits, it would definitely be a tactic you should consider and employ.

5. Register for free tools

The Internet is widely known to have free alternatives to many products and services that would normally cost out-of-pocket expenses when consuming in traditional means, like in a store. One of the best ‘Net services offered for free is the Web page enhancer offered by Google, www.google.com/webmaster. This site gives you tools to increase your search worthiness, track your site visits and visitors, and other vital statistics. By uploading a text-based site map, you will be revealing to Google your site's pages, and registering your site with Google's database of sites. Along with the benefits mentioned earlier, this service also shows you the frequency of "crawls" into your site made by Google.

Business owners can gain much value from Google's Local Business center, found at www.google.com/local/add. By submitting a site here, local searches for business will render registered sites in their results with a site map attached. This gives the Web surfer the ability to assess the contents of the site rather quickly. The same Web surfer would also be able to discern the real sites from the advertised sites that paid their way to the top of the rankings, or the many results from logistical hits from Google Maps with address and location information. The Local Business center is definitely worth the time investment.

6. Don't overdo it

You must toe the line between strategic use of keywords and excessive placement of keywords on your Web pages. The offense of "keyword stuffing" can actually be grounds for removal from Google's index; once the index detects more than three uses of any keyword, it will determine it as the subject or theme of the page, and anything above that will be flagged. Your best bet is to weave it into your narrative naturally. Here's what not to do: "Las Vegas Realty is the best realty site in Las Vegas if you plan on buying Las Vegas realty, brought to you by Las Vegas Realty."

For novices to the blog world, it can be challenging to come up with ideas, or more commonly, overcoming writers' block. For inspiration, you can check other popular news brief sites like Digg or StumbleUpon. These are great places to read pop culture tidbits as well as serious topics, and see what the public is saying about the news items.

Of course, you can always find inspiration in the place that inspired to write the blog to begin with: your business venture. If you experiences success in a recent transaction, or creatively confronted a dilemma, or even failed to secure a deal, all of these become good anecdotes that people are interested in reading and reflecting into their own dealings. If readers find enough value they will likely post your blog to their site or circulate it amongst their network in the form of links, and the proliferation of links will increase your search ranking on Google. Perfect!

Beware not to fall into the misconception that the only way to get ahead at the Google game is to pay ad rates. In fact, most of the top listings earned their way there the hard way, they had relevant and reliable content. Those two things are priceless.

In the development stages of your site, ensure that you are not putting the cart before the horse. This means that your objective should be content-oriented, not link oriented. To clarify, you should aim to exhibit information that people want to read AND share via links. Otherwise, your strategy will simply get your visibility by making links but not necessarily meeting any needs in the form of information.

7. Host Your Blog on Your Own Site

While there blog sites have been one of the fastest growing segments of the Internet, it would be a wise move for your venture to have space and host your own blog. The Web address would look something like blog.website.com, or www.website.com/blog.

Blogger, a public blog site, has the capability to feed right into your site using FTP programming. Joomla My Blog, on your server will allow you to set up your blog anywhere on your domain. The key here is to have the blog reside on your own domain.

8. Allow Comments

One tricky question is whether you should allow readers to comment on your blog directly to your site. Some have reasoned that their comments, which would be viewed publicly, could discredit your claims or otherwise make you look bad. Despite this possibility, and it is a likely possibility, you will likely find that comments are usually thoughtful and positive, and they further enhance the dialogue around the topic. Most importantly, it engages your readers into a a conversation with you and initiates a relationship which could bear fruit in the future.

Likewise, comments add content to your site, and all the possibilities entailed, thereby growing your site and the number keywords used, all while you sit back and read without lifting a virtual finger. Feedback is likely to make its way into the comments which you should receive as constructive criticism, not a personal attack. This non-traditional format of the feedback loop can reap many benefits. A comment section will also allow you to shape the discussion and messages contained within it.

9. Participate in Other Blogs

There is the old adage of getting what you give. This holds true for posting blogs and blog comments on other sites within your industry. You can create good friends and expand your network. One helpful tip is to hyperlink your username/screen name to your site, directing other readers/posters to it. If your post/comment is thought-provoking, you will surely see a spike in traffic due to interest levels. And there you have the gist of this blog: fill your site with accessible and relevant content, spread the word with links and blogs, and continue building your empire.