The Search Engine Tools software can be used to optimize your search engine ranking.

The way the software assists you in doing so is simple. It compares a well ranking page to your page (the one you wish to obtain a good result listing for).

By matching values for your page to the well ranking page ('compare to' page) as closely as possible, search engines will assign your page a similar rank.

Note that this does not involve copying/stealing content from the 'compare to' page. All you are doing is giving search engines reasons to rank your page/site as well as the 'compare to' page or better.

To use the software to your advantage, follow the easy steps below.

1. Pick an engine

Go to one of the supported search engines. The following are supported : Alta Vista, Aol Search, Google, Hotbot, Lycos and MSN Search. Google also provides some results for Yahoo.

2. Select a search phrase

Enter the keyword phrase you wish to rank well for and execute the search.

3. Find a 'compare to' page

Look at the results and pick a well ranking page you wish to get near to or beat in position.

4. Get/Upload a copy of the page

Download the above (well ranking) page to your computer. Give the page any name you want. This will be the 'compare to' page. Next, upload this page to your hosting account (FTP, control panel and so on).

5. Use the software

- Enter your own page name (1)
- Enter 'compare to' page name (2)
- Enter the keyword phrase (3)
- Select the search engine (4)
- Press the 'Analyze' button (5)

To see what each table element or page section represents, click on the table element or page section link (demo).

Your goal is to make values for 'your page' as close as possible to the values for the 'compare to' page. Again, this is not a matter of making the content the same, merely try to match the values.

Keep changing your page (add/remove text and keywords in various page sections) and repeat this step until you are satisfied the values for 'your page' are close to the values for the 'compare to' page.

6. Wait

Wait for the search engine to find/update your page and include it in the search results. Note that patience is very important here, it can take weeks, even months for your (updated) page to be viewed and included by search engines.

7. Evaluate

If your (new) position is not as high as you wished, return to step 5. If you are happy with the position, do the above for the next page on your web site.

There is no magic solution when it comes to search engine positioning, however this software will give search engines a reason to rank you page(s) well which is crucial for ranking optimization projects.