Everybody knows that a business that shows up on the first page in a search on either Google or Bing is more likely to get noticed than on page five or six. But how do you get higher up in the search ranking without paying for advertising?

In this context, you often hear the term SEO, short for Search Engine Optimization. This mysterious-sounding acronym refers to the steps you can take to make your website more attractive to search engines, and thus to improve on your rankings. Although the inner workings of Google’s or Bing’s search algorithms are secret, there are some factors which can influence your search ranking positively.

Set page titles and descriptions. Every page has a title that is displayed in your browser tab. Since the description is hidden in the code, it may be easily overlooked. However, it plays a crucial role, because it lets Google or Bing know what your page is about.

Structure your texts hierarchically. When writing your copy, use different header types. A header-type 1 has more weight than a header-type 2, giving search engines some indication of the structure of your text.

Use keywords. Search is all about keywords, and using them in your writings, titles, descriptions, and URLs can be very beneficial. However, don’t overdo it. A text stuffed with keywords may annoy visitors more than entice search engines. And in the end, you want to impress visitors with a well written, content-rich text without artificially skewing it to give you a potential advantage with search engines.

If you are pondering whether you should upgrade your existing site, following these three tips can improve your site’s ranking in search results over time, without costing you any advertising dollars.