At work when we design a new page that we hope to drive people to via search engines we often consult with our search engine consultant to ensure we’ve thought through the page design and that the HTML is up to snuff (e.g. proper use of the title, h1, h2, etc… tags). We’ve also seen dramatic increases to older pages when we’ve gone through a round of search optimization on the page so I’m convinced that SEO work is time well spent.
A coworker recently sent me a link to the free SEO Analyzer tool which looks like it might be helpful in the process. I don’t think it will ever replace our SEO consultant but it’s good to have tools like this in the arsenal. The other tools we use regularly are the Google Adwords Selector tool and the Overture Keyword Selector tool for helping us get the most effective wording to convey the content of the page.
If you’re interested in learning more about SEO or are curious which blogs you should be reading I’d recommend starting with this post on Matt Cutts excellent blog as he lists some great resources!