I thought it would be good to start a discussion about what SEO actually is, and what you interpret it to be.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is, to me anyway, methods in which you can improve the wording and, sometimes, HTML structure to benefit the ranking of your website for certain search terms e.g. what page Snark Forums would appear on if someone were to search 'forums' on Google.

I would be interested in hearing your opinions and benefits on SEO.

Search Engine Optimisation involves knowing what on-page and off-page factors you can change to influence Google rankings.

On-page stuff to change:

• Clean, semantic HTML code
• Internal linking structure
• Alt & title attributes
• Good file names for images & pages
• Meta stuff, including description & keywords
• Title tag
• Keyword density / frequency
• Heading tags (h1, h2, etc) in order & used frequently
• Frequently updating content
• Frequently adding content
• Content unique, good quality & vaguely related helps if targeting certain keyword

Off-page things to do:

• Links pointing to your site
• The anchor texts of those links and content surrounding them
• Engaging in social media, forums, etc

That's all I can think of from the top of my head.  I will have missed stuff.

I do the same for headers/backgrounds but images within the page, I give good file names to. For example, on my miniature schnauzer puppy page, I name the image:

...images/miniature-schnauzer-puppy.jpg

I think it helps with keyword density and can only help you get more hits from Google Images!