Search engines typically will base their results on the text/html on a page, not flash, pictures, etc.

As the criteria used by each SE varies, I can only share with you some of my own experiences. Others may have a different view:

1. Properly done websites with substantial relevant content that has been on the Internet for a longer period of time tend to rank better.

2. The more specific your keywords, the greater the chances of getting listed. Try keywords like "fly fishing flies in california" to make the key phrase more specific. As there are many "fly fishing flies" websites on the Internet, being specific increases your chances of being found.

3. Try this layout. Put the main body text to the left and your navigation on the right. Start your main body section with your targetted keywords and use variants of your target keywords within the first two paragraphs of your text. Search engines are likely to place your site with more relevance when done this way.

4. Try to craft your text to attract potential buyers outfront. Although this would not have any effect on the search engines, it does improve your chances for a sales conversion.

5. Seek out relevant websites and link exchange with them. Search engines also consider the number of quality inbound and outbound links in their indexing and ranking process.

Hope this would help you get started somewhere.

http://www.sell2make.com online facilities

Nevertheless, should your website or opening webpage
fail to contain "generic" keywords, then anyone using
such "generic" queries will not be able to discover
your website. Your domain name [URL] of your website,
in a sense, will be invisible, undiscoverable.

You may want to consider some simple algorithms which,
when observed and committed in designing of a website
with placement of various critical metatags that can
surely achieve a high search engine presence and
increase Internet traffic to your website. These
metatag strategies work well with published webpages
at Google and Yahoo.

Design: Should you create an extensive Flash-based
website, make sure to fill-in the property entries
such as the Title, Description and Keywords. Failing
to do so, leaves no hard HTML or ALT resource that can
be readily indexed by search robots. Also consider the
Internet audience and their incoming setup. For
example, if they are on analog/dialup, Flash webpages
take too long to load up and therefore analog users
will likely lose interest and discontinue entering the
Flash site. On the other hand, anyone on hi-speed DSL
lines, will welcome Flash pages which load quickly. So
before designing a pure Flash websitge, ask the simple
question, "Who's my end user – is he on dialup or
DSL?" And if you had to choose between these two users
for maximum marketability, then select analog users
since 80% of most resident users are still analog
Internet subscribers and pure HTML designed webpages
is best for them.

A non-Flash-based website which relies on hard text,
is far easier to be indexed by search robots. Limit
the use of stylized text saved as .gifs since as a
graphic, they are not indexable by search robots.

Avoid use of frames since any number of search robots
are unable to properly classify textual material.

Placement of Metatags:

A ranking or search order does take place with Google
and Yahoo and it begins with the "Title" metag which
should consist of no more than 60 characters separated
by commas. The phrase "Welcome to Croam" is not specific nor does it lead to a particular brand or URL. The "Title" should describe in generic terms, the goods and services, followed by a location from which the resource is located, i.e., city, state. The placement of a domain name which is not generic within the "Title" is not appropriate, unless your
domain name is a major recognizable brand name.

The second metatag is the "Description" which is
usually up to 41 words to form a complete paragraph which
best describes one's goods and services. The current Description is still short of 41 words and should be expanded. It is not merely a list.

And the very last category – "Keywords" are also
somewhat limited to 15 words which can be plural
and compound in nature. The current entries are counted in excess of 15 entries and should be shortened drastically. Again, the excess entries can be included within the Description metatag. Again, avoid multiple entries
which could be mistaken as "spamdexed entries" which
is defined as the loading, and submission of
repetitive words into a particular metatag category.
"Spamdexing" when discovered on a webpage and reported
to Google's spamreport.com can result in the
elimination of your website from their search
directory.

Here's an example of a very highly-placed website on
Google.com: Begin with the very "generic" search query
"sandwiches downtown los angeles," taking note to not
abbreviate Los Angeles to "LA" and of course, leave
out the parentheses ("). It will bring up some 2.4
million+ search results. Check out where "Nazos.net"
is ranked. It's on the SECOND FRONT [ranked 15]!
Again, Nazos.net's high web presence was achieved by
proper web design and placement of relevant metatags
according to Google's publication guidelines.

Good luck!

1. You have to have a lot of good quality links pointing to your site. Search engines perceive these links as endorsements for your site.

2. Anything other than point #1 is pure speculation. Most search engine companies like Google are careful to keep a tight lid on what goes into their ranking algorithm's.

There is plenty of info online about pagerank and/or SEO, some good, some not so much.

Additionally, a good way to generate these links without having to beg for them is to routinely post on forums (or comment on blogs) of similar themes with links back to your site in the signature fields. Obviously you'll want to keep your post on topic and not spam the forums just to plug your site.