Every search matters, which is why Steve Riegel, Co-Founder and Director of Search at digital agency Faction Media, knows the value of online presence. Riegel offers four essential, inexpensive (if not free), but often overlooked methods that get the most out of search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

1) Create a sitemap. Creating an XML sitemap allows search engine spiders to find a given Web page. “As a publisher, make an effort to have your Web development team click on indicators when adding content to the CMS,” Riegel says. Sitemaps can highlight content and increase findability. “Even if you generate 10 new home page items each week, they generally get archived onto the site’s secondary pages after the first week,” he says. “Creating a sitemap helps search pick up content wherever it is, and lets it live.” Riegel recommends Google Webmaster Tools and Yahoo!’s Site Explorer as resources to discover which terms were used to search and find a particular piece of content.

2) Validate code. If a link or HTML code is broken, online spiders can’t register content. “It’s incredibly important for Web publishers to check and validate code,” says Riegel, adding that the process of checking links goes hand in hand with sitemap creation. He suggests Google Webmaster Tools and XML sites as one method: “Have your Web folks check these monthly and fix any errors.While there are ways to set up a parameter, I wouldn’t leave this up to an automated process.”He suggests validating code through tools like www.w3.org/QA/Tools/ and confirming that a robots.txt file isn’t blocking spiders for content that needs indexing.

3) Be the top 20. Research shows that users rarely go beyond the top 20 search results, says Riegel. But organizations can nudge these rankings for results nearing the top 20 by creating additional on-site content (text, video, audio, blog, etc.) and placing additional emphasis on on-site promotion, such as a featured home page link. Drive site behavior through content from the main landing pages for best results, as well as tag video and push content out to other platforms, like YouTube.

4) Evaluate internal search. By capturing and evaluating internal search and SEO, you’re better able to understand the content navigation needs of your audience and then isolate successful terms. These test terms should drive users to the landing page identified in the initial analysis, and be used for future SEO efforts. “Google and Digg are out looking for content; keyword optimization will help aggregators find you,” Riegel says.