Kelly Jones, SEO specialist at Plexus, an Athens-based Web site design and development firm, will teach a course at the Athens Small Business Development Center on Thursday, January 15, 2009.

The course, Understanding Search Engine Optimization and the Value of Promoting your Business Online, will teach participants how to optimize their Web site for the search engines.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of tweaking and improving your Web site in order to be found at the top of search engine results. This course will offer strategies on how to be found online.

The three-hour course will teach participants the process of search engine optimization and according to Jones, “While search engine optimization is not an exact science, we can teach you techniques and methods to improve your site's search engine rankings.”

A highly technical course, participants are encouraged to be familiar with the Internet and search engines and come prepared with their Web site’s FTP information in order to make the recommended changes to the site during the course.

Each participant will receive:

• Complimentary installation of Google Analytics
• Comprehensive list of SEO resources and tools
• Worksheet to aid in further Do-It-Yourself optimization
• Customized site recommendations

The course begins at 9:00 am at the Athens SBDC location, 1180 East Broad Street. For more information or to register for the course, contact Terri Evans of the Athens Small Business Development Center at (706) 542-7436, tevans@georgiasbdc.org or visit www.sbdc.uga.edu to register online.

Miss Jones is a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. She double majored in Public Relations and English as well as earned the New Media Interdisciplinary Certificate from the New Media Institute. She is a member of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Agency and recently returned from the Search Marketing Expo in New York City.

Plexus was founded in 1997. Plexus provides a comprehensive suite of Web design and development services, as well as print design and identity development to businesses, organizations, non-profits, and institutions of all sizes. A recipient of Forbes Magazine “Best of the Web” award, Plexus has been nominated for two Webby Awards and has been visited by Adobe, one of the world’s leading design software firms, who observed Plexus for their own research and development purposes.

For more information about Plexus, visit www.plexusweb.com.