Google's secret algorithm has long been a code that everyone from Search Engine Optimization gurus to entrepreneurs-cum-novice-tech-geeks have tried to crack. The reason's simple: who doesn't want their website as high up in the Google search rankings as you can get it? Get it on the first page, and your site's instantly a customer magnet. Figure out how to do that, and you're basically sitting on SEO gold. Thing is, it's not easy. And since, well, always, Google's been really hush-hush when it comes to any secrets or tips on how to better search engine optimize your site. That is until today. They've put up an official Google SEO Starter Guide over at their Webmaster Central Blog. While they say it's for webmasters, it's equally (and perhaps more) useful for the entrepreneurs who want to bump their websites up in search rankings. That being said, here's what the guide covers - in Google's words:

"Our Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide covers around a dozen common areas that webmasters might consider optimizing. We felt that these areas (like improving title and description meta tags, URL structure, site navigation, content creation, anchor text, and more) would apply to webmasters of all experience levels and sites of all sizes and types. Throughout the guide, we also worked in many illustrations, pitfalls to avoid, and links to other resources that help expand our explanation of the topics. We plan on updating the guide at regular intervals with new optimization suggestions and to keep the technical advice current.

So, the next time we get the question, 'I'm new to SEO, how do I improve my site?', we can say, 'Well, here's a list of best practices that we use inside Google that you might want to check out.'"

We think Silicon Alley Insider puts it well: with this guide, Google's basically telling you how to game them. We're not sure why, but then we're not asking any questions. Enjoy.