Hey folks - if you're new to SEF, welcome! It's a great place to learn. If you're an old hand, hopefully this will be a quick and easy reference for you.

SEF has thousands upon thousands of pages of detailed information on how to optimize websites, how to run effective PPC campaigns, how to build inbound links and more.

With that in mind, it's reasonable to assume that if you have a question, it's likely already been asked and answered - sometimes many, many times.

I'd like to encourage everyone, therefore, to use the forum's SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY prior to posting up their question.

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The Search Function can be found here or by looking in the navigational bar above - Click the link labeled "Search" to get to the same place.

When you get there, you'll see a series of boxes designed to allow you to get an answer to your question in seconds.

Box 1: Contains Forum List to choose from - leave it alone to have the system search all the areas of SEF

Box 2: Find - this is where you type in what you're looking for - 301 redirect or sandbox for example

Box 3: Which User - enter a user's name if you want results with them only - putting SportsGuy in there will return results where I have posted, for example

Box 4: Which Forums - similar to # 1, but allows you to select a deeper level of focus for the search - if you only wanted responses from the "Directory & Link Building" section, this is the place to make the selection

Box 5: Which Dates - watch this one and make sure to open it up a bit - I like to select "Past year" to ensure a good selection of results to read through

Next up are two Radio Buttons:

Subject Only - selecting this tells the system to look for your keywords in Box 2 in ONLY the subjects of posts

Subjects and Postings - tells the system to bring back results which appear in either the subject line or within the actual posted content itself.

The search page also contains very helpful tips on how to build your search properly to get the best results quickly - check it out.
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Now, you might ask why this is being posted...

Well. simply put, SEF is one of the first resources those new to the search optimization world encounter. Since most folks are driven here by the need for answers to questions, it's obvious that most newcomers arrive, open an account, and immediately post their questions.

No problems there - we all had to learn at one point and SEF exists to help folks learn this the RIGHT way.

For a new user seeking a quick answer, though, this process then involves waiting for someone to post a response. Many times, if the original question was somewhat lacking in details, the first response is a request for more info - not the answer the new user had hoped for. It can, and often does, take folks a day or two to finally get their original question answered - even in a busy forum like SEF.

Using the SEARCH functionality will get everyone answers almost instantly AND save folks time answering the same questions 7 times in one week.

If you cannot find answers after some searching, by all means fire in that post and ask away.

Duane