Search engines are a key traffic driver, even for sites that cover strictly local issues. Even if you think you know how to optimize your site for search engines, it's worth looking at the advice offered by Google itself.

On Google's main SEO page offers an overview of SEO and several resources. The most valuable of these is the SEO Starter Guide.

This 32-page, plain-language pdf file covers crucial topics such as improving site structure, dealing with "crawlers" (search engine software that scans and indexes your site), and SEO for mobile phones.

The advice in this guide can influence not only how you write headlines and tag your stories, but also how you might upgrade your content management system and site structure to better support the kind of search traffic you want.