Search engine optimization (SEO) is probably one of the most consuming, complicated areas of marketing your website, and also the one where the most inaccurate information exists.

Often advice literally years out of date is still treated as gospel with detrimental consequences.

But let's cut the crap for just a moment and show you 6 easy techniques you can apply today to start getting impressive results like the professionals do.

Bare in mind that this definately isn't *all* there is no know on the topic (it barely scratches the surface to be honest) but it *will* give you a pretty good start and put you way ahead of 99% of your competitors if you apply just these few concepts to your website.

1) Choose Your Battles

Whilst some keywords have tens of millions of competitors (and searches) every day, others have very few competitors but also very few potential visitors.

You want decent traffic but you also don't want to have to compete with the real pros out there or you're going to get slaughtered.

So it's a balancing act.

Find a keyword research tool you're happy with (there's a handy free guide on keyword research at http://www.wordtracker.com/keyword-research-guide.html) and dig into your niche.

I would suggest if you're new to SEO that you look for primary keywords with no more than 50,000 competitors and ideally over 100 searches a day.

Once you find a primary keyword you're happy with dig down further and find other secondary keywords.

So if your primary keyword you opt for is "cheap computers" then your secondary keywords may be "buy cheap computers", "building cheap computers" and so on.

All your secondary keywords should ideally contain your primary keyword plus one or more additional words that your target audience search for.

You will write at least one article focusing on each of these keyword phrases and link them altogether to create your site.

This ensures that your site is focused, linked correctly and is built around keyword phrases that your target audience are looking for and that you should be able to obtain decent listings for.

2) Choose Your Website Address

Your website address should ideally contain your primary keyword phrase. So in our example above using "cheap computers" then possible domains, if available, could be CheapComputers.com, Cheap-Computers.com, CheapComputersGuide.com and so on.

Don't worry about using hyphens but try not to make your domain too long or it will look "spammy" to the search engines and potential visitors and ensure your domain ends with .com ideally, or if not .net.

No other options should be considered.

This domain name you choose is vital because it not only gives you a boost by having your primary keyword in it, but also means that when people link to you they will be virtually forced to include your keywords in their link which, as we'll see, is another important factor in your ranking.

3) Keep Your Keyword Density Up

Of less importance these days than it once was is the keyword density of the articles on your site. I wouldn't fret about looking for exact figures as some poorly informed marketers do, just try to include your keywords from time to time.

So an article about buying cheap computers would include the phrase "buying cheap computers" several times. Also consider, if it reads correctly, splitting up your phrases into their individual words and using these in your articles too. So in our example use the words "buying", "cheap" and "computers" a few times in your article, not necessarily next to each other.

4) Structure Your Pages Correctly

For each of your keyword-focused articles ensure the relevant keywords for that article are present in the page title and your meta tags.

5) Watch Your Internal Linking

Try to avoid links in your site navigation that say generic things like "click here" and "articles" and so on.

Keep them specific and unique and include your keywords. So you wrote an article about "buying cheap computers"? Then the link to it could read something like "Read our guide to buying cheap computers".

It helps keep your site unique, focuses the search engines on what your article is about and notice how you've managed to include your primary keyword phrase "cheap computers"?

A number of links like these down the side of your page will greatly increase the keyword density of your pages.

Oh, and please use text links, not image links.

6) Generate Keyword Dense Incoming Links

Once you're all set up with the above tactics simply aim to generate a number of links from related, popular sites through the use of article submissions, press releases, link exchanges and so on.

Ensure they include your primary keyword phrase but don't overdo it.

Just mention your primary keyword once in each of the links pointing to your site.

These links will drive traffic to your site, increase your rankings and allow the search engines to find you so you don't need to submit your site to them.

And that's all you need to know to begin with. Best of luck!

Copyright 2006 Richard Adams