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Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most popular buzzwords in Internet marketing today. If you are running or considering running an Internet marketing campaign you will at some point need to give serious consideration to SEO.

Unfortunately many Internet marketers simply do not know enough about SEO to make this strategy work for them, even those who are knowledgeable about it may have difficulty executing their SEO strategies to produce the desired affect.

Advertising is a very important part of running any type of business. You need to advertise to reach new customers and market your products or services. Whether you run your business online or not you probably already realize how important it is to advertise, but if you are running your business online you should understand there is a great deal of free advertising available in the form of optimal search engine rankings.

Some of the top search engines like Google rank websites according to complex algorithms that are designed to determine which websites are most relevant for particular search terms. Therefore taking the time and effort to optimize your website for relevant search terms may result in you gaining high search engine rankings for these terms.

This is important because most Internet users rely heavily on these rankings. It is common knowledge that most Internet users only review the first few results when they search for a particular term. This means if your website ranks high enough to appear on the first page of the search results you will likely enjoy a large amount of website traffic. However, if your website doesn't make it to the first or second page, it is unlikely you will receive a great deal of website traffic from visitors who use search engines.

Now that you understand why search engine rankings are so important you might wonder how to achieve these rankings. The algorithms used by search engines can be rather complex and include a number of different factors. Some of the common factors in the equation include keyword density, META tags, titles, inbound links, website traffic and content.

Keyword density refers to the number of times a particular keyword is used in the content of your website. The theory behind this concept is that websites that use a particular keyword often are likely to be relevant to that keyword; however, overuse of that keyword may result in penalties if the search engine thinks the keywords are not being used appropriately.

META tags are pieces of HTML code which some search engines use in evaluating the content of a website. Placing keywords in these tags can be beneficial in some search engines. However, care should be taken to avoid placing irrelevant keywords in these tags as this may result in your website being penalized.

Some search engines to rank websites also use inbound links. Inbound links refers to links on other websites which point to your website. In evaluating the worth of these inbound links, some search engines consider the rank of the website providing the link to your website. This means you should try to gain links from websites with higher rankings than your own to ensure that you receive the most benefit from these links.

Finally, the content on your website is extremely important and will do a great deal to improve your search engine rankings. Try to provide quality useful information on your site. Try to avoid filling your pages with flashy graphics; search engines are far more interested in unique content. This will help to ensure that your website is not only valuable to your visitors but also considered valuable to search engines.