CONTENT IS KING! Yes, I know I'm shouting however you need to know how truly vital this is. Your website content is of utmost importance and if you do nothing else make sure you have relative content and enough of it for search engines, spiders etc. to find your website. If one can't be found, what good is it?

Can I do SEO myself? Certainly, if you have the time and the patience. Many expect instant gratification. Search Engine Optimization results will not happen overnight. To do SEO correctly it's a slow and steady process for proper progress. I tell clients the advice I have received if an SEO firm or individual guarantees your website will be in the number 1 ranking position in Google, MSN and Yahoo search engines within a short time frame. I say RUN.The only rare exception I have experienced is a product or service that is a unique concept or is one of a kind, in which it would have its very own specific keywords, metatags, content as well as having no competition; therefore in this case it might very well be possible to achieve the number 1 ranking in Google, MSN and Yahoo. Most products and services have competitors and no one can honestly guarantee a top spot in all major search engines and while all reputable SEO specialists aspire to assisting their clients achieve the highest rank that they possibly can in all search engines… it takes dedication, determination, time and work. It is also important to realize that most individuals will not surf past three pages of search engine listings. While everyone wants to be on the first page for every keyword that they deem important the realty is there are only 10 places on the first page and a total of 30 places before most start searching on a different keyword.

Know what you want. If you are seeking more traffic and customers/clients driven to your website. That's great, but what do you want them to do once they arrive? Purchase products or services? sign up for a newsletter? apply for a job? etc. If you are undertaking SEO yourself you will need delineated goals or a performance plan of what you want to achieve and even if you are going to hire someone to optimize your website you will need to impart your vision of what you desire out of your website.

It's vital to know your baseline statistics and reports initially of your website no matter if you optimize your site or if you hire someone to optimize one's site. How will you know if your site has been improved if you don't know what the starting point was or is?

There are many tools available for SEO and many combinations of these tools can be employed to provide the maximum results for your website. So many rely just on page rank or the latest algorithm. Updates within search engines change frequently and ups and downs are normal. To fret over the next change is futile. The most prudent advice I can impart is to read, learn and hone one's skills in all areas of SEO and if one does not wish to take the time I strongly suggest hiring a SEO professional who specializes in white hat techniques.