Search Engine Optimization in my opinion is the number one way of generating traffic and increasing the conversion rates for your products. If I had to define search engine optimization, I would compare it to the equivalent of providing Rand McNally directions to your website. Pay Per Click Advertising can be just as effective, but there are some major differences. To give you a better perspective between SEO and PPC, I decided to dissect this the topic.

Natural organic SEO traffic is the kind of traffic that is home grown from the time you decide to build a website or blog. The key to proper search engine optimization to find out exactly what your potential customers are looking for and speak directly to them through the content of your website. The search engine robots will then translate the language of your website and deliver the search results to you anxious customers. There are a couple components that need to be employed to secure your your placement with the search engines like backlinks and proper keywords, but for the most part, that is the basics of SEO.

PPC advertising is another form of Search engine marketing where your website will also appear in search results when keywords are entered in the search engines. With PPC your results will show up as sponsored links which are located in the top of the page and also on the right hand side of the page.

The difference between natural search engine traffic and PPC is the cost. Pay Per Click advertising allows you to pay for your positioning, so there is no need to organically grow your website. The downfall with this strategy is that you will pay every time someone clicks on your ad. If your website is not designed to convert your customers, this can be very costly.

The one similarity that both techniques share are the importance of keyword selection. The more competitive the keywords are with PPC advertising, the higher you will have to pay to land the top spots. The keys to success is to find keyword phrases that have little competition while producing high search results. Your PPC page ranking will last only if you are able to maintain the costs endured by your marketing campaign.

Natural search engine traffic can be achieved and maintain by using keywords also, but the main difference is that it can be free if you learn SEO techniques yourself. Many people frown when it comes to the concept of learning search engine optimization, but learning seo doesn’t have to be difficult, the truth is 80% of search engine optimization rules are covered by generating more relevant inbound links than your competitors.

The search engine optimization advantage that you build through organic methods can easily be achieved by making sure you continuously build backlinks to your site. Since backlinks can be generated without any cost, I find easier to make a one time purchase of a “SEO for dummies” course. A good way to generate free backlinks is by using a natural link building method like Unique Article Wizard.

Getting the top position is a struggle that can take months if your targeted keyword is highly competitive. If you are privileged enough to have reached the top position, then you must know the joy and traffic that comes along with that feat. There’s only one thing better than getting the top position though; It is getting postion #1 and position #2.

You may ask yourself…

What’s the benefit of getting position #2 if I already rank for the first position? The answer is simple. It is more psychology than anything else, but people tend to give you more validation if they see that you have two recommendations instead of one. Having 2 of the top listings makes you look like the obvious choice. It also increases your traffic and sales conversions for people who like to browse further than just the first result.

Now that I’ve got your attention, I will list 5 ways you can secure both of the top positions with the search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Search Engine Secret #1:Deep Linking

Deep linking is creating a doorway to your website from another page besides the index. For example, if your index page ranks for a particular keyword, you can generate backlinks using anchored text to your products page for that same keyword. This is especially good for conversions if your backlinks is coming from an article or a product review. Instead of sending your potential customer to your index page for more explanation, you can send them directly to your product.

Search Engine Secret #2: Digg

Digg is a social networking sight that I use to get my sites indexed right away. Digg is a community where you can share your favorite stories, videos or even funny cartoons. It is very popular with the search engines and can really generate a lot traffic to your site if you submit interesting material. A good way to get a top listing with Digg is by submitting story about you top ranking website or blog with a different title variation. Chances are if you were able to rank with the original post, you’ll probably rank well with Digg also.

Search Engine Secret #3: Unique Article Wizard

Unique Article Wizard is an article submission service that submits your article to thousands of blogs and article directories. The main focus of UAW is helping writers to submit unique search engine friendly content. They have a great article spinner software that you can use to spin your article content into several different unique versions. The key once again is to switch the title also. I have been able to get 7 of the top ten positions in Google for one of my keywords using this technique.

Search Engine Secret #4: Ezine Articles

Ezine Articles is probably the top articles directory on the internet. I don’t know how they do it, but if you write a good article with a great title, your chances of getting a top position in Google is phenomenal. Once you have reach the top spot using Ezine Articles, you can then submit that same article 2 weeks later to 4 other directories and link back to the original article with Ezine Articles. This tactic will secure your article at the top spot.

Search Engine Secret #5: Squidoo

Squidoo is a social community that allows you to create pages(called lens) on any products or topic of your choice. Squidoo is also a favorite with search engines like Google. if you rank well for a particular keyword, chances are you can rank higher using that same keyword with Squidoo.

Competing against yourself is a great way to increase your chances of winning. Using deep linking, Digg, Squidoo, Unique Article Wizard and Ezine Articles can help you get an additional listing for your #1 spot. Remember one thing though, it will be difficult to achieve this feat without doing proper keyword research.

In this blog, one of my favorite topics to blog about is backlinks because of their importance for generating free organic traffic. Some marketers get the concept of generating backlinks but fail to grasp the full understanding of how they work. There is a reason why the site with 5 inbound links outranks the site with 500 inbound links.

The answer lies in the anchored text links being used and the quality of your inbound links.

To get better results which your incoming links, you need to use your keywords as the anchored text. For example, if your keyword is “get money fast” and you are using your web address alone for you backlink, then you won’t be making great use of your inbound links. Even though you have 500 inbound links, you competitor may still beat you with 5 inbound links with the anchored text “get money fast”.

Another factor involved in determining your search rankings are the page ranks and outbound links from the websites that are linked to yours. When you think of it, it should all make sense. If for example you have 500 websites with a PR 0 rankings and no outgoing links linking to your site, the inbound link will not be as relevant as having 5 sites with PR 5 rankings and 150 outgoing links each.

The quantity of inbound links is important for search engine optimization, but the quality and your choice of keywords will prove to be the determining factor for increasing your search engine rankings.

Article marketing is a great way to generate quality free backlinks and increase your page rank with the major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN. The only setback is the dreaded duplicate content issue that loom so large in the back of every marketers mind.

For example if you write a great informative,keyword rich article and submit it to let’s say, fifty article directories, you will have created the possibilities of getting thousands of backlinks. In case you didn’t know, articles directories distribute your articles to several other sources and that’s how you can create so many backlinks.

The problem of duplicate content rears it’s puny little head when you check your statistics and see 7 listings in Google with the same article. The good news is that your backlinks are safe and you will get credit for them. The bad news is that your backlinks will not be as relevant due to the duplicate content.

To avoid the duplicate content issue, there a few thing you can do to increase the relevancy of your backlinks. One is to submit your articles to article submitting services that circulate your articles to hundreds of directories at one time. Google does not penalize you if you article gives credit to the article directory that circulates your article. So instead of submitting to 50 directories, you can submit to 2 to 3 of these services which will minimize the amount of articles you have published without giving credit to another directory.

There are few article directories that provide this service. Some of them even offer a creative way to spin your articles for even more security from the duplicate content bug. These directories are as follows: Isnare, Article Submission Service, and Free Traffic System.

When you look at it, it all makes sense. After all, if someone wants to print your article on their website, that means that your must be providing good content.