It’s not really mentioned that much anymore, but you’ll find tools and other discussions about the proper keyword density for the best optimized content.

Hogwash!

It’s so not important to worry about keyword density and especially spending the time to make sure you content has the keyword you’re going for in it.

Why?

Because all that really matter are links anyway at this point. Just get the links.

That said, make sure your primary keyword is in the title of the page on your website and it would also help to put it in a header on that page if you can. Other than that it’s not a big deal.

If you’re writing good content then you will mention all sorts of keywords that are very closely related to your main keyword. These are better known as LSI keywords, again which just means words that are very closely related.

So there you have it... don’t worry about keyword density, just build solid links and make sure your content is good so actual people will enjoy reading it!

Take it from me, for a little bit I ran my own SEO company in my home town, Charleston SC. I did pretty well for a little bit, but dealing with small businesses is truly a nightmare. I'll explain that later, but you can make good money if you market hard to them.

Back to why I really don't recommend you use another SEO company...

1. It Really Helps To Learn It Yourself

No matter what you do with your website and in the further of your business, I really like to learn and be competent in all aspects. So for SEO, being able to do it yourself means when you outsource it, you will have proper expectations. And nobody will ever do it as well as you can.

2. They Cost a Ton of Money

These companies really cost you a lot of money, sometimes a couple thousand a month. I think the cheapest I found was about $500 to maybe $700 a month. That is a big hole you have to overcome to get profitable. And as a beginner, I'm guessing you were like me and wanted to conserve money. You can take that money and invest in the right tools to safe yourself a lot of time. (I'll tell you about those tools later.)

3. Most of Them Suck!

This is an unfortunately truth. I am sure you're on the big guru lists and get all of their emails, which funny enough are always pitches. I have never gotten an informational email except from John Reese.

The reason I bring them up is because they all have been selling systems about how to be a local consultant (like I used to be... haha). And most of the companies are complete amateur marketers. They have never done it themselves but since they know the theories about how to do it... they can still help a local business. But they won't help you.

Bottom line, you will be able to run circles around them in SEO after you get the fundamentals that I'm going to show you and for the most part completely free.

4. Low Quality Links

I can't say all of these companies give low quality links, but most will do things like profile links, blog comments, and link wheels. These link wheels, which will be a different article, typically use web2.0 sites like Blogger and Squidoo.

I'll show you the tools and everything you need to get really great one way links that will help your site big time.

There is a lot more when it comes to using these companies. But take a couple weeks on my newsletter list and learn the fundamentals. Then when your website starts to get ranked and traffic you will get tons of emails and contacts from other companies offer you these services.

Talk to them and ask them questions and you'll see just how much they don't know.

SEO is mainly about persistence and connections. It's a long term strategy but while it can be boring as heck to get up and rolling, it's something that will also really pay off dividends when you land a top ranking. I will say this a lot, when it's a bare to move your SEO plan forward, buckle down and just get it done because there is nothing better than free traffic when you get it.

With that said, let's look at five SEO tips that will attract those search spiders to your website and make them come back again and again.

1. Use a CMS

If you're wondering what a CMS is, it's a content management system. The most popular is WordPress and the other really great one is called Joomla. There are many others out there but these two are the best in my opinion.

They are great to use because Google seems to really love them. They can be well organized which organizes your content really well. They are usually coded really well too which makes it easy for the spiders to read. They like that!

2. Organize Your Content Well

This is actually really important and in this case, there are two meanings. First you want to make sure you organize your content by what Google thinks is relevant. Next you also want to organize it correctly on your website so human users can get the most out of your site.

Back to Google, when you theme your site around what Google wants to see, you get everything going in the right direction. It makes sure that Google see your site for what you want it to rank for.

3. Link Your Website Well

If you start to really learn more and more about SEO, you will definitely hear about PR sculpting. The idea here is to push your PR to the pages you want and make sure it's collected where you want it.

However, I never really worry too much about that. I just make sure my internal pages are linked so that the spiders will find everything. There is more too it but I will tell you about that more in future articles.

4. Think Pages - Not Website

This is a SEO mindset thing. Most people think of SEO on a website, but what you really need to do is think about SEO in terms of pages. Each page on your website can get ranked and you need to think about it like that. This also rolls right into our last SEO tip for this article.

5. Title Your Pages Correctly

Sometimes people freakout about the pages and keyword stuff titles. But you really don't have to do that. Make sure the title is correct and relevant because you can actually confuse Google.

I am going to assume that if you're reading this article then you know what SEO is. But like so many website owners, you may think it's not the most effective way to grab some traffic. However I want to tell you why that is not true and why SEO is the best type of traffic.

What is SEO?

SEO is getting a top three position in the search engines for a key phrase search. Notice I said top three and not page one. Page one actually means nothing and with Google Universal search, it really means nothing. Universal search is when Google shows pictures in the results or products or even a map.

These Universal results take up a lot of space and act as a mental barrier to the user going below them. If you want to get any clicks for a search phrase you HAVE to be top three. Obviously it's best to be number one, but top three will get you clicked.

Bottom line then, SEO is getting your website ranked top three in search engines results page (SERP).

Why Does SEO Matter?

SEO matters because when you rank for a search term that consistently brings you traffic, there is nothing better. For example, I have a website that ranks for about four terms pretty well and it grows my list by about 20 subscribers each day. Besides the work I did to get my site ranked there, I don't have to pay for those subscribers and it makes a huge difference.

Take this for example... if I were running a Content Network campaign on Adwords it would cost me. Let's guess what that cost would be. We'll assume a 25% opt in rate which is easy to get and I'd probably pay about 25 cents which is a pretty lose guess.

So to get 20 opt ins, I would need to get (20/.25) 80 visitors to my website. To get 80 clicks, I would probably have to pay about $20 a day which is ($20 * 30) $600 a month... and I get all of those subscribers for free... or essentially for free.

That is why SEO matters because when you rank well it gives you a baseline or success to build from. It's almost like a safe zone. Not to mention, the longer you stay there, the more you'll get labeled as an authority for that key phrase and Google will love your site.

Down the road the domain that the site sits on will make for a great PPC domain that can essentially be unflappable. But we will get to that later.

I have to end this article now or I will continue to ramble on about how kick ass being ranked really is.

This is going to be a short article because this should be really easy to understand. When you make a link, you have the text that is the hyperlinked. That is your anchor text. For example:

Here's the HTML for a link... <a href="http://www.LinkedDomain.com">Anchor Text</a>

In this case, the text "Anchor Text" is the anchor text for that link. This makes a huge difference when you are SEOing a site.

As you probably know, Google looks at other links from other websites to tell them what your site is about and how popular it is. So if you have a site about rainforest wood guitars (which actually exist) then you want your anchor text to probably be rainforest wood guitars.

Here's a real example... if you're trying to rank for the term "FL auto insurance"  then your primary anchor text in the links that point back to your site should be like this...

<a href="http://www.YourDomain.com">FL auto insurance</a>

However, you don't want to over do it because there is a suck thing about appearing random when building links. Google likes random so you want to vary your anchor text. Most people always ask... "How much should I vary the text?"

There is no one answer to that. The answer is really... enough... I suggest you heavily lean on your primary anchor text but everyday you should build some links that have different anchor text.

The other question that always comes up is... "How do I control how other sites like to my site?"

This is actually really easy when you are using the right tools. I can show you exactly how to do this, just read my review of The Internet Marketing Advantage and SEO Link Vine.

These tools make this a breeze. But the other answer to that question is, you can't always control so don't worry about it. Control it when you can and when you can't don't think twice about it.

When it comes to using search engine optimization, there are many things you can do to help. However there are also many things that can actually hurt your site and potential rankings. You want to avoid these mistakes because it can make it really hard to get going. Let's take a look at five things you should not to when setting up your website.

1) Don't Make an Ugly Site

This is a little different because it really doesn't have much to do with SEO, but it's vital none the less. So many people make their sites ugly and then when they finally get ranked they wonder why they don't make money. You may have heard that ugly is better, but that is not true. When your website looks amateur, it won't convert. So make a site that will actually looks good and breeds trust from your visitors.

2) Don't Just Build 16 Links

This isn't that technical either but I see a lot of people complain that their site is not ranked after building only 16 or so links. This goes right along with having a plan, or not having a plan. SEO takes time and you have to be willing to work everyday for six months. If you don't give it that amount of time then you'll never know what could have been.

3) Keyword Stuff Your Content

Whenever you research SEO tips, you always read information about keywords in the content and the right amount of density. However there is not such thing as keyword density. If you just write solid content then you will find that you use your keywords enough. So keyword density means nothing, the most important thing is to write for your visitors which will help your conversion.

4) Don't Build Static Sites

What I mean by static sites is regular HTML sites. Make sure you use some sore of CMS. This really should not be in issue because it's a pain to build a site based on just HTML using xsitepro or Dreamweaver. However there are some courses out there that still teach this. I've found it best to use WordPress or Joomla.

5) Don't Buy Chunks of Links

Buying links is a taboo subject and it can work for you. However there are