The first thing to know is that most search engines, especially the all mighty Google, hate SEO. It makes sense really, the whole reason that we need SEO is because the people who are involved with these search engines want to be the ones to dictate what ranks high in their lists, SEO is often times our way of attempting to 'trick' the search engines into seeing us as the best site to fit their criteria. So, my first piece of advice is a simply one, use SEO but use it thoughtfully and don't over do it. Being too obvious about it will often result in a penalty rather than the increase in traffic you were hoping for.

The thing search engines love the most is content. Fresh, original content is the key to getting in with the big guys. The search engines are, basically, indexers of content so the more of it you have for them to index the better. But again I have to sound a warning, the content must also be relevant and entertaining, it must be quality. The search engines may not be able to tell the difference but the people who arrive at your site sure will be able to.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the search engines will look for an idea of topic in the heading and sub headings of your articles so decide on your keywords and try to have them appear in these areas as often as you can without giving a spammy feel to your content.

Keyword density in general is probably the most hotly debated element of SEO. As I said last week, I do not claim to be a leading expert on these matters but with the use of a bit of common sense I have arrived at what I think is a sensible solution. I try to include a few keywords in my content when possible but I keep one overriding principle in mind; I am writing for people not search engines.

Some use of keywords can help to bring people to your site and clearly that is a good thing but as I mentioned last week, you actually want them to stick around for awhile. Get to know you and hopefully buy your product or service. They are not going to do that if all they find on your site is spam type articles stuffed to the gills with key words.

In conclusion I would say by all means use SEO but while doing so always keep in mind the old adage that less is often more. I have certainly found that to be true with SEO.