This is one of the topics which most pre-occupies internet marketers so I'm going to talk to you about search engine optimization which is sometimes referred to as an online science. Now don't panic, I like to keep things as simple as possible. So spend the next few minutes with me and I am sure you'll be blown away by what I am about to tell you about how to top the search engines easily.

Let me start at the beginning

I want to explain to you why web sites rank in the search engines and how you can rank. By doing this you'll have a better grasp of what is needed to be done in order to rank first in Google, MSN, Yahoo and so on.

As I have said before, people use the internet to search for information. By providing them with this information we can make a killing. We simply find out what people are searching for, and then we provide them with it. Simple!

Now here's the thing. If you can optimise your web site to show up whenever people in your niche market search for information, you can make a huge amount of money online. For example if someone typed in 'kidney stones cure' and you're the top web site in Google for that search term, you can pick up tons of free visitors to your site and explode your online income.

So many people think that topping the search engines can only be done by huge companies or those with massive budgets. The truth of the matter is, it's free when you know how and I'm going to show you one step at a time how to top the results for the keywords related to the service or products you sell. We're going to be able to do it quickly, relatively easily and most importantly without spending a single penny.

So what do you need to do first? Well the first thing you need to do is create a large list of keywords directly related to your niche or service and you can do this by using freekeywords.wordtracker . Let's say you were selling a product on 'how to grow the perfect rose garden'. You'd go to the above link and type in 'rose garden' and make a huge list of keywords that show up directly related to rose gardening.

Now you're ready to start optimising your site for the search engines. Please don't let the name 'search engine optimisation' put you off. It may sound technical and that you need to be some sort of online whizzkid to be able to do it, but the simple fact of the matter is, do it correctly and it doesn't need to be technical at all.

By writing an article focusing around one of the keywords you found, and then adding it to your site you have an optimised web page. So let's say you wrote an article, just like this one, on 'rose gardening design' that was optimised correctly and then added it to your site. You can rank well and get free traffic from one 500-750 word article and at the bottom of the article you can link to your sales page selling your e-book or service.

Sadly, at one time, webmasters abused this system by saturating the content of their websites with keywords, to be able to achieve a high ranking which resulted in search engine users getting results that had no relevance whatsoever to their query.

To combat this abuse, search engine webmasters developed algorithms to decipher which websites had relevant content and which websites did not. Now, the whole focus for keyword utilization has shifted to content rich articles with a keyword ratio average of about 12% of the whole article.

The key to writing good SEO articles is to be true to the subject at hand. Make sure that your SEO article contains relevant information and a substantial proportion of keywords scattered throughout the article. Include a keyword or phrase in the title of your article. Include a minimum of 2 keywords or phrases in the beginning and ending paragraphs of your article.

Finally, scatter keywords in the body of your article. If you have a 500 word article, a minimum of 1 keyword or phrase per paragraph in the text body is recommended.

Write your article for your product, not for the sake of keywords. As you go on with your article, you will be using your keywords when you describe your product and when you give out instructions on how to use the product. Write about how the product came into existence and how it has developed through the years. Cite instances where the product has been particularly useful to you or to an acquaintance.

When writing the article, do not force the keyword issue. Your articles must be forthright, literate, easy and entertaining to read. Some writers sacrifice grammar for the sake of a keyword placement. Don't do that. When searchers are directed to an article of yours and it happens to contain spelling errors, wrong grammar and a generally sloppy composition, they might decide to look for another article or website that contains more nicely written content.

So that's one way to optimse your site, simply write an optimised article, turn it into a web page dedicated to that keyword and then add it to your site.