Landing page or sales page is the most important part of SEO. This is where products prosper or die a premature death. Why should SEO be so important for a landing page? This is because customers will come to your site while searching for the keywords. For example, if you were selling bicycle spare parts, you would like those interested in it to visit your site. This means if someone searches for bicycle spare parts, they should land on your landing page. You don’t want those searching for car spare parts coming to your site. Though both pertain to spare parts, one of them is of no relevance to you. This is where you must do your homework.

Landing page has other important functions. Getting customers interested in your product or service is the first objective. If a person has searched for keywords relevant to you and has reached your landing page means that you have done half the job. Making them to buy is another kettle of fish altogether. The landing page should be so designed that a visitor is enticed into making a purchase and that too immediately. If a person or customer decides to buy some other day, you have lost the battle of wits. A landing page will be performing its task effectively only if there is a purchase.

Landing pages should be designed keeping search engine optimization in mind. Keywords should be spread evenly over the entire page and should seem natural and not forced. Search engine algorithms are pretty smart and can penalize you if the keyword density is not natural. As far as possible we must ensure that the language can be understood by humans since it is they who would be purchasing your product or service. In our enthusiasm to manage a better page rank we sometimes forget that the ultimate aim of a landing page is to sell

Sometimes we tend to ignore social media like Facebook, MySpace and twitter while managing our SEO strategy. You may well ask what is the association between social media and SEO? Many think that focusing entirely on the keywords inside the website or blog is sufficient to bring the traffic. While this may be an important part of your SEO activities, it is still not enough. There are several reasons why you must include social media in your SEO strategy.

The first reason is obviously back links. If you are constantly writing and commenting on forums, you can provide back links to your own site. This will bring additional traffic to your site but more important it will attract search engine bots. Back links increase your search engine ranking.

The second most important reason is that social media sites like    Facebook, MySpace and Twitter provide fresh content every day and therefore attract search engine bots. By linking to these sites you will increase your exposure to search engines.

Your sites search engine ranking depends on many factors. Social media are an important part of your SEO strategy. Moreover, posting on forums is free. You must find the right forums to post your comments. By creating sufficient back links you improve your overall search engine ranking.  Sites like Youtube are a favorite hunting ground for search engines. By posting a small video on this site with relevant keywords can do wonders to your site visibility. Ultimately, you are looking for traffic and social media sites can do this job effectively. By focusing exclusively on keywords and site optimization you are   likely to miss out on some great opportunities.

Twitter is another site which can ramp up your traffic spectacularly. By cleverly associating your tweets with some happening news can be rewarding. You must create a Twitter strategy specific to your needs. Tweeting can be monetized well, if used  in combination with your other social site activity and website.

Though there is no direct link between affiliate marketing and SEO, an understanding of the subject clarifies some doubts which are bound to arise while discussing search engines. Affiliate marketing is a term used when product and service providers seek marketing assistance from others for mutual benefit. The term affiliate marketing has acquired a bad name due to fraudsters and scammers who promise wealth and money to people without doing anything. Due to this the entire affiliate domain has suffered. We have to understand that there are no free lunches and we must have a genuine product or service which can be sold to clients.

The affiliates come together using search engine techniques. Each affiliate is an independent marketer who sells products and services. Usually a landing page or sales page is used to describe the service or product. It is important that the landing page is properly optimized for search engines. In addition traditional marketing techniques are also used for selling.

An affiliate gets a commission on every sale. This process is fully automated and once a client makes a payment, the affiliate gets his share. This payment may be scheduled daily, weekly or monthly as convenient to both parties.

Affiliate marketing needs powerful search engine optimization. In other words an affiliate must understand optimization techniques well if they want to be successful. This is the reason why we must understand what affiliate marketing means and how SEO fits into the overall scheme of things.

Affiliate marketing is also promoted by some dedicated sites which provide all the tools necessary for deploying    affiliate site. These sites usually charge a commission for handling affiliates and providing facilities.  Article submission sites are also used as part of SEO by affiliates.

An understanding of SEO is therefore essential for affiliate marketers.

The aim of SEO is to drive traffic to your website. This can be done in several ways. The traditional way is to get listed with search engines. Search engine optimization means understanding keyword density and providing relevant content. There are two main search engines today: Google and Bing. Both these have their own algorithm based on which they rank your website.

Since link building is a huge part of SEO, it is necessary to create suitable links with other websites. Buying and exchanging links is now a big market.

Driving traffic purely through search engines is no longer an optimal solution. With the phenomenal growth of social sites like Facebook, MySpace and others, it is now necessary to engage ourselves with them. By participating in various forums, it is possible to drive relevant and focused traffic to your website.

Video sites like YouTube have gained importance. It is possible to create a viral marketing campaign using popular videos which are initially hosted on video sites. You can generate a humungous amount of traffic with videos.

In SEO circles it is said that content is king. Search engines love content. Your search engine ranking is likely to get a boost if you provide good quality content on your website. You must remember to use appropriate keyword density to attract search engines. Search engine bots look for any change or additional content when crawling through websites. Static content does not enthuse these bots.

Driving traffic to your website requires thrust from several angles. SEO alone is unlikely to make your site wildly successful. Social sites should be leveraged to boost traffic to your site. In the final analysis, it is the quality and quantity of your content which will determine whether your site attracts traffic. Everything else can only assist in adding to the numbers.

Google search engine has become so pervasive that we tend to forget other search engines. Microsoft Bing is a search engine which has a unique algorithm and displays search results based on a different set of criteria. What are the repercussions? For one, if your website, for any reason, does not attract better search engine ranking on Google, it may fare better with Bing. The overall share of Bing in the search engine market is less than 15% but is picking up fast. There are reports that Bing provides better and more relevant search engine results than Google.

You must submit your website separately to Bing to get registered.  Keyword searches work differently in Bing and the search algorithm is a secret like in Google. Since the competition is less severe in Bing, the chances of getting a higher listing are better in Bing.

SEO for Bing is not any different from Google. It is also based on keywords and therefore the content on your website need not change dramatically. In fact, since you are submitting your site to Google as well as Bing, the content has to be suitably modified. You must take care that in the process you don’t lose a good ranking in Google.

The presentation in Bing has been altered and is different from Google. Microsoft claims that this has been done after in depth research and analysis. Many experts confirm that the Bing interface is better   suited for human physiology. Despite all these claims Google still seems to hold a psychological edge. But it would not be a surprise if Bing with its pedigree comes up trumps in the search engine market. You must remember that there is enough space in search market for more than two players.  It is therefore advisable to do due diligence at this stage. Who knows how the search market would evolve in future?