SEO, or Search Engine Optimization is a great tool that every internet marketer should make full use of. It is one of the best quality of traffic, it is sustainable and it is free. How could that not be awesome? Unfortunately, a lot of internet marketers get SEO very wrong and end up on the bad side of Google, which probably means they get banned from Google search engine rankings. This usually means an end to the business no matter how profitable you once were.

So how do you do it right? Here’s a basic guideline.

• Quality Content matters: If you don’t have time or expertise to write high quality content, hire a freelance writer to do it for you. You can get plenty on sites like oDesk (see oDesk review). Your main content needs to be of the highest quality. This is a must. You can sometimes get away with thin content for backlinks, but there is no way you can compromise on the quality of the actual content you are linking to.

• Natural Links First: Once you create a piece of content, make every effort to have it spread across the internet and through social media. Make the content so that it is worth sharing. People should naturally link to helpful content. Think of sites like CopyBlogger where every single post is something really helpful and linked from all kinds of sources across the net.

• Strictly No Spammy Links: I cannot emphasize this enough. Don’t try to spam the net with backlinks hoping something magical will happen and you’ll rank on top of Google overnight. Chances are, you’ll be blacklisted instead. There is no shortage of promising ways to have your links appear a thousand times on rewritten crap. Avoid them like plague. Remember that you want unique content to link to your content on high authority sites. That’s the only way. No one said it was easy.

• Don’t Neglect On-Page SEO: Somehow internet marketers tend to avoid on-page SEO but that’s as important, if not more, than link-building. Do your research in terms of keywords and use the tools that are available online. Don’t overdo keywords though because that can be a big negative.

• Don’t Stop Learning: Google search rankings algorithms always keep changing. They want to get the best quality content on top – that’s it. How it is done keeps changing. Remember the goal and change your strategies accordingly. You also need to keep on top of things because of frequent algorithmic changes. For example, a couple of years ago, I would have advised you to submit articles to article directories. Now, not so much.