Here's a good outline for those new to the SEO scene.
Jacob Schlottke
2004-07-06
Starting out, the two biggest keys to success in the search engines (Yahoo, Google, MSN, etc.) are content and incoming links. People argue about which plays the largest role, but I just suggest doing your best at both.
Content
You should focus on having articles, tips, and other suggestions about your products.
Ask your customers for testimonials (a quick, easy way to get testimonials is to offer a discount on their next order from your company... This may seem unprofessional, however, someone who doesn't like your company won't write a testimonial, no matter what you offer them)
Indepthly describe your products- using keywords that will help maximize your page rank. (Digitalpoint has some excellent tools, one includes a search term finder:
http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/
You should try to create a couple other related websites that offer information on your products. (If you are selling baseball equipment, create a site that talks about proper baseball techniques; batting, pitching, youth baseball, etc. and create another site that discusses how to choose your gear, what prices are right.
Bring your competition into some articles. Discuss why your price is better, why you offer better service than them, and how you plan on creating a better buying experience for them.
Linking
Now you have content, your site looks great... But...Where is the traffic? I suggest holding off on submitting your site to the search engines until you have atleast 4-5 really good incoming links. Sites that have a pagerank
http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/keywords (click the backlinks tab once you've signed up for a free account) This will show you the sites that are currently linking, your sites page rank, and other useful things.
Add your URL to signature files in; your emails, your forum posts, anything else you use a signature file for!
Go to google.com and yahoo.com and run a search for related words to you product. (i.e. "baseball equipment" + "add url") this will find websites that allow you to submit your link to them.. They are generally free submission directories that can help increase your PR.
Don't join linking farms... You'll find they are more harm than good.
About the Author:
Jacob is the manager of a small SEO firm in Minneapolis Minnesota. He also runs several small companies that sell products online.
http://seo.pcdestiny.com