"A failure establishes only this, that our determination to succeed was not strong enough." -- John Christian Bovee

Search engine optimization (SEO) is not rocket science but it requires both the right knowledge as well as the determination to succeed. Not knowing enough or not working hard enough can spell disaster and that's why most SEO campaigns fail. A lot of people seem to think that there is a secret formula for getting ranked well in search engines but frankly it is not true at all. SEO campaigns need a lot of care and attention to succeed and if you're not willing to spend the time then you might as well give up right away. A SEO campaign is like a flower that needs constant care and nourishment; it will not grow properly if the right procedures are not followed, whether you're an amateur or a professional.

Keyword optimization or niche optimization is where most campaigns start, and where most fail. The failure can be due to picking a very competitive keyword that the website is just not big enough to handle. It's always a good idea to start small and then build your way up. Search engine optimization is never permanent, you can always optimize for different keywords or niches. There are different types of keywords and depending on your website you need to focus on the category that makes more sense. "Money keywords" are keywords that people type in when they are looking to purchase a product or service; if you are selling a product or service then it's best to target these keywords. "Information keywords" are keywords that people type in when they are generally only looking for information; it's best to target these keywords only if you are an information website. Picking the wrong keywords will mean that your campaign will be a waste: you can't sell anything if people are finding you only while searching for information; you can't provide visitors with information if they are in turn only looking to buy a product. Of course these types of keywords can overlap and only proper research will allow you to select the desired keyword.

The website content is another factor that many campaigns don't take into effect. "Content is King" because content will make for better conversion, more links, and higher search engine ranks. By providing your visitors with more content you not only make your website more attractive, you also provide a reason for people to link to you; the more inbound links that you have the better you will rank. Search engines love websites that provide more content and that's why content-rich websites will most likely rank higher than others. A delicate balance needs to be achieved; the content must be attractive to both the visitors as well as the search engines. Having good content is a great way to get higher returns on investment because getting visitors is not enough; you need to keep them on your website to sell your product.

When working on a search engine optimization campaign it's important to throw our egos out and work very hard. Ranking well for keywords that won't give a good return on investment is a waste since the whole point of SEO is to rank well for what the website is trying to sell. If you're not willing to wait at least six months to see any results from your seo campaign then you're not patient enough for seo. It's also very important to keep up with the SEO industry; the major search engines change constantly so if you want to get top rankings and keep them you need to be on top of this changing market.

Ahmed Omran is a Web Developer and SEO Consultant. He runs a blog about SEO & Website Design. For more information about his services visit Affordable SEO Services