This has to be the most exciting yet challenging part of this business and its something you need understand if you are to survive in this business. The way I look at it is you only have one competitor in this business and that is google. So my advice here is don’t worry about what everyone else is doing, focus on what google wants. To do this go to the Google Webmaster Guidelines and read, they tell you exactly what to do. ( Type – Google Webmaster Guidelines into Google )

Look in the beginning this can be overwhelming as there is just so much information, but invest some time in reading their guidelines and put it into practice what you learn.

Anyway I am going to give you a brief outline and then I will expand on each one as time goes by, but do yourself a favor, don’t listen to every tom, dick and harry on the internet, spend time on googles webmasters guidelines until you fully understand the basic principals of SEO. There really is a lot of garbage out there so stay clear of it and don’t be in a hurry, because there is no quick fix to getting a top 10 ranking in Google. It really takes time, hard work and patience, and in my opinion is the hardest thing to get used to in online marketing.

The Basic Guidelines of Search Engine Optimization

1. Choosing a Domain Name
2. Design and Code validation
3. Site Structure
4. Meta Tags – Title and Description
5. Content and Theme Density
6. Images and Video
7. Linking Campaign

I know this is very basic information and you were probably expecting a lot more, but each topic is a science on its own. You need to start at the top and understand each one clearly before moving to the next one. Rather spend more time on research at this stage, understand what you are doing and why you are doing it, because it will save you a lot of time and aggravation down the line.

Seriously this is the foundation for setting up a good online business, so do it correctly from the word go.

This is not an easy subject to explain because there is so much involved when getting into affiliate marketing. A lot of sites will tell you its free and easy and offer you untold riches, but once you sign up the buck stops there. In all my years of experience not one network or affiliate program has offered me assistance in helping me promote their product. All you get is banners and text links. The rest they leave up to you, so don’t think you are in for an easy ride, because you are not.

So what I am going to do is give you a basic outline and then expand on each topic as my blog unfolds.

But please understand something right now, I nor the active members of the blog are going to spoon feed, or give you a detailed blue print of what needs to be done. So don’t try email them or me for one on one help because we will not respond. You need to step out of your shelf and engage on this blog.

Ask as many questions as you like and all the people who are active here will welcome you and assist you where we can.

The goal here is to create an active community of like-minded people where we can all come together and share our ideas. And the only way for this to happen is by active participation.

The Basic Guidelines

1. Join the affiliate networks and see what is available to promote.
2. Research the keywords and market you want to enter into.
3. Choose a Domain Name and set up a hosting account
4. Build a Website
5. Tracking and Analytics
6. Add content to your website
7. Search Engine Optimization
8. Advertising
9. Building a Newsletter List

As I said before this is very basic stuff and I will expand on each subject, but if you follow the process 1 step at a time your will be on your way to building a solid online business.