The old saying goes, you can give a man a fish and feed him for a day, or you can teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. For marketers, is as important to know what we’re trying to accomplish, as it is to know the daily tasks involved.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important tool for any online marketer. But for so many of us, it can be difficult to see beyond the tried and true website changes that we can implement to improve our rankings in the short run, to the overarching principles that govern solid SEO practice.

If your goal is to trick the search engines into ranking you higher, you’ve got yourself a short term strategy that will yield little results. If you listen to an SEO firm or consultant who tells you what to change on your site, but not why, you’re missing the big picture.

If you are a marketer or website owner who wants to get you website onto page 1 in Google and keep it there, learn the science behind SEO. Find out why certain websites rank higher than others. Find out what it is that Google is looking for when they decide who to send traffic to. That way, when it comes time to implement a strategy, you know exactly what you’re doing and how to keep your website strong for a long time to come.