As a web development company I get asked the question many times, what is SEO and what can it do for me?
Over the last few years as I practice and help websites increase their own SEO strategy, I have learned a few lessons, common lessons, that many people tend to over look or do not consider.
Search Engine Optimization after all is the art and practice of search engine rankings, but while I worked for a year of doing nothing but increasing clients websites in the rankings, I realized that their is more to increasing traffic then SEO. Many search engines will tell you that content is king and writing natural content is the best way to get rankings and yes writing natural content is the best thing you can do, and optimizing a site for the human user is also the best thing you can do. Just keep in mind that other websites out their do not agree with this and as such employ tactics to tell search engines what their page is about, working to get their rankings up. This is SEO, the art of improving site rankings and while it would be nice to live in a world where we do not have people using unethical methods to obtain better rankings, we currently do live in that world.
When I optimize a site for search engines, I do so keeping within the ethical realm and remembering that while it is good to rank better, it is also good to be ranking for what people are searching for. I can get anyone ranking for Denver CO real estate agent selling 1 bedroom homes, but is that what people are searching for? I can also work to get a website ranking for Denver CO homes for sale, but again does the content on your website live up to this term. There is nothing worse then performing a search, getting results and clicking on a result to find the site is nothing what you are looking for. This creates a negative feeling and impression about your site. So when I start optimization, I optimize a site for what it represents, working to get traffic to your site for what you are looking to get traffic for.
When I work on marketing for your site, I also remember that search engines and SEO are only one aspect. Yes people find your site via search engines and various keywords, but that is only one method. What about social networks, what about directories, what about local community pages. Their are so many websites out their, and so many possibles paths people can take to find your site, and I work to find as many of these connections as possible.
When you market a site, its not about SEO, it is about building an ethical network of related sites that are working to better their industry and community, and this will lead to the best traffic for your site.

Its not about the search engines, its about the humans reaching your site.