newbie at seo

[imagerage]

i've read a lot of articles on the subject already, is it basically just getting a lot of backlinks, optimize the meta tags and choosing the most effective keywords?

[mdoigny]

Also: having some content.
Keywords must appear in content.
"Effective keywords": keywords that apply to your site, keywords that users might enter when searching for what you are providing.

[HotShot]

i've read a lot of articles on the subject already, is it basically just getting a lot of backlinks, optimize the meta tags and choosing the most effective keywords?
Yes for all of them but the backlinks must be relevant to your site. It also helps if a site with a high PR (PageRank) links to yours.

[Lotus9]

To optimize for Google, just focus on getting a lot of backlinks with anchor text that includes your keywords. This is how you get higher rankings on Google. A good way to get these backlinks is by submitting to free directories or by link exchanging. MSN and Yahoo are more about keywords in your page titles, meta tags, and freshly updated content. :)

[rumake]

1. unique content
2. usability for people, not for robots
3. excellent html-code