Do the words "search engine optimization" put a cold chill into the center of your heart? Does it seem too complicated? Do you even know what SEO means? Well, there's no doubt that it will bring lots of traffic to any website, which will in turn, intensify your list building efforts. However, to do it on a large scale, it takes very specialized knowledge. Can you do it? Should you do it? My answer is yes. There are some very simple techniques that can make your list building efforts go through the roof.

We've discussed before how important it is to put your opt-in box anywhere you can--on the homepage of your website, on your blog, on your MySpace profile, etc. If you haven't done that, now's a good time to stop reading and go do it! Then, come back, of course, but you see how important that is? Your list building efforts can multiply when you do those things.

To help people find your site, which increases your list building potential, you also want to know a few specific keywords that apply to your niche. My suggestion is to sit down with a piece of paper and a pencil and list as many words as you can imagine that surround your niche.

Maybe you're selling some really cool jewelry. So, you'll probably come up with keywords like necklaces, rings, bracelets, and so on. Keep going, until you can't think of another single word that applies. Then, go to SEOBook.com's keyword research tools and find out how many people searched for each term in the previous month. Get rid of the words that have the highest number of searches because they're just too competitive. Also forget terms with 3,000 searches or less because no one is looking for them, and they really won't help you.

The words that are remaining are all potential keywords for you, but choose three to five that you can rank for. Then, be sure to use one keyword in every post you write at a density of around 2%. that means if you write 400 words, about 8 of them should be keywords. But don't try to get more than one keyword to that density. It's much too difficult to use more than one, and your words could come off sounding spammy. You don't want that.

But how does this apply to list building? You'll see. Hang on...

When your post is done and the keyword density for one of your terms is at 2%. Find one of the words you used, let's say it's "bracelets," and make it italic, bold, or underline it---once. Link another "bracelets" to the page on your web site where you sell bracelets, too. That way when search engine spiders read your blog post, they'll see that the word "bracelets" is important in the post and that it links to a page all about bracelets. So, it will realize that your blog post is probably about bracelets, too. Your page will rank somewhere in the results for that term, though it could be on page 50. You won't be surprised when I say that it won't be on the front page at first, but keep using your keywords in your posts, and you'll soon see your site rise on the results pages. When you get into the first three pages, BANG! You've just improved your list building efforts exponentially, and it can happen if you consistently use the keywords or keyword phrases you've chosen.

Do the very same thing with your MySpace profile, or wherever you hang out, and use your keywords. Your homepage should have your keywords in it for around a 2% density, too. If you do these simple things, you'll be amazed at how much they really help.