You probably heard "Content is King" in all SEO forums and blogs. It's true, good content make your site better for visitors which will result in a better user experience. That's the goal of search engines, send the customer to a site where they find what they looking for, therefore, coming back to the search engine to look for something else in the future.
Now, here is the tricky part. Your content should be optimized for search engines, but still easy to read for normal people who don't want to read "Cash Advance" every other sentence. The best practice is to write for your target audience first, then add your keywords in a few places (but not over kill the article with keywords). This way, when you get someone to visit your site, they'll be more likely to order your products or services (or read your articles in that the goal of the site).
Also, search engines love fresh content because is more accurate then outdated information. So try to update your site on regular bases and add different articles or pages often. If your content is unique, it will stand out higher in search engines then copying other pages because search engines are able to find the original document sources and remove irrelevant duplicates. There are other advantages to using unique content in your site which I'll cover below.
Now you got your King (content), but he is lonely and need some Queens (links) to bring him up. Links is how search engines find you and spider your pages. Most of the time, search engine will find your site without any links, but the more links you have the faster you'll be found. Also, when other people link to you, this mean they like your site, which in return tells the search engines that your site will result in a better user experience. But now, with all the link farms and automated link services, it's harder to find quality sites to link back to you.
You're site will need to be exposed to more site owners, so they can link to you. Also, it should be a very easy process, so always provide "Link to us" page with links and content. Second (and here where unique content comes in handy), include your site link in every article you write (something like By: My name and "my name" will be linked to your site.) This way, if someone copies your site, they'll more likely to copy the link as well. Also, if you provide RSS, and a lot of sites grab content from all over the web using RSS feeds. Your link will be added automatically as well.
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Content is King, Links are Queens
