No matter what anyone tells you the key to achieving solid rank for your websites is 10% on-page optimization (content on your pages) and 90% off-page optimization... in other words, the key to top search engine rankings is garnering quality, one-way, in-bound LINKS! And lots of them.

But there is a problem... to get high quality one way backlinks in most cases you have to pay for them monthly (with the risk that Google may discover them... and... if you stop paying for the links... they are GONE FOREVER), you have to provide a reciprocal link (which in turn makes it a zero value reciprocal link), or you have to trudge through all the article directories, high quality forums, guestbooks, and directories looking for links that have some sort of pagerank, have some sort of relevance, and that will actually allow you make a post, add your site, or publish your article. Two months and countless hours later, if you are extremely dilligent, you "might" have a handful of one way backlinks. Even outsourced at pennies on the dollar you just paid a LOT for each one of those links. Does this sound familiar