There is no such thing as overstating it; keyword marketing is the number 1 essential skill you must master if you want to make money online.  Keywords and the traffic they generate are the life blood of any online business. Every business, whether it's online or off, will need a steady stream of visitors to buy their products if that business is going to survive.  Getting those customers can actually be very easy online, if you know what you're doing. 

Every search online originates with someone typing a word or phrase into the search bar of a search engine. It doesn't matter if it's Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. every one will use this method to find a product or service online. As an online marketer you can use this knowledge to make a dramatic impact on the amount of exposure your website gets. 

You can find the keywords that are 'hot' for your particular niche and then use those keywords in blog posts, articles, and even in the tags on your website to make your site stand out in the search engines for that keyword phrase. 

To really make this process work you have to first start with the right keywords.  Ideally, you'll want to find a list of keywords that have a lot of monthly searches without a lot of competition.  Now, there are a lot of theories as to how many searches a month constitutes 'a lot'.  Some will say that any keyword that gets at least 1,500 searches a month is a lot others say you need a lot more than that. 

No matter which school of thought you graduated from one thing is clear: the more searches a keyword phrase gets the higher the competition will be and the harder it will be to rank for that particular keyword.  That's not to say that you shouldn't try it (many online marketers really don't know that much about using keywords effectively so you can rank well for a competitive keyword if you know what you're doing). 

The biggest favor you can do yourself is to learn the skills needed to fully optimize your keyword marketing strategy.  Knowledge is power and no where is that more true than online. Learn the tricks to finding those keywords that will bring all the qualified customers to your offers that you can handle and you can make money for the rest of your life. 

There are many keyword tools you can use to start your great keyword treasure and some of them are free.  The most popular free keyword tool is the Google Keyword Tool. With this tool you can start with a broad search of a particular keyword and then drill down to find some less competitive keywords that you can use in your marketing efforts. 

Please don't set yourself up for failure by not taking the time to properly use keyword marketing techniques to drive a lot of very qualified traffic to your website. If you learn to do this you will never have to pay for traffic again.   

One of the most common questions I get on my internet marketing blog is people asking me for the secret, they want that one internet marketing tip that will help them make money online - more money and more quickly. 

The cool thing is that for most of them I do have a great tip, it's just not what they expected. The truth is that internet marketing is a business and as long as you treat it like a business you will have success. 

Think about it for a minute, if you were starting a business in the offline world what would be your first step? Would you just throw open the doors and hope for the best? I doubt it, unless you had a lot more money than sense. You would probably learn a lot about the business you were starting, long before you actually set foot in the building. I'm sure you'd learn the skills necessary for success in your chosen field, wouldn't you? 

That's one of the things that has always amazed me about an online business, it seems like there is something about the internet that encourages people to throw common sense to the wind. If you want to be successful online learn the basics before you start your business. 

For most people the basics would include:

1. What type of business do you want to run?  Beginners tend to do well with affiliate marketing because it's cheap and easy to start. 

2. After you've decided what type of business you want to start, what product or service do you want to sell?  Hint: most people do this backward, they pick the product they like and then they hope to find a market. Instead find the market and than pick a product that they can't resist. 

3. Your next responsibility is to learn how to get traffic to your website. Don't let this freak you out, it's actually quite easy to do and in many cases, it's free.  As a matter of fact, for right now only stick with free methods like article marketing and SEO techniques. 

4. Build a list. This is vital, easy, and often overlooked. You see the fact is that most of the people you get to your website won't make a purchase the first time they visit, and most won't ever visit again. To get the most out of your visitors you want to be able to build trust with them so they will buy from you at some point. 

The only way to do that is to get them to opt in, or sign up, to your email list. That way you can contact them over and over again for as long as you want and eventually they will learn to trust you and they will buy from you. 

That's it, that's all you should worry about right now. It's all the basics you need to get started and you can start making money while you learn and expand on your knowledge.  Don't ever stop learning when it comes to your internet business. There are always new methods and techniques you can use to grow your business even higher. 

 That's the one internet marketing tip that can truly have a positive impact on your online success: learn the basics and then get going. Don't hold off doing something until you know it all, you'll never know it all. Just get started once you have the basics in place and you can add to your knowledge over time.

To be successful in any profession you must learn and fully understand all the terms associated with that profession. It doesn't matter if you're a teacher, doctor, lawyer or internet marketer.  Having an online business is no different. Learning internet marketing terms is the first step to building a successful online business. 

Once you have grasped what the terms mean you need to be able to put the skills behind the terms to work for you. It's not enough to know what PPC or SEO mean, you have to be able to implement those tactics in your online business to make any money (hint, they are both ways of getting more targeted traffic to your website). 

Another thing to consider is the type of online business you are building. Whether you choose to become an affiliate and sell someone else's product for a commission, or you decide to create your own product the number one skill you will need to perfect is the ability to drive a constant stream of highly qualified visitors to your website. Without a stream of serious buyers for your product or service, you won't make money, period. 

Here is a brief overview of some of the most commonly used online marketing terms:

1. Article marketing: writing an article about your product or service and using carefully chosen keywords in the article two or three times. These articles can be submitted for free to article directories and once someone reads your article they can click on a link that will take them to your offer. 

2. Email marketing: building a list of opt in email subscribers who sign up to your list with the expectation of getting something in return. For example, many people will offer to provide some help or knowledge to anyone who subscribes to their list. This enables the list owner, you, to build trust and rapport with the subscribers. You can automate the process by using an auto-responder which can easily be programmed to send the messages out at a pre determined time frame.  

3. Pay Per Click (PPC): this is another method to get traffic to your website. You can place an ad with any of the major search engines and when someone clicks on the ad you will pay a price. This isn't a good method for those just starting out because it is hard to learn and it costs a lot of money. Bottom line, you will spend way more than you make in the beginning. 

4. Search Engine Optimization: using keywords on your website as a way to get the search engines to 'see' your site. This too can help you get a higher ranking in the search engines which can provide you with a lot of free traffic. 

There are hundreds of other internet marketing terms you may hear online, but this is a good overview of some of the most common, and most important, terms you will need to learn to start and grow your online business.