For many, the words "search engine optimization" (SEO) are simply confusing buzz words used by tech heads buried in the mysterious world of internet marketing. But listen up home based business owners, SEO can be a critical component of your marketing strategy, and when broken down to its basic level, SEO is merely a tool allowing you to use the various search engines such as Google or Yahoo! and others to gain visibility for your business and drive prospects to your website. SEO marketing is the process of improving the volume of traffic to a website through natural/organic (un-paid) search results. Unlike promoting your business via pay-per-click (PPC) strategies, which lists your business at the top of search engines such as Google or Yahoo! for a fee, SEO is a strategy with the goal of ensuring placement at the top without incurring expensive placement costs.