SEO is very important with both Organic ranking and page rank. look at SEO Software by Web CEO :: Search Engine Optimization Software / Complete SEO Toolkit :: Website Optimization, Promotion and Submission SEO Software they give free SEO software along with some good training.
Writing articles will get you into Google but you have to submit them to a lot of article directories. Posting on Forum's will also help especially if you post on one that has a good page rank.

Jeffrey A. Solochek
NoSugarCoating, No Hype, No Fluff, Just Great information