It is a proven fact that any online marketing strategy has to have Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as an important technique. There is a lot of traffic just waiting to be harnessed to your site, and its potential can not be fully realized until and unless SEO is used.
Therefore what remains to be decided is not whether to use SEO or not, but in fact, when to use it. The owner of a web site has to make this decision, and it is not a minor one because of the fact that there are limitations on the availability of the budget, among various other factors. Many things have to be taken under consideration before determining when to invest in an SEO campaign.
The first thing an investor should know that SEO is not a direct marketing tool. There are no guarantees that any investment made today will result in profits tomorrow. There are high chances that he will have to wait for a long time before any actual gains do materialize, since SEO is a long term strategic investment. But there is no denying the fact that if properly and effectively implemented, SEO will provide the owner with high returns and an advantage over other online businesses. Therefore it is up to the owner to decide whether to invest now or some time in the future
There are certain conditions when it is normal to make an investment into SEO:
" Before launch. Since things are still in their design stage, any changes that are required can be made easily, as compared to after launch or during coding.
" Paid Search. Coordinating organic search with paid search is a sensible choice.
" All bases covered. When everything else has been done, the only obvious thing to do is investing in SEO

There are conflicting views on this statement, but it is advised that SEO should be started earlier as opposed to some time in the future. The only problem with making an investment as soon as possible is that you will have to give up other marketing techniques such as affiliate expansion, improved e-mail marketing, etc.
SEO is very important, as well as being an astounding way to increase traffic. But the main issue which has to be kept in mind is to anticipate clearly when and how to invest in it, and the result of that investment. The main reason why people are unsuccessful in SEO despite it being a very easy tool is that they do not try to make it work, nor do they have any patience.