Search engine optimization is one of those things that require  certain steps in a specific order to really work well. I often times see  many people putting the buggy before the horse really just wasting  time, energy and money by not putting the puzzle together in the right  sequence.
The following are a few SEO steps to consider. I mention FEW because there are so many involved but these are a few to think of:
1st SEO Step:  Everything starts with your website. Your website is the foundation for  everything else you do online so you want to make sure it is running at  100% efficiency. This means having a well optimized website with unique  meta info and optimized well written content. You also want to make  sure that your conversion aspects are all in place and your user  experience is tip top of you want to really maximize your online  marketing efforts.
2nd SEO Step: Once your  website is fully optimized with all conversion aspects in place now it  is time to put together a link building strategy. You want to try and do  it in a way where you can visualize it at first. Put together a 12  month outline of what you plan on doing every month to market your  business so you can visually see it. 
3rd SEO Step:  Once your website is complete and you have started the process of  building links to your website it is now time to dive into the social  space and start speaking with people online. Don’t worry about stirring  the waters too much when you first arrive. Set up your Facebook fan page  and make it visible along with a Twitter account and start using them.  Each platform and business is going to have a different approach so just  get in there and have fun with it. All it takes is just becoming  visible sometimes for your audience to find you and initiate  conversation.
4th SEO Step: Once you have spent  some time establishing yourself online it could be time to think of some  viral marketing efforts. When done correctly they could really help you  generate some very targeted one way links to your website.
This  is a general outline of what we think is a nice approach to building up  your SEO efforts. If you want to contribute to this list, please feel  free to leave a comment.