When looking at improving your search engine rankings there are many, many things to consider. The best advice is to write for the reader. Beyond that lies a long check list that can vary depending on whom you speak with. After all The Great Algorithm is unknown to all but a select few in Mountain View, CA.
Another discussion is paid vs organic rankings. They are both viable options depending on your budget. Organic ranking does not happen over night. It is the result of multiple steps and a varying amount of time. PayPerClick can get you to the top fast, but many times you may find it difficult to justify the return on investment. 
Backlinks are another important part a solid SEO strategy. Links from from websites with strong Page Rank add some SEO juice to your website. Getting good backlinks can be difficult. They may come from your Blog that was picked up by someone else. So keep blogging!
A big question is does a PPC campaign create a good backlink from Google and other sites. You will read that these PPC/Adwords have “no follow” links. No follow links tell the search engines to ignore the Page Rank weight coming from that PPC. SEO experts know that sometimes what the search engines say helps your SEO and hurts your SEO don’t always jive. PPC can tell the search engines many things. It’s hard to believe your purchase of Adwords doesn’t factor into The Great Algorithm somehow.