The three words in retail are "location, location, location". The three words online are "search engine optimization". It means the same thing
Search Engine Optimization is a term used when refering to how to optimize your web site in such a way that the search engines will give your site a high ranking when users search for keywords that your site is targeting. There are a number of things you can do to make sure your pages are optimized. But keep in mind, this is not a one-time task. If you are dedicated to getting your site in the top results you will need to develop your SEO skills and use them often!
Google is the number one search engine used today and is constantly working to improve their technologies. So just accept it and learn to love it. Google is a webmaster's friend! Google provides plenty of information on how they prefer you to optimize your web pages and several tools to assist you along the way. There are many factors involved in "how to get your site at the top of the Google results page" and although not all of them are well known, we can concentrate on the ones that are. If you want your page at the top of Google's list then your goal should be to consistantly working to implement the suggested SEO advice from Google.
Although many SEO issues are known, it is not clear which factors weigh more in determining your page ranking. The best thing to do is just start implementing as many items as possible, review your rankings daily and continue to learn as much as possible. The secret to success changes often! If Google revealed their complete algoriythm for ranking a site then it would soon be manipulated by website spammers and the search engine would become more of a frustration than a useful tool that millions use on a daily basis.
So now that you understand what Google is (search engine tool) and why they keep their algorythm a secret (to prevent the tool from being manipulated), as well as the importance of SEO on your web site (to get your site to appear in the top of the search results), you can get started by ensuring that all of the elements below are included on each page of your web site.