Optimizing for Rankings Things to Do and Avoid

Search engine optimization is a much-debated topic and there is a lot of different on the net. Lets cut through the muck and discuss things you should and shouldnt pursue to get high rankings.

Optimizing for Rankings Things to Do and Avoid

Before blasting into the subject, we need to define optimization. It simply refers to the manipulation of a site to gain top rankings on the three search engines that dominate the search traffic on the net Yahoo, Google and MSN. If you do a search on Google, the optimized listings are found in the large section on the left hand side of the page. These are often referred to as organic rankings since you dont pay for placement. Of course, you manipulated the page for optimization, but we will stick with organic as a name.

The first optimization tip is the most basic and the one many people screw up. Pick the correct keywords for your site! The correct keywords are not what you personally think based on your knowledge of your service or product. They are not the phrases returned in the Overture inventory tool. The only place you will find the exact keyword phrases you should use are in Wordtracker. The site gives you an...