Smoke and Mirrors of SEO

All too often, people make the mistake of assuming that search engine optimization (SEO) is an overly complex process that cannot be broken down into simple terms.  It seems that now days, SEO is becoming a magic show complete with parlor tricks.  The magicians (the companies offering you SEO services for quite a bit of cash) will look at your website, look at your current search engine rank in Google or Yahoo! and promise you that with their "tricks", your site will crawl to the top.  Some SEO companies will even go as far as to "guarantee" search engine results.

When a supposedly legitimate SEO company gives you promises or guarantees, my advice is not to walk away, but run!  Run for your life and keep an eye on your wallet.

Instead of blindly following the tricks some SEO companies offer, follow these 5 suggestions.  When it comes to legitimate search engine optimization practices, these suggestions will help you secure a better placement:

•  Content, content, content!  The search engine algorithms constantly change.  In past years, Google valued links and sites that had incorporated natural link building received higher ranks.  However, Google has changed its algorithms and is now focusing on content (the text on your web pages).  Simply put, if your content is not related to your business, lacking in quality or not correctly optimized, you will lose out on that top rank you so desperately covet.  A professional SEO company will be upfront with you on this and advise you to add relevant, keyword-rich content or to hire a professional content writer.  They will not offer you tricks - like creating spam pages - but will encourage you to be patient with the process and explain why keyword rich content is the way to go.

•  Meta data matters!  Make sure that you have your bases covered and that you have added SEO friendly titles, keywords and descriptions in the code of every webpage.  Yes, this takes time, but it is time well-spent when it comes to achieving a high SEO score.  Professional SEO companies can help you with this and can suggest keyword phrases that apply to your business and that will bring you the best return in Google, Yahoo! and MSN.    

•  You need to tag your larger images.  Every image should have appropriate alt tags so the search engine spiders can recognize the image.  This is especially true in cases where sites are very image heavy.  If your site is image saturated, I would encourage you to add some relevant text and to add keyword phrases in your headers.   

•  Repeating keyword phrases helps.  If you have a keyword phrase in mind, you should repeat that phrase in your content 2-3 for every 350 - 400 words.  However, be careful not to over do it and pay special attention to the text surrounding your seo phrases as the spiders crawl surrounding text to determine relevancy.

•  Use headers!  Headers, also known as H1 tags, are the perfect place for you to incorporate your keyword phrases.  Each web page within your site should have a header that is optimized with appropriate keywords.  This is an important factor that is commonly overlooked. 

These are just a few tips that you can utilize to improve your overall SEO strategy.  Best of all, these are suggestions that you can implement on your own, without the smoke and mirrors some SEO companies offer. 

If you don't have the time to do these things on your own, than I advise you to speak with a professional SEO company.  However, always remember that a credible SEO company will offer to help you with these areas, but will not guarantee results.  Additionally, a trustworthy SEO company will let you know that it will take time to increase your SEO rank  - you will not rise to the top overnight.  If you are prepared to be patient, you will go far and you will see your SEO rank improve in a few short months.