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Once you've gone through the trouble of building a website, it probably won't take long to realize that your site isn't very useful unless people actually visit your site and read your pages. And, if your site is like most, many of those visitors will probably find you using a search engine. Of course, it doesn't take much to figure out that the higher your site ranks in the search engines, the more traffic your site will see. And, if you�ve done even a little bit of looking, you've probably run across the term 'Search Engine Optimization', or 'SEO' for short.

In the most basic sense, SEO is the practice of tuning (i.e. optimizing) various aspects of your website's content so that your site comes up sooner on the search results page when prospective visitors search for various terms or keywords. Since all of the major search engines are essentially complex computer programs that retrieve, store, analyze, and ultimately rank your website's pages, it's possible to take certain actions to influence those programs. So, in theory, if you just make certain modifications to your site, you're almost guaranteed to see more traffic. Unfortunately, in practice, it's not that simple.

First, the fact of the matter is that the program (or programs) and logic that the search engines (be it Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) use to collect and rank results are highly guarded trade secrets. Google as a search engine initially gained popularity by delivering search results that were better than their competitors'. So, if you find someone who claims that they know exactly how Google (or any other search engine) works, you would be wise to take those claims with a grain of salt. Of course, that doesn't mean that people can't or haven't extrapolated certain factors which influence the search engines. Nevertheless, without going into specific examples, it's safe to say that even the best SEO advice is still just a best guess.

In addition to being based on super-secret programming, the code that the search engines employ is constantly changing. The search engine market is a highly competitive one (while Google, as of the date of this article, has the lion's share of search traffic on the internet, Microsoft, among others, is trying hard to win a bigger piece of the pie) which means that extensive development in new and better indexing techniques results in frequent changes to the way that sites are returned to your prospective visitors. In other words, even if you did manage to figure out exactly which combination of factors worked today, chances are that it wouldn't be long before that approach was outdated.

Of course, you might think to yourself, 'even if everything you've said is true, whats the harm in trying?' Well, in the worst case scenario, you could get your site banned from one or more of the search engines. That's probably not the most likely scenario, but it is possible depending on the information you rely on. Remember, SEO is a rapidly changing field. If you inadvertently rely on outdated or incorrect advice, you could find yourself doing your site more harm than good.

Given that, if you're intent on doing some SEO on your site, start with the basics. Make sure you've got good, solid content. Make sure your site is standards compliant and that you're not doing anything that would prevent the search engines from indexing your site in the first place. If you're still looking for more performance then start doing your research. Read recent articles from reputable sources on various SEO techniques. While you're doing your research, keep in mind that if you find someone promising something that sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.


After you've implemented a certain technique or techniques on your site, make sure that you stay up-to-date on the latest SEO trends. After all, if you've heavily implemented a certain technique on your site and it falls into disfavor with the search engines, you want to know before it's too late. That's especially true if you�re pushing the envelope with more aggressive optimizations.

Whatever route you choose, it's important to realize that SEO is not a shortcut. Just like anything else worth doing, it takes persistence. Without a doubt, the effective use of SEO can increase your site's traffic. However, you have to make it a part of your long term strategy and allocate sufficient time to learning the trade. On the other hand, if you're not ready to take that step, then your best bet is to focus your energy on building a quality website. After all, you'll probably discover (if you haven't already) that the most important advice that never goes out of style is to have a well produced, up-to-date website from the get-go.

George Qualley IV, J.D., M.B.A. is the co-creator of siteomite.com, a web-based tool which allows special event service providers (e.g. DJs, photographers, videographers, etc.) the ability to offer dynamic, online price and availability quotes to their customers. 2009 by siteomite.com

Leslie writes: I am new to SEO and want to learn all I can to further my knowledge in this area. I am very leery of the “do’s” and “don’ts” of SEO because the “don’ts” can carry pretty harsh consequences. You stated here “not to rely on outdated or incorrect advice”, but my question is where can I find trusted tutorials, how-to’s, and such. Do you have any recommendations?

9:58:19 Fri May 22 2009 CDT


Ayden writes: point understood. SEO = long time :)

7:58:44 Wed May 20 2009 CDT


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