SEO: Protecting Your Search Ranking From Yourself

There are a wealth of search engine optimization tips available free on the web to assist internet marketers in improving their page rank. Beware! Many of them are outdated and can destroy your carefully cultivated ranking.

When you are reading information on how to make your site more search friendly, always check the date it was posted. It is important to remember that the entire history of the internet as the average person has experienced it spans only a decade or so. Because of the amazing collective memory of the internet, a lot of old info is still floating around.

We've come a long way in that time - especially in terms of how information on the internet is indexed, or as you think of it, how your website's search engine ranking is determined. All ?tricks? to getting a higher search ranking have a lifespan. At first they may be wildly successful, pulling in traffic by playing to flaws in the search engines' logic. When the technique becomes common enough, the search engine programmers take note and adjust their algorithms.

Back in the distant, foggy past (1996 or so) that process could take quite a while and thus the ?trick? would stay useful. Nowadays the window between discovery of an exploit and correction by the search engines is much smaller. What's more, the search engines have become vindictive and may very well ban you for using the wrong method of getting traffic. If you rely on Google and other engines for your livelihood, that could spell complete disaster!

Be wise and avoid any technique that feels ?scammy? to you. Commonly repeated techniques to avoid include: multiple domains that point to one site or multiple sites with exactly the same content; using ?invisible? keywords using text the same color as the background; listing the same keyword multiple times in a row; immediately redirecting to a different domain; and many, many more.

Let your conscience be your guide. Before trying a new way to improve your ranking, ask yourself if it feels like cheating. Even if the answer is no, make sure the information is up to date, or you may be wasting time changing your page to please an search ranking algorithm that doesn't exist anymore.

About the Author: Daniel Detlaf is a lifelong student and one-time Day Trader with a few things to say about internet marketing. Visit the home of his ebook "Make An Honest Living" at: http://www.makeanhonestliving.com