How to Avoid the SEO Quagmire

Many Webmasters, experienced and otherwise, fall into the trap of excessively adjusting or tweaking their Web pages in order to improve SE rankings. (I use the term "tweaking" to refer to the constant experimentation with keyword density and keyword placement in the various page elements.) It is absolutely essential that you avoid the quagmire of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and focus instead on building your business.

That's right. I'm telling you that you should never, except in extreme circumstances, tweak your low-performing Web pages. If a page isn't ranking for its Specific Keyword, don't worry about it.

Follow the guidance outlined so far in this course and get your on-page criteria correct. As you build pages, you might try experimenting by increasing or decreasing keyword presence. But once you have optimized your page as best you can, it's time to move on. Focus on creating new pages.

In the "good old days" (circa 1996-2001), the SEs were relatively simple to reverse-engineer. Tweaking efforts were generally rewarded with higher rankings, and an accompanying surge of visitors. Today, however, it's a different story altogether.

Two things make tweaking less valuable.

• SE ranking algorithms are increasingly complex

• off-page criteria are growing in importance (Off-page criteria show human approval and that's what really matters!)

Continue reading here: Yahoo Search Marketing Sponsored Search

Was this article helpful?