The more you focus on SEO strategy, the more you might begin to think you can outsmart Google. But Dharmesh Shah argues in an article at MarketingProfs.com that gaming the system with sneaky SEO techniques is, in the long run, a losing proposition: “It’s safe to assume that if you try to exploit a hole in the algorithm today, your advantage is going to be temporary,” he says. “More importantly, you carry a significant risk of having your Web site penalized or banned.”

According to Shah, some slight-of-hand tricks you should avoid include:

Link farms. Most SEO professionals agree that the number of inbound links plays a critical role in search rankings. Some less scrupulous practitioners, therefore, create a group of dummy Web sites for the sole purpose of linking to the actual Web site.

Keyword stuffing. Once upon a time, the constant repetition of certain keywords might have manipulated rankings. But no more–search engines got wise to this practice, and it’s now a wasted effort.

Hidden text. Placing white text on a white background–visible to spiders, but not to humans–is a seemingly invisible way to load a page with rank-improving content. But, he notes, “Regardless of how sophisticated the approach, it is still going to be detected at some point.”

The Po!nt: “An Internet strategy that is predicated on outsmarting Google is not a smart strategy,” says Shah. “Working with search engines instead of trying to exploit them is the only approach that works in the long term.”

Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are two important ways to promote your business to online customers. SEO requires making your site search engine-friendly, and SEM involves targeting potential customers by purchasing relevant keyword ads on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Alta Vista.

SEO: There are many ways to optimize your site so that search engines will list your site higher in their rankings. Start with the following:

• Links from other sites: Search engine spiders move from site to site across the Internet by following hyperlinks. The more high quality and high trafficked sites you have pointing to your site, the more important the search engine will think you are. Make sure to register your site with directories such as Yahoo and the Open Directory Project.
• Internal links: Make sure your site is well-organized and easy to navigate. A site map will help visitors — and spiders — navigate your site.
• Meta tags: Meta tags are hidden HTML directions for Web browsers or search engines. They include important information such as the title of each page, relevant keywords describing site content, and the description of the site that shows up when a search engine returns a search. Make sure your meta tags accurately describe your content.
• Keywords: Consider likely words or phrases that users might type into search engines to find your site. Make sure your content contains those words or phrases, and include them in your title portions of your site and in relevant content.
• Search engine optimizers: Businesses often enlist the help of optimizers who specialize in improving the visibility of their clients’ sites. Among other things, they’ll register your site with major search engines, list it in the appropriate directory, write optimized content for your site, and recommend changes to your site to specific search engine keywords that a user might submit.

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