Two Simple Keys to SEO Success: Take Care of the Basics and Forget about Algorithm-Chasing

Search engine optimization (SEO) is critical to the success of any website because it helps to improve a website’s visibility in the natural search results – the end result of which should be that the optimized website experiences a sustainable boost in search referral traffic.

And yet in spite of the obvious importance of SEO, the realtiy is that the vast majority of websites have never been exposed to even a bare-minimum level of SEO effort, meaning that they are potentially forfeiting top rankings – and the traffic that top rankings virtually guarantee – to their competitors

Why do so few people bother with SEO when it is so essential to a website’s success? Here are three possible reasons:

1. Search engines employ extremely complex ranking algorithms

A ranking algorithm is basically a mathematical formula that comprises many different variables that evaluates and ranks web pages in order of relevance to a keyword query. Google’s algorithm is reputed to comprise around 200 different variables, which means, in a sense, that every time you create a website you’ve got to do about 200 things “right” (or at least “more right” than all of the other websites that are competing against you for the same keywords).

2. Search engine ranking algorithms are fiercely guarded secrets

As if it’s not bad enough having to do about 200 things right every time you create a website, search engines do not tell you what those 200 things are. In fact, not only are their ranking algorithms locked up tighter than Fort Knox, there is speculation that they release misinformation about their ranking algorithms in an effort to throw off people who try to manipulate the system to achieve better rankings.

3. Search engine ranking algorithms are constantly changing

Even if you knew what all of Google’s 200+ ranking factors were and if you were able to do all of them “right” every time you built a website, you’d still be behind the eight-ball because search engines are constantly trying to improve the experience for the end user so they are constantly tweaking their algorithms. In fact, it’s been reported that Google plans to introduce about 550 or so improvements to its ranking algorithm in 2010.

In spite of some seemingly significant hurdles, SEO is eminently “doable” if you follow two simple pieces of advice:

First, take care of the basics.

Find out where your website stands today vis-a-vis your top-ranking competitors for your target keywords. Hire a SEO consultant or, if you really want to be in control of your website’s destiny, invest a few hundred dollars in some SEO software. And then take action to close the obvious gaps.