Just as the internet and history of search engine world dominance has changed over time, so have the rules for search engine optimization.   Ultimately, creating a quality website that provides useful and up to date information is one of the major factors in SEO success.   Over time, as you develop your website you are probably going to receive tons of well meant advice.

It is believed that Google has over 200 ‘rules’, ‘algorithms’ or ‘diagnostic tools’ in place to determine how a page will be ranked in any given search results.   Google does not publish what these are in an effort to not provide loopholes to those who are trying to cheat the system (aka black hat practices).

In the past there were ways to trick the search engines in placing a web page higher than they actually deserved.   Now some of these same tricks work in the opposite way and practicing them can have your website black-listed, never to be seen again in a Google search page.    Here are a few no-no’s to keep in mind when optimizing your website.

The practice of  reciprocal linking has been obsolete for close to 5 years.  This is also known as link exchange.   Sometimes link exchange will help bring you business but this is not to be confused with search engine optimization.   Inbound links can be helpful if the links are coming from websites that Google recognizes as being reputable.   High quality links from these types of sites are considered a vote of confidence.

Key word (and key phrase)  stuffing will have your website blocked by Google in no time.   So how many is too many?   Generally, your key words and phrases should account for about 2.5% of the text.   This means that if you have 300 words on your page then you can only use your key words three times, max.   This includes header tags, alt tags and general content.

Other tricks from the past include hiding text by coloring it the same as the background.   If you do this, your web page WILL be filtered out.  

Also, don™t have more than one domain name pointing to your website.   If you must use more than one domain name, only have one pointing and forward the rest.   Similarly, you should not have two websites with the same content.   This will just diffuse your efforts.    

Search engines do not index flash presentations.   If you must have flash on your website then embed the flash presentation inside a regular web page.   This way it will be treated like a graphic.

Build a site that your visitor finds appealing, interesting and useful.   If you are strictly creating a site without your visitor in mind then you will not be successful in optimizing your website.   Keep in mind that SEO practices from the past will not only  be ineffective,  but could destroy your position in the search engine results.   You are on the right path if you build a website that will be useful to your visitors.