SEO is short for search engine optimization and it's not a candy bar you can buy from a drugstore.  There have been a lot of self-professed 'gurus' in this field and businesses need to watch out.  The thing is that search engine algorithms change with time and so those who think they can trick its spiders with cheap tricks are in for a messy treat.

Many loyal writers on the traditional route have scoffed at the idea of SEO as it ruins the art of writing itself.  Just how can you write something creative that is limited to the keywords that people will type in the searches?  There have been a lot of SEO expert-wannabe's who are promising the moon and the stars just to improve your website's ranking and Google webmaster has even warned us about them here.

Why Should You Care About SEO?

To make the story short, if your website or web copy is not optimized for the search engines, people can't find you.  There are more technical stuff to this but the point is -- if you're doing business on the Web, you need traffic to get your potential customers ( and please, no flashy, gimmicky website animation or annoying popups ).

Are You an SEO Amateur?

Yes, if you commit any of these big No-No's:

1.  Choosing the Wrong Keywords

So, you've used Google Adwords Keyword Tool and Word Tracker ..and your keywords are not winning the heart of search engines.  Don't just go for a simple generic key word, but imagine how people will type in a search item.  Serious searchers type in more than a keyword or two so make yours very specific.

2.  Linking with the Wrong Crowd

Off page SEO means getting all those links from outside sources and it can be a comment back  or track back to your site.  So, you've decided to buy links and get your site into one of those nasty link farms.  You may get away with it for now... at the cost of getting banned from Google, not really a big deal unless it costs you US$4 million like this guy did.  When Google is the kingpin of search engines out there, you don't want to be linking to sites that are not worth linking.  Quality Rules!

3.  Having a Keyword Rave Party on Your Site

This is worse than using the wrong keywords.  So, you think it's hot  stuffing your website with keywords here, there and everywhere.  Oh No!  You may even be using colors to hide those words!  Go ahead if you want to get rid of your site from the searches faster than the speed of sound.

4.  Ignoring Your Meta's

Meta tags are still an important factor in your site's source code and forgetting to fill this up with the right keywords or stuffing it with a lot of irrelevant ones make you a newbie on the SEO block.  So, having a cheat sheet is definitely a must as you can't memorize all those tags.  As a rule of the thumb, your title tag must be within 70 characters long; keywords of up to 10 maximum; and your description within 155 characters long.  The search engines may care less about your site's description, but write in a way that I'll be curious enough to click on your site.  Google's core search  won't even use your keywords in the ranking, but there are other search engines that do.  Makes sense?

5.  Being Delusional

If you think that SEO is one of those get-rich-quick schemes, you're up for a big failure.  SEO is a continuous work and if you think you'll see results anytime tomorrow, I'd say give it two or three weeks more ( that is, if you did your research right ).

At the end of the day, SEO is just a part of your online presence pie and when you get all the traffic you need - this is where you have to go to plan B - to engage with your visitors and sell your stuff like it's hot.  That's for my upcoming blog then!