SEO is not difficult but not easy either, there are some strict rules that you need to follow to rank well on the Search Engines. Many people say MSN is the easiest SE to rank for then comes Yahoo! and finally Google. The problem with google is that it values old pages too much, you can have a new very informative website but you will probably not be in the top 10 for your main keyword if it is a very competitive one.



Ok enough blabbering let's now come to the steps that you should follow carefully so that SE's does not consider your website as spam or worse can ban your website. The most important thing you need is link. Links, links and more links from relevant sources, tons of irrelevant may help you on MSN but it will not do your website any good on Google, so it's better to do the best thing that is not penalized by non of the main Search Engines, that is Google, MSN and Yahoo!.

How to get links? This is a tuff answer... where to get your links from? You can get links from web directories, article directories and from link exchange with other related websites. When submitting to directories, search for the category most relevant to your website, check how many outgoing links the directory have per page. It will be kind of useless to submit to directories that does not follow the Google webmaster's guidelines. Also check if the directory is indexed by Google. PR is NOT the most important thing to check when submitting to a directory, it's has some value since it's an indication its importance (backlinks from good sources).

Writing articles can also help you to get backlinks. How? Write one or two article about your website's subject, be sure to include your main keywords in the article, make it fun but to the point, don't write as if you are the most intelligent person on earth, this will just scare people away. Include examples where needed to back up your thoughts this will make you more credible to the reader. If you are not sure about something, search about it if you can't find better not write about it. Be sure to include a link to your website in the author note else the whole step will be useless. Now just search for article directories and start your submissions. There are hundreds of article directories around so you are sure to get some quality backlinks from them.

Getting link partners is the most difficult and time consuming part in your link building campaign. Most websites will not be very keen to exchange link if they are in the top 10 and you are not. Here also you need to look for websites that are most relevant to yours, let's say you have a web design website, it is ok to exchange link with templates or SEO related websites that is any websites that are related to web development. Search engines values 3 way links exchange more, e.g. I link to site B from site A and Site C links to Site A. So better go for it when you get the opportunity.

SEO takes time but it is fun and there are always new things to learn since the Search Engines change their algorithm once in a time, Google is the most complicated one but I read somewhere, better you optimize for Google and the other two will follow. Most techniques mentioned in this article are free strategies that only require your time. My advice: try all the free techniques first then go to paid if free doesn't work. Happy SEOing.

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