SPAM, SCAM and Cheat your way to rankings or not!

By the end of 2007, I should have over 75 internet related workshops (Paid and Free (but I get paid) under my belt. That gives me an opportunity to meet many people across North Carolina as I travel from the beautiful NC Coast to the grand mountains of this awesome state.

I spoke with a man last night in a workshop that thinks using any means necessary to get search engine rankings is o.k. It’s about survival and looking out for number one (me). That was kind of my take from talking with him. Needless to say, he left after talking with me during one of the breaks . I think that is was partially because I was not going to cover the Top 10 ways to cheat your way to top rankings. My workshops focus on the complete package not just search engine rankings. There is so much more to a solid internet presence than being #1 on a search engine. However, if you can get the # 1 spot along with the complete package, that’s even better. My point is don’t get caught up in being # 1 and SPAM, SCAM and Cheat your way there.

I believe that whatever you do in life should be ethical and with integrity. Ethics in the rankings games means that you do not hide text (white text on a white background), that you do not SPAM the search engines with the same word repeated 100 times in a 300 word document and that you DO NOT do everything you can to cheat your way to the top. Doing it the right way may take a little longer, but in the end, you don’t have to fear being banned from the search engines.

True search engine optimization is not about rankings anyway, it’s about visitor/site optimization. It’s about maximizing your website in every way possible through sound time tested techniques.

The visitor is usually tuned into his or her favorite radio station WIFM (What’s In It For Me). Think visitor first then balance it with the search engine side. Write for human beings not the search engines. In other words, don’t write by trying to satisfy the search engine algorithms. Yes, you have to feed the spiders (what the search engines are looking for). However, your site visitors will not be impressed by your writing if you write primarily for the search engines. Your visitors will probably exit your site as fast as they entered it. If you want long term stability, do it right the first time.

If you want to know how to write better on your website, you should take a look at CopyBlogger. Brian already has over 18K readers and does quite well. So before you jump over there and sign up for his RSS, you may want to sign up for our RSS. We have a GREAT incentive for you to do so.

Good optimization always begins with good keyword research: KeyCompete.com

As always, your comments are encouraged.