SEO Rules - Do they exist?

There are no hard and fast rules of SEO (search engine optimization). There are many people who believe that they have a pretty good idea, by testing and researching, of what the search engines are looking for from a good website, but only the search engine algorithm creators really know. This research and testing has lead to some industry accepted best practice guidelines, but in reality if the algorithm changes, these guidelines will have to as well.

Does this mean we shouldn't SEO our site?
Absolutely not! A well optimized website will most often do much better then a website that is created without the guidelines and best practices of SEO and usability. SEO should be done as naturally as possible. A good SEO'd website in our humble opinion should go through at least 5 things:

Keyword research: the agency you hire should do their homework and find out as best as possible what phrases people are actually using to find your products/services.

Site Review/Usability Review: an objective review of your current site, or a solid plan before starting a new site is key. You need to know that the efforts you put into optimizing your site will stand the best chance of succeeding and good website that is usable is the only way that is possible.

Natural Inclusion of Phrases: the list of phrases that you choose to optimize your site should be naturally worked into the site. Ideally there would be a page for each phrase. If this is not the case, don't just use the phrases anywhere. Really put some thought into how those phrases are used and be sure that when a visitor reads that page it still makes sense.

Quality Content: your website needs to have quality content. Quantity is good, but quality is better. You and eight other people could be selling lounge chairs, but if your content is better, more informative and keyword rich, you will stand a better chance of not only being found but keeping that visitor and converting.

Good Code and Structure: You might have the best content in the world and from a visitors perspective the most usable site, but if the spiders cannot get through the code to get to that content, you will have a hard time being found in the search engines. Good, clean code will go a long way in making sure you stand the best possible chance of being indexed.

There are many more things that are important (right now) to optimizing a website, but these are some of the very basics that should be kept in mind. Just because you don't know how to optimize your website doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to ask the "experts" working on your site if they've done their job thoroughly.

Remember: When having your site optimized ask yourself this "If I didn't have to worry about the search engines would I take that approach?", if the answer is no then don't do it.

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Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization