Thou shall not overlook the POWER of the search engines! 

After all- where do over 80% of Internet users look before 
finding the web site of their choice? 

Here are 10 tips that will help you on your journey toward 
search engine heaven! 


#1 -  
~~~
Thou shall not - 

Try to trick the search engines with techniques such as 
invisible text. This will only make your journey a difficult 
one. Try to work together with thy search engine brother, and 
HELP them to find your web site's useful content. 


#2 -
~~~
Thou shall not - 

Fill thy "meta keywords" with useless words such as "business" 
if your site is about "computers". Be kind to your search engine 
neighbor and try not to confuse him. These days, it's virtually 
impossible to be placed for "business" if your site is about 
"computers"! Narrow your focus, and you'll start to notice that 
it was MUCH more difficult to be a "jack of all trades", yet 
master of none!! ;)


#3 -
~~~
Thou shall not - 

Submit thy site more than ONCE a month! Search engines are very 
strict about SPAM. If you've been submitting your site every 
day, chances are that you have been banned by the time you 
read this article! If you are currently using a search engine 
submission/optimization provider, like Guaranteed Top-20.com, 
be sure not to sign up for any other service or submit the site 
yourself. Doing this will most likely ruin your chances for 
placement.


#4 -
~~~
Thou shall not - 

Repeat keywords right next to each other! Make sure to include 
each keyword only ONE TIME! Too many people make the mistake of 
repeating keywords over, and over again.

For Example: "computers, business, computers, components, 
  computers"

This is a HUGE mistake, and will only make sure that you end 
up at the BOTTOM of the list! 


#5 -
~~~
Thou shall not- 

Use the same keyword list, and "title", for every page! Each 
one of your pages can get placed for a different keyword. Don't 
"sell your pages short". Besides, one page on your site might 
be seen as more relevant for a particular keyword when compared 
to another. 


#6 -
~~~
Thou shall not - 

Submit dynamic pages such as ASP, or Cold Fusion, because most 
search engine spiders can only read basic HTML pages. If your 
site was developed in a language other than HTML, make sure 
that there's AT LEAST SOME static content for the spider to 
read. 


#7 -
~~~
Thou shall - 

Write relevant, useful content that pertains to your web site 
and it's keywords. Whatever you do, make sure that writing 
educational, informational, and useful content is your FIRST 
priority. Search engines cannot read your pretty web design, 
graphics, or FLASH. The only thing that is of use to them is 
your content, and the code that verifies what each page is 
about ("meta keywords", {"description", "title", "alt tags", 
and the list goes on..). 

Be Specific! 

Tell your users what each page is about, and include the 
keywords a few times within the text. Do not repeat your 
keywords excessively- but make sure to include them!


#8 -
~~~
Thou shall - 

Make all pages accessible to the search engine spiders within 
1 or 2 levels of the home page. Even better, if you make a web 
page with a list of every page on your site (kind of like a 
"site map"), then the search engine spiders have a way to find 
all of your content!!


#9 -
~~~
Thou shall - 

Attempt to get reciprocal links between your site and other 
sites in the same industry. This should be easy, as it will 
benefit both your site AND theirs. Link popularity is one way 
in which some search engines judge what your site is really 
about. Web site's with more "link popularity" can place higher 
on some major search engines. 


#10 -
~~~
Thou shall - 

Be patient! You will not achieve top placement overnight. You 
might not even get placed at ALL for months! The major search 
engines can get backlogged or full, and sometimes will not even 
accept your submission. One thing that I've learned is that 
successful search engine optimization is a time consuming and 
laborious task. You must be patient and will learn the most 
about it mostly through trial and error.


CONCLUSION:
These 10 Search Engine Commandments are just a very basic set 
of rules for your web site to live by. There are so many other 
crucial factors involved in achieving Top-20 search engine 
placement, and I've covered all of them for you in an easy 
to understand format at: http://www.SearchEngineSchool.com . 
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope 
that it has helped you. 

Good Luck!

Anthony Kavas