Search engine optimization (SEO) comes in many forms, but SEO the Matt Cutts way is the one that matters. I cannot speak for Matt Cutts, and he has not personally approved my blog post, but I can tell you where his blog is (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog), and you can read it straight from him.
Who is Matt Cutts?
If you have not heard this name before, it could be a good thing, because you probably are not too worried about spamming search engines with useless or unethical content. Matt Cutts is the lead man responsible for keeping useless or dishonest results out of Google’s response pages when you perform a search. In a very real way, he could be considered the ultimate SEO guy. He will not make your Website show up in more searches or rank higher in the ways that other SEOs do, but what he does is to be sure that the bad results do not clutter your way.
Tricking Matt Cutts
Trying to trick your way to the top of search engine results is a clear example of “what not to do”. Reading all of the SEO blogs and forums on the latest means to trick your way around providing high quality content in a useful format will not trick Matt Cutts’ Webspam team at Google. The mystical Google algorythm that people keep trying to figure out should not be your concern. What should be your concern is that you are providing your Website users with a good and useful experience and providing what they want.
I have been providing SEO services for over a decade, and I have watched all of the latest SEO fads. There have been too many tricks to name, but here are a few throwbacks: doorway pages, cloaking, hidden text, repeated keywords. SEO fads come and go, but if you will follow the basic principles outlined in the Webmaster Guidelines at Google, you will never have to re-work your site to be “in compliance” with search engines.
Search Engine Compliance
I have seen many SEOs claim that they constantly study all of the changes of Google and other search engines and will provide ongoing support to assure that your site will always be in compliance with the latest changes. Sadly, I think there must be a lot of people who really buy into this. The thing you should know about this is that if your Website is well-written and has the most relevant content to the search engine user’s query, there is nothing to change. Sure, the competition may change, but the compliance does not. If you have doubts about what is in compliance or not, it is time for you to read what Google says about SEO.
Trying to cheat a search engine is the path of most resistence. I have written about this for years, and it still holds true. My way, and the Matt-Cutts-friendly way, is to produce quality Website content that people want. Do not try to trick anybody. If you will simply play by the rules, you will spend a lot less time and money trying to keep all of the SEO balls in the air.