Flynn Network Solutions

Brent Winters is the author of the monthly MarketPosition Newsletter and the President of FirstPlace Software, Inc. He has produced an in-depth article "Top 5 Tips and Top 5 Mistakes of Search Engine Marketing ". You can see the full article at his site, here we show the key points (summarised).

The Top 5 Search Engine Marketing MISTAKES

1. Buying into the myth that SE optimization no longer works 
2. Bulk submitting is the path to riches 
3. Meta tags will solve all my problems 
4. Believing doorways don't work or will get me banned 
5. Submitting before establishing any external links

The Top 5 Search Engine Marketing TIPS

1. Target the right keywords 
2. Proper submission to the major directories is critical 
3. Optimize your page content
• Create pages that emulate the "statistics" of pages that already rank at or near the top of the search results. These statistics include:
1. Frequency of the keywords on the page. Tip: This does not mean more keywords are better. Instead, emulate the same number of keywords of top ranking pages as closely as possible.
2. Total words on the page. Tip: Mimic the approximate number of words of a top ranking page on your own page.
3. Weight of the keywords on the page. (i.e. frequency divided by the total words) Tip: Too high a weight is just as bad as too low a weight.
4. Area or location of the keywords on the page. (i.e., title, heading, etc.) Tip: A keyword is given more relevance by an engine when the keyword appears in the engine's "preferred" areas.
5. Prominence. Tip: Generally, the closer to the front of the area you can place the keyword, the better.
6. Proximity. Tip: The closer that the words of a phrase appear together, the better.
7. Off-page criteria. (i.e., link popularity, click through popularity, etc.) Tip: Even when you've done everything else right, don't forget the off-page factors!
4. Increase your link popularity
5. Track your progress.