Okay, I want to shout it from the rooftops: Most of your SEO and optimization tactics are hugely, utterly wrong! I have talked with many website owners over the years, and it seems like they all have been drinking the same content Kool-Aid. You can't blame them for believing horrible optimization tactics. They were just hungry for some search engine love.

It's time to end the madness, though.

Cutts Says Cut it Out with the Article Directories

First, don't use article directories to build links. Oh, I've known so many people that have wandered into this trap...and then Google gave them the website smack down. Finally, Matt Cutts of Google confirmed what I had always suspected. Article directories are slimy, spammy places. Don't believe me? Take a look at this video:

Keywords Aren't as Important as You Think

Keywords were once the best way to draw search engine attention. That was a long time ago. It's time to get up to speed, people. Search engines are smart enough that they can figure out what your content is about without a liberal smattering of keywords. Just add great content to your site and people will come. Trust me. Here is a more in-depth article I wrote on the subject: You're Thinking Too Much About Keywords.

Guest Blogging Equals Trash...Most of the Time

If you are using guest blogs specifically for links, then put a fork in it, 'cause it's done! For the past year or two, all anyone could talk about is how valuable it is to guest blog. Cutts has revealed, though, if you're doing it for the links, then it's just spam search engines will penalize you for.

On the other hand, if you use guest blogs to add valuable, entertaining content to your site, then by all means, go ahead. Adding good content to your site is always a good idea.

End the Crapfest

A few weeks ago, I ran across a website owner that employed a "content editor" to look over all of the content he put on his site. This is a great practice! Search engines are cracking down on sites that consistently put up content with spelling and grammar errors. The only problem was his "content editor" was adding more problems to the site then she was fixing.

Moral of the story?

Yes, please, please, please check all of your content. Make that blog or article or webpage shine! If you want to hire an editor to do it for you, more power to you! Just make sure the "editor" is actually good at his job by checking references and testimonies. You'll find references and testimonies on my website and on my LinkedIn, for example. Have you been doing any of these optimization tactics? Well, throw all those suckers out the window. Next time, close your eyes and hum when someone tries to tell you a new SEO tactic. All you ever really need to draw people to your site is entertaining, well-written content.

Need some help? Feel free to contact me.