Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - It's Goin' NUTZ!

My primary occupation is a database driven website builder - I work as a contractor for other companies. So even though I am not in the market for new clients, I received two unsolicited phone calls the past two days about SEO.

The two individuals were practically in a panic to know more about SEO, contract some firm to do it for them, etc. The competition for eyeballs on the internet is absolutely mind boggling.

While two phone calls in three days is not exactly the basis for a trend, it is significant for a little bitty company like mine that does ZERO advertising except for the free listing in the Yellow Pages.

Unless you have EXCELLENT spam prevention for your e-mail, you probably get a bunch of offers of saying they can get you listed in the top ten on Google for your category in 48 hours - they are all a bunch of hogwash. However, there are excellent resources for SEO and I will list a few.

First of all, Search Engine Optimization For Dummies - 2nd Edition is by far the best book on SEO. I know, I know - it's a dummies book but don't let that throw you off as it is literally filled with great information. You don't have to be a geek to read it either.

Secondly is Wordtracker.com - this is a pay site but if you go to their home page and scroll down, you will see Wordtracker Academy which has a bunch of great articles on Keyword Optimization and all are FREE!

Finally, the best (free) website for all things SEO is Site Pro News. Their article archive is just immense.

Finally (part 2...), the best not-so-free website for SEO as well as affiliate marketing is Wealthy Affiliate. Not only do they have tons of tutorials but their forums are absolutely amazing.

However, if you want great search engine rankings, the #1 way to do it is to have up-to-date, original(if possible), relevant content with out overusing keywords. The resources I have listed above will provide you with all you need to know about keyword density.

The bottom line is that SEO is an acquired skill set that takes quite a bit of sweat equity to get really good at - While I still have a lot to learn, I am getting better every day - and with the resources above, you can too!

As usual comments are welcome and solicited.