It's taken you 6-months of hard work, constant changes, reading every shred of information on search engine optimization strategy not to mention thousands of dollars trying out web optimization tools and services.

Finally, you have a page rank of 5, you are listed in top 10 on your major keywords, and you are seeing benefit - some decent traffic from Google and other search engines.

Then, as quickly as your search engine optimization strategy begines working, it suddenly, and without notice, disappears!

You frantically look for evidence of dropped links, pages not working, it HAS to be something you've done!

Well, truth is, it may not have been anything you did - turns out Google updates their algorithms every few months in an attempt to improve it's search engine optimization strategy.

In fact, Google has shown that they are not afraid to make major changes impacting tens of thousands of sites, businesses and corresponding sales and profits.

Even more concerning, everything points to fact they will continue to make changes.

So what can you do to protect your search engine optimization strategy and resulting traffic critical to success of your online marketing?

There are some things you can do.

1. BUILD CONTENT WITH REAL, RELEVANT VALUE

Do you develop content just for search engines or just for your visitors and customers?

The answer is both.

Truth is, your customers search for information based on keywords. Use tools like Wordtracker (http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/part/wordtracker) to find those keywords.

Plan your articles around answering questions associated with each keyword. Over time, you will build highly relevant content that will be irrisistable to search engines - no matter how they change them.

2. LINK FOR QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY

Big businesses get instant credibility with their well-known company name or brand name. But small companies have to create their own credibility. One of most powerful tools you can use for this is customer testimonials.

Here are 5 tips to help you get persuasive testimonials ...and use them to convert prospects into buyers.

1. Continuously Collect Testimonials

Start by setting up a file to store positive comments you get from customers. Many good testimonials are hidden in casual comments customers make during normal communications.

Don't overlook positive comments you get by phone or in person. Write them down and add them to your file.

Next, look for some ways you can stimulate customers to give you testimonials. For example, send a postcard or email message to recent customers asking what they liked best about your product or service. You'll be surprised at some of glowing comments you get.

You don't need a lot of testimonials before you can start using them. Three is normally enough unless your sales message is unusually long.

2. Try to Get Varied Testimonials

All of your prospects and customers are not exactly same. Different aspects of your products and services are likely to appeal to different prospects.

Try to get testimonials that mention a variety of results achieved by your customers. The more benefits you can reveal with customer testimonials, more business they will generate for you.

3. Some Testimonials Are Better Than Others

Avoid using testimonials that are not specific. For example, "I really liked your service a lot", is nice for you to know. But it won't stimulate many prospects to buy.