Step One – 3 Simple Questions:

The first step is estimating some target market information. Just ask a few simple questions and write down answers that you come up with. You’ll need this information later:

1. How many people do you think are looking for what you offer? 2. What keywords are they using in search engine searches? 3. Which keywords are most popular to meet your needs?

Step Two - Verify:

Now that you have your initial estimates, let’s validate information. Visit Overture.com’s Advertiser Center and try their Search Term Suggestion Tool located at: http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/ac/index.jhtml

Type in any term that you think is close to what your potential visitors are looking for. You will see how many searches were performed, on Overture search system, for previous month. TIP – Use a general search term to start with.

Now you have single most important advantage when dealing with any trained business professional – you are informed!

Here are a few techniques to avoid, so that your site will not be blacklisted:

Mirror Websites

Mirror websites are sites with identical content but different URL's. This was once a method used to gain high rankings in search engines, but since search engines are smarter now, this will only get you penalized or blacklisted.

Doorway (gateway) Pages

Doorway pages are pages with little real content for your visitors that are optimized to rank highly within search engines. These pages are designed so that visitors will move deeper into website where real content lies. Navigation to doorway pages are usually hidden from visitors (but not SE robots) on homepage.

Invisible Text and Graphics

Using invisible text (text same or a very similar color to background) was once used to spam a homepage and some inside pages with non-stop keywords and keyphrases. Also links to doorway pages and hidden site maps can be done with invisible text (or invisible graphics). Some designers will create a graphic link with a 1 pixel by 1 pixel raster image and link this to a hidden inner page such as a hidden site map.

Submitting Pages Too Often

Submitting same pages to search engines within a 24 hour period can get you penalized and may delay your website from being listed in rankings. Some search engines believe that pages submitted sooner than every 30 days is too much. The 30 day rule is a good rule to follow when submitting to multiple search engines.

Using Irrelevant Keywords