By John Alexander

With respect to SEO, the biggest challenge that many Webmasters have to making high performance improvements to their Web site is really just in getting started. For some folks, they wait forever and never seem to be able to get started. They might buy tools or software thinking that there is something out there that will do all the work for them.

Then some people are still looking for tricks or short cuts to try and "fool the search engines" into ranking their pages much higher than they merit, (although many others are learning the hard way that Spam is just a totally wasted effort.)

Truly, the key to success is not in learning little "tricks" but rather, you want to learn how to build high quality, useful content that is of value to Web visitors and learn how to make it rank based on genuine relevance for your researched keyword phrases. You want to be easily found for important search terms that your ideal buying audience is searching for.

Relevancy : "the relation of something to the matter at hand."
Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

What is it that you and the rest of the public want when you search on Google or any major search engine?
Relevant results? True.
Useful information? True.
High quality content that satisfies your search? True.

What is it that the search engines themselves want in their indexes? If they are going to remain useful to the searching public, they all want exactly the same thing that the public wants.

The search engines want truly relevant results, useful information and high quality content that satisfies the search.

So then what should Webmasters and SEOs all want to be able to create? If you are practicing search engine marketing, your goal should be to create genuine relevancy with useful information that will not only satisfy the searchers needs, but it continues to remain relevant and stands the test of time in the top rankings.

Defining "high quality" content:

How do I define "high quality?" Let's just say content that delivers some genuine value to your visitors so that when they find it, it will satisfy their search. They will be pleased with what they find and what they absorb will be directly related to what they were searching for.

Okay, so then the remainder of this article is directed at those of you who agree that you are interested in learning how to build true relevancy for high quality content. If you are looking for cheap short cuts or search engine trickery then you can stop reading here, because our focus is only on teaching our students long term strategies for building solidly ranking pages. Do the job right and you don't need to lose sleep at night wondering if your pages will be dropped by the search engines in the morning. If the job is worth doing at all (as they say), then it's worth doing well.

I will give you 5 simple rules that will help you stay on the straight and narrow and should help you improve your results. The first 2 rules have to do with how you choose to build your skills (regardless of your level of experience or practice.)

Rule 1: Choose carefully which voices that you choose to listen to and learn from with respect to SEO principles.

The term "SEO" short for "search engine optimization" is a buzz word today. What I mean is that if you ask the average Web design or Web development company if they can perform SEO, they'll usually tell you "sure...we can get ranked at the top of all the major search engines." Many people know how to talk the talk, but fewer actually know how to get the results for "highly competitive" phrases. Fewer still have ever had any professional training. Since this article is about how you can learn the genuine skills, the most logical question to ask is "May I see some examples of how you are doing on the search engines?" Ultimately, you want to learn from trainers who can demonstrate that they themselves know how to compete in the most competitive marketplaces. How can you learn the skills properly from a source that does not rank top spot in the search results for their own company.

Are you listening to voices that are advising you of how difficult SEO skills are to master? You may find that some of these services want to keep SEO difficult to learn, so that ultimately you will hire them.

Note: At our own Search Engine Workshops, our training is wholly focused on imparting the full range of skills to the individual attendees in a stress free manner that allows time for you to actually learn "by doing." Our stance is not one of hidden agendas or selling you SEO services, but we have chosen to keep our focus education and training. We have chosen not to offer SEO services to the public so that our students never feel that we are competing with them. Please do not misunderstand this as a proclamation of being the best. This is just one of the ways we do things differently.

Rule 2: Choose to build your SEO skills based upon accurate information.

This may sound very easy, but just where do you get accurate SEO information these days.

Think about it for a minute. If you understand that major search engines guard their algorithms closely then how do you know that what someone teaches you is really the truth based on fact? Can you really trust the advice that someone gives you for free in a forum? Do you really know for sure who that person is when they are using anonymous names. What about online newsletters that may conflict in their theories of what is working and what is not.

Which one is accurate and which one is in error. It's important for you to know that you are getting good accurate information before you employ specific strategies and techniques.

Note: At Search Engine Workshops, we do not present students with theories or guesswork about algorithms. We actually conduct research based on what the search engines are doing. When we teach you a technique or methodology it is based on actual testing and we stand before our students with our real names and identities. We even share with our students the details and the results of specific tests conducted. We not only teach you the full scope of relevancy influences but we teach also on topics like how to improve on click through ratios, how to compel visitors to respond, how to make minor adjustments that can make a big difference in your results. The reason our students are successful is because we research something before we teach it.

Rule 3: Gain a "comfort level" in knowing you can compete BEFORE you take on clients.

With so many Webmasters all "talking the SEO talk" and taking the client's money first without knowing that they can get the results, it typically can end up with a short term, unhappy client. Rather than making a one time sale, why not build clients for life. The secret is gaining your "SEO comfort level" and possessing that" sense of performance" before you throw yourself under the pressures of a demanding client.

The consumer is surrounded on all sides today with a variety of scams like "search engine submissions" to you name it. There is an excellent opportunity for those who develop their own "Unique Selling Proposition" but with a focus on delivering genuine results. The smartest way to add value and separate yourself from the rest of the mess out there, is to develop your SEO skills first and give yourself a "window of practice time" where you can manifest and experience that genuine SEO "comfort level." It changes the way you feel about your skills and nurtures your inner authority so that you don't just "think" you can compete but you know for a fact that you can compete.

Rule 4: Choose an SEO career that's right for you.

Once you have built your SEO skills and have your comfort level in performance, don't forget to consider the full career potential that SEO skills can render to you.

Some people are just seeking employment working for a firm. There is certainly a demand for professionally trained SEOs who know their stuff. But there are plenty of other choices too.

Many think of starting up their own little business building a client base and the demand is greater than ever if this is your dream. Building clients for life, you'll find that this approach is very satisfying especially if you are the type of person who enjoys making a difference in other peoples lives.

SEO Consulting is a wonderful niche.

Many SEO professionals are working on an independent career as an affiliate marketer building their own high quality, informational sites and earning a commission without the need of building a client base.

Some people like building additional revenue streams through Ad sense revenues. There is nothing wrong with creating multiple income streams once you are efficient in your SEO skills.

Still others will focus on building a niche within a niche.
These might include services performing:
-SEO on Press Releases
-Media Releases
-Content optimization for industry specific articles
-Writing high performance sales letters
-Developing your own products for resale
-Plus literally dozens of other possibilities.

Best of all, because you can perform SEO on the Internet,
you could potentially work from nearly anyplace in the world.

Rule 5: Keep your SEO skills current and up to date (it is essential.)

I mentioned at the start of this article that for some Webmasters, the difficulty seems to be just getting started.
For others, it seems that they just let themselves fall a little behind. One of the most essential aspects in this industry after you get your skills up to speed, is to keep up to date with all the latest changes and newest technologies as they happen.