by David Callan

Search engine optimization is a very critical task in the success of any website. In recent times search engines seem to have complicated this task further by their frequent changes in rules. This has caused lots of anxiety as some of these changes have seen some sites lose virtually all their regular traffic instantly as their rankings have tumbled.

This has further added to the confusion amongst webmasters about search engines and their motivations. But no matter how mad one gets at the search engines, there is little that they can do to change the statistics which clearly indicate that well over 75 per cent of the traffic that most sites receive comes directly from search engines.

However, there is a secret that an increasing number of webmasters have discovered and are putting to good use. Whatever regular changes search engines instigate, their motivation remains the same. Most webmasters forget that there is currently very stiff competition between the leading search engines. More so because it has become abundantly clear that none of the top search engines are interested in the runners up position.

The search engine motivation
This stiff competition between search engines is focused on the customer, that is the person who uses search engines to find information online. The preferred search engine and therefore the top one will always be the one that most satisfies the needs of that customer.

So whatever changes search engines make they will always be focused on improving the search engine experience for surfers. It is not too difficult to figure out what those who use search engines want, or even more important, what they do not want. Anybody using a search engine wants to be able to find what they are looking for quickly. Most will be looking for the most detailed quality content on the subject or information that they seek.

This simply means that any website that places its’ focus on the end consumer using search engines, rather than on the search engines themselves is guaranteed to retain their high ranking whatever changes search engines keep on making.

Can you dare assume that search engines do not exist?
So the most effective way to ensure that a website owner focuses on the surfers is for them to direct their focus on them, just like search engines are. It would help tremendously for them to start operating as if search engines did not exist and fully concentrate on ensuring that their sites have quality detailed content.

The dangers and harmful effects of webmasters focusing on search engines are very evident. We have sites that use keywords so heavily that it affects the quality of writing on their sites. Some sites have even done worse, leaving their quality content intact but creating keywords that are hidden to the human eye but visible to search engines.

In fact there are a whole lot of schemes on the net created to fool search engines, which have no regard for the surfer or what information they are looking for. For instance there is plenty of software on sale online whose promoters bluntly state is designed to fool search engines.

These are the sort of schemes that are causing so many constant changes in the rules of leading search engines as they seek for ways to combat any tricks that would favor undeserving sites in their rankings.

Content will always be king
What all this means is that content remains the most important search engine optimization tool. Just take a closer look at all the leading google websites and try and trace a common thread running through them all. You will quickly discover that the quality of writing and content in these sites is extremely high.

This means that any webmaster that makes an effort to provide quality, relevant and detailed content on their site with the experience of the surfer as their central focus will be using an extremely powerful search engine optimization tool.

If your content is good, then you can post it at other websites complete with a detailed resource box that directs traffic to your website. Quality articles will usually end up being re-posted all over the net in an endless viral effect that will create quality links back to your site. Search engines still rank websites based on the links from other sites leading to it so quality content has a double advantage.

You will of course need to do a thorough job of posting your articles to various article directories, ezine publishers and announcement lists.

About the Author
Article by David Callan. David is an Internet Marketing professional and is webmaster of http://www.akamarketing.com. Visit his site for articles about Internet Marketing and search engine optimisation.

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