It is generally a question of consistency. The main elements are to ensure that the key content on site is readable by a search engine spider (ie. in HTML text format) and that all pages on site are linked in some way via HTML text links. If this is done then your site has a chance to compete in search results. Once this is achieved then it is generally just a case of tweaking the wording, using headings for emphasis and organizing content around specific themes.

It is also crucial to give regard to page titles and the specific descriptive snippet (meta description) that appears in search results. Having a bland or confusing listing in the results is as bad as not being there at all. The search results are the first point of sale for the business and should be treated that way.

In two ways. Firstly quality encourages links. People search for quality content, people book mark quality content and people link to quality content. Ultimately it will be the relative volume (and quality) of links to your site that search engines record (as compared to a competitor) that will determine the ranking.

Secondly Google does not treat all links equally. When calculating the all important page rank it compares the content of the site providing the link with that of the destination and weights accordingly. The more relevant the association between the content on the two sites the greater value the link will be given. Therefore the higher the “quality” of the referral site the more value that will be passed on. Also Google allocates page ranking scores and these are also passed on via links. Therefore a site with “quality” page rank passes on more search listing value than one with a low score.

In theory you could optimize for all different flavours of search engine and directory. At times the differentiation between SE and directory can also be a little hazy. Yahoo for example is, strictly speaking, a directory not a SE. However it is much more like a SE in operation than a pay to play web directory like Yellow Pages etc. So whilst you could tailor your strategy down to a really granular level based on every different type of SE and directory in practice the most cost effective way is to target Google as this has the most stringent requirements and generally speaking if you can crack Google you will also do well in the others.

With regards to the true directories I generally encourage clients to run some paid search ads to judge what are the high performing keywords and what wording works best in terms of delivering customers to the site and then use this as the basis for directory listings and refining descriptions etc for free results. So in this regard the strategy should be inclusive across all listing mediums.

The most common website flows in terms of SEO is listed below:-
[1] Key content in unreadable formats. Ie. images, flash movies, javascript etc
[2] Menu navigation that is unable to be followed by search engine spiders ie. that using flash, images, javascript without having an alternate means of accessing via text links or central site map
[3] Bland and undersold page titles and descriptions. Every page on a web site is an opportunity to target increasingly granular themes and keywords. Many sites use a universal approach to page titles and descriptions and try and make them suit everyone and everything but the result is that they are attractive to no one.
[4] Lack of thought in content wording. Web copywriting is different to that required for offline purposes as it must target not only humans but search engine cataloging systems. Therefore wording needs to be tight and reinforce content themes and trigger words that someone is likely to search for.
[5] Attempts to spam search engines. The best results come from tighly organized and worded pages built around relevant themes and linked via consistent means to other similar pages. Excessive repetition and use of link farms etc are often counter productive in the long term.

As long as you are not doing it repeatedly there is really no harm in submitting your site to a search engine although this will not necessarily speed up the indexing process. The best way to get indexed is to work to get links to your site on other sites that have already been picked up in Google and have reasonable page ranks that provide relative assurance that they will be spidered again soon.

One of the things that I generally get my clients to do (if appropriate)when a new site is launched is to run a few Google Adsense contextual ads on the site (at least for a little while). This will force Google to index the site so that it can serve appropriate contextual ads.

The difference between good SEO and bad SEO is often simply a question of degree. A few highly optimized landing pages can provide great results in delivering searchers deep into the site and streamline this process for all concerned. Taken to the extreme this can turn into link farms with pages of links bouncing users and spiders around annoyingly. If you run foul of Google you can find your site black banned as happened temporarily to BMW Germany earlier in the year.

Generally speaking the following are things to be careful of…
[i] Link farming. Pages of links linking to each other and set up for the purposes of passing on search engine points rather than providing value to customers.
[ii] Over optimizing through repetition. Just repeating the same keyword over and over provides little value. The key is to provide context not rubbish. Read it aloud if it sounds clumsy rewrite it.
[iii] Invisible text. eg. white text on a white background so that the search engines pick it up but is invisible to naked eye. Search engines are smart enough to pick this up now.
[iv] Using redirects or other forms of cloaking to serve different content to search engine spiders than to browsers.

The organic search indexing system is often slow. It can take up to 3 months for any site changes to get picked up therefore paying to play is often the only way to legitimately get quick results. Also with search marketing it is really a case of page one or oblivion. If the keyword that you are targeting is very popular and competitive then it will take longer to get to the first page of the search results. Paid search is often the only way to get there in the short term.

SEO and SEM (Paid Search Engine Marketing) should really be considered complimentary strategies because they can feed off each other. Running PPC ads enables you to get great feedback on what customers are looking for and the most successful sales pitches that deliver them to your site. These can then be fed into your onsite SEO to refine it. The idea being that you run SEM up until you can get in the page one listings for free and then you can divert the spend elsewhere.

Anyone that is unable to achieve first page listings for their core keywords. Obviously this should be qualified by a realistic appraisal of who you can sell to. People sometimes forget that the market for any goods and services is finite even if you use the internet. You need to ensure that you target customers that you can sell to. What is the point of delivering a heap of Americans to your site if you can only sell to metro Melbourne?

Therefore the smart way to set up PPC ads is to target terms based around the sorts of things that someone wanting to buy from you will type into Google not some generic term that a million other companies with bigger budgets are chasing overseas. Eg. “Car Rental Melbourne” not just “Car Rental” etc. This will reduce the bid price you will have to pay and ensure that any clicks that you are buying are from people you can sell to. PPC is the most accountable marketing system you can set up but it does need to be focused.