Excellent post! I've added my two cents below.
Quote:
Getting your site listed in a major search engine isn’t necessarily a difficult task,
But to rank well is work. Shortcuts won't do it and tricks can get you penalized.
Quote:
1.) Don’t Forget Your Visitors: One of the most common SEO mistakes is putting too much emphasis on the search engine spiders and not enough on the visitors.
Exactly. Many people focus on the engines, which is fatal. Treat your visitors right and they will keep coming back.
Quote:
2.) Factor Keywords into Your Design: Keywords are so important to SEO that a properly infused word can have a tremendous impact on the ranking process.
I agree. I wouldn't write any pages without using a researched keyword. You have to know what visitors are looking for and write for the visitor. (Which is #1, above).
Quote:
3.) Think Crawler-Friendly: All search engines identify web pages through small programs known as spiders or crawlers.
Again, I agree. Bloated code, over the top graphics (or misused images) and faulty navigation will work against you.
Quote:
4.) Go for Rich Content: When it comes to effective SEO, content is definitely king.
Every page on your site is an invitation and a doorway through which search engines send traffic. The more content you have, the more invitations you put out. Plus, in the event that one page drops in rankings, other pages will remain high, keeping your traffic stable.
Quote:
5.) Make Your Links Count:
I would add that a high-quality linking strategy is imperative. Never ever, engage in linking schemes or link spam. Deadly stuff, no matter how tempting or who tells you its okay. Reference? Study Panda update issues. Spammy links will get you penalized - sooner or later.
Quote:
6.) Don’t Worry About Your Rankings:
Well, I do worry about my rankings, but not in the typical sense. My personal site has so many pages that I'm always in the top 10 with majority of them. So my traffic rides high and stable without me. However, if the traffic ever stopped, I would go right to my rankings to see what's up. Then I would track that back to discover the problem and rectify it.
It is possible to rank highly, but it's not done using get rich quick methods. It takes time, work, and a process.
Thanks for your post!