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Have you ever wondered what types of strategies the top search engine optimizers use for their own sites or the sites of their clients?

In an industry like the search engine industry, where no one can possibly know everything, it's important to learn from trusted experts in the field. So for this article, I interviewed some of the best SEO's in the business in an effort to share their winning strategies with you.

Important Facts About These Tips
Please remember that these tips aren't necessarily the fundamental strategies that should always be used when working on a Web page, such as including your keyword phrase in your title tag or capitalizing on headline tags or link text. Instead, many of these tips are meant to be applied to the top of the basic strategies in an effort to give you an edge over the competition.

Also, these tips aren't in any particular order of importance. The first tip in any category isn't necessarily the most important, and the last tip certainly isn't the least important.

I've identified each tip with the SEO who wrote it. Then, at the end of the article in alphabetical order, I highlighted the various SEO's who participated in this article, along with brief information about their qualifications.

Enjoy these tips from some of the best SEO's in the business!

Basics
Stick to the basics of search engine optimization for your existing Web pages (i.e. optimized titles, header content, keyword density, the order your text is presented in the code, etc.), before you move into supplementary techniques like doorway pages, doorway domains, and the like. The odds are that if you have not mastered the basic skills to optimize your existing Web pages, you are not going to be able implement supplementary techniques successfully. (J.K. Bowman with Spider Food)

My advice to everyone is always to remember the basic, simple things that have not changed rather than get lost in details that may change on a regular basis. I find that even very advanced people sometimes need a reminder of the basics to see the forest from the trees. (Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch)

Content
Focus on building useful "research content." Remember that the Internet is constantly being used for all types of research. Take advantage of this and develop content that will appeal to the people who are doing the research. What is it that people want to know? Talk to some real people and see what it is that fascinates a specific group. Look for a newsgroup and see what they talk about. From your research, try checking a few keywords in WordTracker. From WordTracker, you can discover trends that people are using to conduct research. If you have an online jewelry store, perhaps you'll want to offer articles on how to determine the real value of a diamond or a tutorial on Victorian gemstones. (John Alexander with Beyond-SEO.com)

If your site makes heavy use of graphics and has no substantial real text content, this will severely impact your ability to get good search engine listings because there is nothing for the search engines to read when they index your Web site. You should consider redesigning some of your pages to include real text rather than graphical text. (Paul Bruemmer with Web Ignite)

Customize content for each page. Every URL is a potential entry point. Keep content in the header tags focused and terse. Simplicity is so important in search engine optimization. (Marshall Simmonds with About.com)

Use cgi-based date scripts to keep the site fresh.
(Ginette Degner with ServiceBrokers.com)

Directories
Proper submission to the major directories is critical. One of the most significant changes in search engine marketing in recent years has been the rise in popularity of human-reviewed directories and catalogs like LookSmart, Yahoo, and Open Directory. You can recognize directory listings since they are often called "Web Site" results rather than "Web Page" results. Once you submit to a directory, it's difficult to go back and correct mistakes later. Some of them like Yahoo and LookSmart charge you for the privilege of simply being reviewed for inclusion. Therefore, it's of utmost importance to get it right the first time. (Brent Winters with FirstPlace Software)

Get listed with the human-powered directories of Yahoo, LookSmart and the Open Directory. If this is all you do, you'll get plenty of traffic. Both get lots of visitors or "power" other sites that get plenty of visitors. In addition, getting listed with them helps crawler-based search engines locate your site and perhaps help it rank better, because of the link importance these sites provide to you.
(Danny Sullivan with Search Engine Watch)

Diversify
It's important to experiment and diversify your optimization strategies. The algorithms of each engine change frequently to keep content fresh -- so should your techniques. It is important to abide by all the rules and regulations as set forth by the engines to avoid spamdexing. (Marshall Simmonds with About.com)

Due Diligence
First comes content, then optimizing your pages for the search engines, checking your HTML code, etc. Next comes the submission of your pages to the search engines. Possibly resubmit your older content, depending on ranking and various other factors. (Introduce at least some minor changes before you do.) Learn how to recognize search engine spiders to see if your submissions were successful. Check out all search engine generated hits to determine: a) your ranking, b) what people are really searching for and finding you under -you may be in for a surprise or two.
(Ralph Tegtmeier, a.k.a. Fantomaster)

Read, read, read - learn the trade from scratch. Test out stuff - your mileage may vary immensely from the gurus' -every Web site is different, or, at least, should be.
(Ralph Tegtmeier, a.k.a. Fantomaster)

Frames, JavaScript, and Dynamic Delivery Systems
Framesets need NOFRAMES content added to the FRAMESET section. Also, sites using frames, image maps, or JavaScript navigation do not get properly indexed by search engines because the frame containing links to other pages within the site gets overlooked. A remedy for this is to create a redundant set of text links in as many of the frameset component pages as is practical, such as at the bottom of your main content page. (Paul Bruemmer with Web Ignite)

Build crawler-friendly. Avoid using frames or dynamic delivery systems, and ensure that you have good internal linkage between your pages.
(Danny Sullivan with Search Engine Watch)

Consider putting your JavaScript in external files. This also will streamline your source code and make your pages load faster and more search engine friendly.
(Bill Gentry with The Selling Source)

Tracking
As you learn more about search engine marketing, you'll discover it is not an exact science. Some of your pages will rank well the first time out, and some will not. In addition, your rankings will fluctuate, calling for tweaks in design from time to time. Therefore, as with any marketing strategy, you need a method to measure your progress. In this case, you need a convenient way to report your rankings for each keyword and engine you're targeting, and to track the number of visitors to your Web site, along with where they came from. WebPosition Gold (http://www.webposition.com) helps you manage and automate both these essential tasks.
(Brent Winters with FirstPlace Software)

Web Design
Design the Web site with the search engines in mind. Use text links especially if you have image maps or frames, etc.
(Ginette Degner with ServiceBrokers.com)

Robin Nobles conducts live SEO workshops
(http://www.searchengineworkshops.com) in locations across North
America. She also teaches online SEO training
(http://www.onlinewebtraining.com). Localized SEO training is now
being offered through the Search Engine Academy.
(http://www.searchengineacademy.com) Sign up for SEO tips of the
day at mailto:seo-tip@aweber.com.