Search engine optimization used to be fairly simple. The algorithms the engines used were clearly based on strategically placed keywords, and the strategy in the early days was to beat the engines. How? By loading each page with hundreds of keywords, made invisible by making the words the same color as the page background.

The search engines have become a lot smarter since the old days, and figuring out their complex formulas has become a losers game. Yet the goals of both sides need not be mutually exclusive.

The search engine optimizers just want to rank their pages higher.

The search engines are only trying to reflect the most accurate and quality results for their customers. Algorithms are kept secret only because people will do anything to rank higher, regardless of the value of their content.

When you enter a search term, youre taken to a page of results, and advertisements related to your search words. Here are some of the things the search engine tracks:

-What sites you click onbased on their title and description. This is why key words are still important. Theyre the front gate to a site.

-How long before you come back to that results page. If you come back immediately, thats an indication the site wasnt relevant for you, and the engine failed.

-Incoming links to that site, and their relevancy. This is a tough thing for a computer to gauge, and its why investing in artificial intelligence now might be a good idea. Computers get smarter all the time.

There are about 100 more factors that go into a sites evaluation. But the bottom line is that to rank high, you need to provide valuable, relevant content consistently.

If actual people like your site, the engines will also.

So, whats your next step?

You need to provide valuable, relevant contentconsistently.

In building and developing your site (a continual process, as Ive said before), dont obsess over key words and search engine optimization. And please dont hire one of the experts who knows how to beat the engines. If they were that smart they truly would not be available for hire.

Focus instead on providing relevant, interesting, benefit-oriented content for your readers. Continue to update your website. Get feedback on what works. Look at your statistics to see where people are leaving and when. Design your site to address the needs of your audiencenot to pound on your chest.

As many of you know, Im a big believer in giving away great information. The web allows us to do that. I get a lot of resistance from prospects and new clients about this. A holistic practitioner told me earlier this week that the universe wasnt ready for him to give things away yet. I think it was actually he that wasnt ready, which is a lot more manageable than the universe.

Share your information. The more you give, the more you get. If youre afraid of giving away everything, then simply learnand listen--more.