Knowing where to focus your time and energy when it comes to executing SEO tactics that will have value and drive rankings, traffic, and conversions is key to building a long term strategy to grow your online business.

Below you will find the 12 most overrated SEO tactics that don’t work. I am sure some of you will disagree with me on some of them, which is ok, but if you disagree with me, ask yourself if the tactic you disagree with is a long term strategy that aligns with building a quality online business and brand.

A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself “would I feel comfortable explaining this tactic to Matt Cutts, Lead of the Google Spam Team, or would I hide my computer screen if he was standing behind me watching me execute it?”.

1. Mass directory submission

If you have a website or search Google, I am sure you have seen those ads for submitting a website to 1,000 directories for $99.99. They claim that you can get hundreds of “high quality” back links for basically no work. This is not a good tactic, especially for new sites. It can hurt your link graph and be a signal to the search engines that since you are receiving a large number of low quality links, your site is a low quality website as well. If you are going to do directory submission I would suggest reading this post to get some information about valuable SEO directories.

2. Reciprocal links

We have all received those emails from random people asking to trade links (most of us just hit delete after getting a good laugh from them). This is an old strategy that was popular years ago when SEO was in its infancy. Read More

With the vast amount of SEO knowledge, tips and tactics found on the web, it can be difficult for businesses and individuals trying to learn how to do white hat SEO to cut through all the clutter and find sound advice. Below you will find a list of the 12 most valuable pieces of SEO advice that I can give you from the last 8 years of doing SEO for small local business websites, large content websites, and ecommerce websites.

1. Quality links beat quantity of links

Links are still a valuable metric and asset for a website to acquire. Where sites get into trouble is when they think they can take short cuts when building links. They get enticed by the “get 100 backlinks for $9.99″ emails and think there is a quick fix or automated tool for building links. This is exactly the wrong approach to take. Building links is a process that includes creating valuable content and then marketing that content to other blogs, websites, and social networks. Acquiring quality trusted back links is a slow (in most cases), tedious and difficult process, yet is a necessary evil for any new or existing website.

2. Don’t forget the users, balance is key

Many SEOs get so focused on ranking well that they forget that Google and the other search engines are taking into account bounce rate, user metrics, and overall content value when ranking websites. Balance is the key to most things in life, and SEO is no exception. There needs to a balance between designing for the users and building a strong SEO foundation; going to far in one direction will have negative affects overall.
Read More