It is my contention that black hat SEOs are making it increasingly difficult for ethical, content-driven search engine marketers to achieve effective search engine visibility and rankings. The spam-like, aggressive tactics of the black hatters only serves to motivate the search engines to implement algorithms that impede timely indexing and relevant results in many instances.
http://geoff-caplan.com, [...]

Beginner’s Guide to SEO
by Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz.org
Sections in this guide:
• Prologue: Who is SEOmoz and Why is this Guide Free?
• A: What is SEO?
o Why does my company need SEO?
o Why do the search engines need SEO?
o How much of this article do I need to read?
• B: How Search Engines Operate
o Speed Bumps and Walls
o Measuring Popularity and Relevance
o Information Search Engines [...]

What is the difference between a Search Engine and a Directory?
While the average Internet user may not be aware, or care about, the differences between Search Engines (Google) and Directories (Yahoo!), the search results they provide are compiled in very different manners. Major search engines build and maintain huge databases of web pages by utilizing [...]

Major search engines are driving searchers to their sites in record numbers with the lure of added content and by pushing their toolbars, according to panelists in a session titled “The Search Engine Landscape” at last week’s Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo.
And in a market where few things are certain for long, there is [...]

DON’T ever include a keyword or key phrase in your meta tags that is not present on that page. Keywords should REINFORCE what is on the page, not define it. I’ve seen this, time and time again on sites I maintain, as search engines are defining this a spam more and more of the time.
DON’T [...]

Google’s new free directory assistance is sure to be popular with consumers, but it means trouble on the line for the big phone companies

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The days of paying north of a buck for directory assistance over the phone may be coming to an end—at least if Google and a gaggle of startups have anything to say [...]

I’ll explain how search engines use links to determine the popularity and authority of a web site. I’ve explained before that search engines are seeking to replicate human judgement when they decide how to rank sites. After all, when you are trying to develop a computer system that will deliver listings that will make a [...]

 
As much time and effort that marketers put into improving visibility within search results, not all search engine ranking pages (SERPs) are good. Increasing numbers of companies are experiencing the sharp edge of the sword from disgruntled employees or customers taking advantage of the amazingly simplistic process of publishing content to the web. You may [...]

Search Engine Marketing Is a Rocket: Spending Is Up 62%; Advertisers Spent a Total of $9.4 Billion in 2006, according to SEMPO Survey of SEM Industry
Direct Sales ROI and Expanding SMB Market Two Factors Driving Growth
North American advertisers spent $9.4 billion on search engine marketing (SEM) in 2006, a 62 percent increase over 2005 spending, [...]

For many of us, finding the time and commitment to develop an Internet marketing strategy is difficult. There are so many other obligations vying for our attention it is tempting to push strategies to the back burner. Giving into that temptation, however, means putting your business at a disadvantage.
This is because an overall marketing strategy [...]