<p class="lead" align="left">
Over the next two weeks we are going to have indepth 
discussions of promotion.
</p>
<p>
Some of this will be how to use the promotion options in WCB....as that is 
necessary. But first I need to give everyone some lessons.
</p>
<p>
SEO Basics:
</p>
<p>
1. Either You Mimic A &quot;Know Nothing-Don't Care Bout Nothing&quot; Webmaster-Or You 
Don't
</p>
<p>
This is the first mistake that most people make. They want to put a website 
online, use whatever promotion tactics they come across, get top rankings, and 
they expect those rankings and their website to be indexed/ranked forever. After 
all they aren't one of those people [bad, blackhat, spam-insert word of the day 
here]
</p>
<p>
Here is the truth. Google doesn't care if you are white hat or black hat-they 
simply care if your site meets a certain criteria-if it does it stays or it 
goes-depending on the criteria.
</p>
<p>
For Google the idea site is owned by a person who is an expert in a subject. 
Updates constantly. Doesn't care about visitors/traffic/promo/etc.
</p>
<p>
The trouble is, with rare exception, this strategy doesn't make money-and 
certainly not quickly. So, you do what is necessary and start taking steps to 
get some ranking for your site to start making money. But once you do that you 
are on Google's &quot;Naughty List&quot;.
</p>
<p>
See the problem?
</p>
<p>
Imagine you are 8 years old and it is January 10th and your parents tell you 
that you have been so bad that there is no chance that you will get any 
Christmas gifts from Santa this year. If you believe your parents than you might 
as well go hog wild since it is 11 months till christmas and there is no sense 
in being good. So you might as well have fun.
</p>
<p>
2. If I am going to promote my website then I want to do everything I come 
across
</p>
<p>
Once people realize #1 then they start going crazy doing anything and 
everything they can get their hands on. This is as likely to cause a site to 
make $0 as is not doing anything at all. At least not doing anything at all is 
cheap and doesn't take any time.
</p>
<p>
This is the case because being on the naughty list is one thing, being at the 
top of it is another. There is a big world out there and it isn't hard to hide 
if you are careful.
</p>
<p>
3. &quot;I tried Promo Strategy X 2 weeks ago, and it didn't work because my 
ranking is the same-so it is worthless&quot;
</p>
<p>
One thing that has been proven to me over and over again is that promotion is 
not black and white. Something may not work one week and may work the next. Most 
people assume that the search engines are always on the same time table and 
results should be 100% predictable. A strategy may work well and get a site 
indexed or ranked within 7 days one month and it may take 25 days month two. 
This may have nothing to do with the strategy but is usually more related to the 
search engines capacity issues during any given month. They run out of servers, 
processing power, hard drive space, test new algos, etc...which can all affect 
results.
</p>
<p>
One of the biggest factors that is often ignored is that promotion is very 
chronological, something can work poorly on its own-but combined with other 
factors can have an excellent result.
</p>
<p>
4. &quot;Google Is The Only Search Engine That Matters&quot;
</p>
<p>
How many times have we all heard this one. Google is great, but so is Yahoo 
and MSN. I have made as much with the other 2 as I have with Google. Their 
market share is about the same...Yahoo + MSN=Google. However their users are 
very different and some things just work better with a different audience. 
</p>
<p>
5. All Search Engines Are The Same
</p>
<p>
This couldn't be less correct. While some underlying principles are the same 
the techniques that the search engines respond to are very different. Something 
may not wok at all for Google but may result in your site getting a top 3 
ranking in Yahoo. That is a strategy that can make you rich if the results are 
consistent.
</p>
<p>
Thanks M
</p>
