by Moe Zilla

Created on: July 19, 2010

It's was almost a historic gathering. One webmaster identified 72 of the best experts in search engine optimization, and then had them all, collectively, identify the most important tactics for improving your site's ranking in search results. "Each participant was asked to rate more than 100 search ranking factors," SEOMoz explained in their survey's introduction, representing "the collective wisdom of expert practitioners." The results were called simply "Search Engine Ranking Factors," but it's probably the best discussion anywhere online about search engine optimization tactics, and it's crucial because of the deliberate secrecy that surrounds the way search engines works.

Search engines are locked in a never-ending battle against bad people (or "black hat" webmasters) who are trying to cheat their way into the top of the results. Because of this, the search engines can't reveal exactly how they decide which web sites to list first. But that's still a matter of extreme importance to any webmaster who hopes to earn money online. No matter what people are searching for, 90% of them will go to one of the sites that's listed on the first page of the search engine's results (according to one webmaster I talked to).

So how can you make sure that your site is getting a fair chance at that traffic? When people are searching for a product, what can you do to make sure the search engines include your site in among their first matches?  This is where search engine optimization is a matter of success or failure for any online business. And the discussion among 72 SEO experts might be the single best way to get an answer.

Their discussion was intended as a valuable tool  "helping to provide transparency into what matters (and doesn’t) for best practices in search engine optimization." And instead of making readers wade through a long, rambling discussion, the site presents the results of the survey in a simple list, with the explanatory discussion tucked away behind a link to a second page. Reading the overview is probably the single most useful thing you can do to understand what's important in search engine optimization. It's clear and concise, but because it's based on the input of 72 experts, it's also extremely well informed.

It lists the five things you can do to improve your search engine rankings. That's followed by the five things you shouldn't do, since it'll have a negative effect on your position in search engine results. Finally, it lists the five factors which are still controversial - the five things which are either helpful or harmful, but for which there isn't a clear consensus.

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