SEO is about manipulating search engines — to an extent. Beyond that, the manipulation becomes something more sinister and you run the risk of having your web site removed from the search engine rankings completely. It’s true. It happens. What exactly can and can’t you do? There’s a list, and here is part of it.
You can:

• Create a web site that contains meta tags, content, graphics, and keywords that help improve your site ranking.
• Use keywords liberally on your site, so long as they are used in the correct context of your site topic and content.
• Include reciprocal links to your site from others as long as those links are legitimate and relevant.
• Encourage web site traffic through many venues, including keyword advertising, reciprocal links, and marketing campaigns.
• Submit your web site to search engines manually, rather than wait for them to pick up your site in the natural course of cataloging web sites.

You can’t:

• Trick search engines by imbedding hidden keywords in your web site. This is a practice that will very likely get you banned from most search engines.
• Artificially generate links to your site from unrelated sites for the purpose of increasing your ranking based on link analysis. Most search engines have a built-in mechanism that detects this type of deceptive practice.
•  Artificially generate traffic to your web site so that it appears more popular than it is. Again, there are safeguards in place to prevent this from happening; and if you trip those safeguards, you could end up on the banned list for many search engines.
• Force your web site to appear in search engine rankings by submitting the site repeatedly for inclusion in the rankings. A good general rule of thumb is that you should submit your site once and then wait at least six weeks before submitting it again. Submitting it repeatedly will, again, only lead to something nasty like being banned from the search engine.
• Expect search engines to automatically rank you at the top of your topic, category, or keyword as soon as the site is picked up. It can take a little time to build the status that you need to reach a high search engine ranking.

These are just basic rules for putting search engines to work for you. There are many more, which we will discover in future posts. As you get started, however, keep these in mind.