SEO is difficult, especially because it changes so frequently. When you become an expert at one aspect of SEO that works really well, inevitably Google will update their algorithm and you will have to search for and learn new techniques. SEO used to be as simple as cranking out a few pages of content and blasting 5000 links at the site with the anchor text that you want to rank for. Oh… how things have changed.

One thing that I have never understood about the SEO community is why so many people are so willing to share their findings about what works and what doesn’t… especially when it is so difficult to stumble upon exact techniques that produce tangible results in a reasonable period of time. People write blogs, articles, forum posts, etc. broadcasting to the world their latest findings.

This doesn’t make sense to me… for a few different reasons.

Reason #1: If everyone starts using a specific technique… then Google will be sure to eliminate its effectiveness. If only a few people know about a specific technique and they don’t abuse it, it will fly under the radar and continue to be effective indefinitely.

Reason #2: You are competing with others for a finite resource. There are not an infinite amount of searches for keywords… so if you are in the air conditioning business in Dallas, for example, there may only be fifteen search queries with enough traffic to vigorously pursue. Do you really want your competition for those queries to know what strategies you use? The answer is no, of course. The worse off your competitors are with regard to SEO, the easier things will be for you.

Reason #3: What do you really get out of it? If you think that by providing a killer tip that people will think you are so great and want utilize your services you are wrong. They will utilize the killer tip themselves and move on. I am all for helping people out; however, this is a competitive business and I have to be protective about certain info in order to survive.

One thing is for sure… I have worked hard to find out what works and what doesn’t and there is no way I am broadcasting that knowledge to the world!