I am often asked about ways that a website owner can increase their site rankings or how they can learn SEO.   My first suggestion is to hire someone who knows what they are doing.

Why Hire a Professional?

If you wanted your house painted, would you go out and take a painting course, buy all of the ladders, brushes, caulk and tools, or do you want your house painted?  For me the answer is easy.  By the time I figure out what I am doing and spend all the money and time doing it myself, I should have hired someone.  It is just easier and more effective.

Still want to do it yourself?

If you still want to do it yourself, you might consider these tools to help you in your efforts.

1. The Link Building Dossier – Written by one of the most successful Internet Marketing Gurus in the world, this book will teach you everything you need to know about the off-site factors that influence your rankings.
2. Private Blog Network – A private blog network is a way to build content links back to your website.  These links will be surrounded by content and provide a good way to establish theme relevancy.
3. Another Private Blog Network – This network is made up of higher PR blogs.  To use this system, you must have someone write a snippet each day.  The links pointing back to your site are very powerful however.

What I DON’T suggest doing

1. Give up – Ranking well on Google, Yahoo! and Bing is tough work.  Don’t give up.  Sometimes it can take 1-2 years to beat out the top competitors on these search engines.  The key is to keep at it.  Like painting your house, it goes on one brush stroke at a time.  Keep adding paint and eventually the house will be painted.