3 Problems with Search Engine Optimization Tactics:

Lets start with the main problem of Search Engine Optimization-nobody really knows what the search engines are looking for except the people responsible for the maintaining the algorithms. Thats right, you can pay hundreds of dollars for software, ebooks, or seminars to learn about SEO techniques, but the people selling you these products and services are only guessing at what they think the search engines will like.

The second problem with trying to optimize a site is that the search engine algorithms are constantly changing. What were good optimization tactics last year, last month, or last week, may have no bearing on what is looked for today by the search engines. In addition, all search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN and others, use different algorithms.

The third problem you will come across when attempting to optimize your website is securing quality links. No site will stay highly ranked with any search engine if it doesnt have a sufficient number of good backlinks. There are several strategies commonly used to obtain backlinks, but each has its own set of problems:

1. Trade reciprocal links--but this can drain PR from your own site and it is very time consuming to look for relevant partners, email them, and maintain a linking relationship over time.
   

2. Purchase links-costly and not too effective unless you keep the paid for links for a long period of time.
   

3. Join linking partnership groups-the problem once again is that you will normally have to pay to join these groups. Also, the search engines have stated that they are against this type of linking strategy.
   
   

Articles, the Best Alternative to SEO Techniques:

So what can one do instead of attempting to optimize a site? The best answer is to write an article and submit it to the various article directories. Just one keyword-rich article, that is picked up and displayed on other sites, can immediately start to bring you important backlinks and improve your site's ranking. As more and more directories and individual websites display your article, your backlinks will increase, as will your ranking. Over time, this process can take on a life of its own.

With an article you dont have to worry about current algorithms, changing algorithms, linking strategies, or other SEO tactics. The self-optimizing benefits of articles will happen automatically once the article is published.