Search Engine Optimization/Marketing. The never ending pursuit of getting on that first page of Google. What does it really take to get there? How long will it take me to get there? This is my first post to this column but over time I hope to answer all these questions and more. For today I'll give you some pointers on what to look for and what to run away from.

First of all the scams:

1. NO ONE can guarantee the number 1 spot on Google or any other search engine. If someone tells you they can what they are going to do is take your money (usually $200-$500) and put half of it in a pay per click account overture or Google adwords and pocket the other half. Same goes with someone who guarantees results in 48-72 hours.

2. Never use link networking or link farming sites. These will get you penalized or banned from the search engines. The reason is if you have had 10 inbound links to your site for two years and over night you have 1,000 inbound links this is going to appear unnatural to the search engines and considered spamming.

3. Run away as fast as you can if you hear anything similar to: no one will see the content, we hide content, we use cloaking software, we use layering, or anyone who even hints at deceiving the search engines in any way. This will get you banned. The search engines want to see what the average joe who goes to your site will see.

4. Re-direct and multiple domain names. Some SEO firms will use multiple domain names with spam content to get search engine traffic and then re-direct the traffic to your site. This technique was invented by people in the adult industry so that no matter what keywords you searched you would be re-directed to an adult site. You could punch in lawn chair and get re-directed to an adult site. As amusing as it was it got old when after you were on the 3rd page of results and you still hadn't found some patio furniture.

5. We'll submit you to 75,000 search engines. Another example of spamming. This will get you penalized or banned almost overnight.

These are some of the more popular scams though I'd be writing all night if I tried to cover them all. Basically if it sounds to good to be true or it promises results in less than a month don't do it. If you have a question about an offer I will always be more than happy to help out.

Next Week: What to look for in an SEO firm.