SEO, keywords, optimization, la la la zzzzzzz who gives a crap...right? WRONG. Whether you are a blogger, a marketer, a PR pro or what have you, so long as you are in the Internet business -- specifically social media -- we MUST teach ourselves the basics. Otherwise, our efforts could be moot. As in wasted. As in, wtf are we spending all this time online for?

Listen. Linking well known blogs does not automatically catch Google's attention. It could actually do the opposite, as in bucket you as spam. As Internet professionals, we want to grab Google's attention, get on Google's goodside and keep Google's attention. Otherwise, your site could end up on the bottom of the list. Bottom of the list = no one can find you. There are basic methods and best practices we all should be aware of (at the very least.) And hey, don't beat yourself up if you didn't know this. The most important thing is you want to learn.

So invest a few minutes out of your day to read this post. I'm in the same industry as you, I know how much time, effort, and energy is used to post content. I'm just saying it would be a darn shame if Google wrote you off as spam (or frankly, garbage), only because you don't understand how Google's search engine works.

Read the entire piece "Perfecting Keyword Targeting & On-Page Optimization" here which I found via "Targeting Multiple Keywords vs Singular Keyword Focus" here.

[sidenote]
For the vets out there rolling their eyes: do you give yourself refreshers? I sure as heck do. I force relearning to 1. stay on my toes and 2. to try and keep everything as simple as possible for sometimes, when I am too knee deep in the daily grind it is tough not to over analyze. Thank goodness for people like Rand, who simplifies the complex.