I'm often known by my clients as the anti-SEO SEO guy. Since I started learning SEO several years ago, common search marketing practices left a sour taste in my mouth.
Some of my earliest interactions with SEOs made search engine marketing seem a little closer to a pyramid scheme than a legitimate profession. It felt like "SEO gurus" were charging hundreds of dollars per hour to trick people.
Why you don't need to Game the System
Tricking search engine users was good business for years. All you needed do was outsmart Google and you could easily trick people into clicking on your blog posts and spammy articles to boost your search rankings.
Unfortunately, search engines have become smart. So smart in fact, that gaming the system is no longer effective. There are no secret ingredients. No magic bullets. All you need is good, regular and relevant content.
How To create Search Engine-friendly Content
The answer is simple but not necessarily easy. Know your readers. Write content that they can use. Do it regularly.