We have spoken to a few companies of late who feel they've been led down the garden path by so called SEO 'specialists'. Years of monthly payments, time and effort, and what to show for it? Mediocre rankings (at best), sloppy design, clumsy copy, and unfulfilled promises.

Firstly, I urge all so called SEO 'specialists' to take a good look at Google Webmaster Guidelines. Other resources are at hand, too: High Rankings and Search Engine Land to name but two. There's really no excuse in not knowing what is and isn't permissible — and thus avoiding turning off your visitors.

Spurious tactics include keyword spamming, excessive links on any one page, tiny invisible text, multiple cloaked pages, paid link schemes that bring a whole new meaning to 'bad neighbourhoods' and reams of duplicated content. And do the redirects correctly, too. If you must move a document to a new location, the old one requires a 301 redirect code, not a 302 temporary redirect to fool users.

Ultimately, avoid deception. Furnishing pages with content aimed squarely at engines, and not your users, will not only reduce your coverage but dilute your conversions, too. Ask yourself, is this what you'd want as a visitor? In the long run, shortcuts rarely work and the adage, 'what works for the user, works for the engines', almost always rings true. Tricks blatantly designed to improve rankings rarely work, so don't let any firm you outsource SEO to pull the wool over your eyes.