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So you're new to online marketing, you've looked around at what others are doing and you've stuck your toe in the water and built a few galleries or free sites. Now that you're coming to grips with those traffic sources perhaps you're thinking that it's time to start looking at ways to grab some traffic from the search engines. If you are then you may benefit from the tips I'm about to give you.

Before I do go on though let me warn you that I'm not about to set out a road map for you that will guarantee you top placement in any of the major engines - that's something that you'll have to work out for yourself . Instead what I'm going to give you are some tips that will help you make a start on drawing your own road map.

Don’t believe everything you read
I’ve said it here before and I have to say it again - the truth about search engines is out there but you probably won’t find it on any of the search engine boards and you certainly won’t find it on most of the search engine blogs that are out there. Sure, you’ll find some very knowledgeable people out there on those boards and writing the blogs but there are a lot of fleas too and unfortunately the fleas just shout down the people who really do have a clue.

I know of at least one moderator on a well-known search engine board who publicly admits that he rarely bothers to try and correct any misinformation that board members post these days because it only results in massive board fights as the clueless seek to hide their lack of knowledge by shouting the loudest.

So how do you tell what’s right and what’s wrong? That’s the hardest question of all because quite often the only way you can spot worthless information is by have years of experience in search engine optimisation.

It doesn’t happen overnight
You’ll notice that I just mentioned having years of experience and that is so true. A week, a month or even a year of experience in search engine optimisation is nothing. It takes years of hard work to reach the point where you can even dream of being an expert.

Steve and I have been studying search engines ever since 1998 and we don’t classify ourselves as anything more than beginners. One genuine search engine expert that we know of suggests that there are three grades for people who claim to do SEO work; there are apprentices, journeymen and experts and neither Steve nor I consider ourselves to be much more than apprentices even though we’ve got years of experience.

So if you want to become involved in search engine optimisation so that you can attract more traffic to your sites then be prepared for the long haul because it’s not going to happen over night.

Don’t believe everything that Google tells you
Google would like you to believe that it does no evil but if you swallow that line you then I’ve got a wonderful bridge out in the middle of the Great Australian Desert that I can sell you at a bargain price.

Over the last 12 months or so Google has had an epiphany; it has turned from its old ways of telling Webmasters nothing to almost flooding them with information. Googlers are now out and about on the speaking circuit giving out all manner of information to Webmasters and Google has unleashed a number of official and semi-official blogs upon the world. It’s even opened up Webmaster Central where all your cares and hassles will be taken care of ... but only in your wildest wet dreams.

You’ll find lots of very interesting and helpful information in those blogs and the addresses to various conferences that Goooglers make ... and even in Webmaster Central ... but don’t stake your future on what you read or hear from Google. Sometimes Google does not tell the truth, sometimes that’s intentional and sometimes it’s not so take anything that Google tells you with a very large grain of salt and test it yourself.

Test everything and assume nothing
Yes, test everything you hear, read or think and make no assumptions at all. Don’t even believe the real experts that you may have come to trust ... even test what they tell you because everyone’s mileage is different.

For example, for some time now there have been noises being made that Google may be assessing the relevancy of sites on the basis of where they are hosted. There have even been ‘experts’ who have come out and said that it’s already happening and if your local site isn’t hosted in your own country then it’s just not going to rank for any local terms.

Our experience has been somewhat different, many of our Australian sites are hosted in the United States and still top the listings for important search terms in the local version of Google. But we’re not assuming that they will always remain in those top spots and we are beginning to move a few back to Australia ... but only as a test.

Keep your findings to yourself
Even though I might have given away some of our findings in the last paragraph I would still urge you to keep your findings to yourself. If you’re serious about getting to the top of the search engines then you’re going to have to put in a lot of effort at testing and analyzing your findings.

What you discover could really improve your bottom line and it’s going to be something that you will want to exploit. But if you start blabbing to the world about what you’ve found everyone else will be rushing to take advantage of what you’ve discovered and soon you your advantage will be gone.

So there’s enough to get you started. It’s a never-ending journey but the rewards can be great if you’re prepared to put in the effort.