I see a lot of talk on
SEO and getting in the search engines, but when I search on terms I am using to see what the successful sites are doing some of the sites that come up look very weak and amateurish.
Pages with just links, bad looking color schemes over use of graphics to name a few. It almost seems to be just a flip of the coin if you get in.
Ive seen where you shouldn't use link farms but most of the pages I view are linked to some or most of these. Don't link to the questionable sites ( casinos, porn, etc. ). I see a lot of this also. Don't use dashes in your domain name, use your keyword in your domain name - also not apparrently relevant when looking at other sites.
Is there really a correct way or do you become an expert just because your site is listed? Quite frustrating. BTW, I have yet to get listed for either of my sites.