Abstract: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques often come under the scrutiny regarding their viability and ethical acceptance in the web community. Ever since internet marketing and web analytics became key components of marketing budget of a business, obtaining higher ranking in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) has become highly competitive and consequently outsourced to professional firms. SEO is an evolving methodology which adapts itself to the latest algorithm used by the search engines. In this paper, we discuss the ever-changing SEO guidelines with reference to Google search engine. Current viability of old-school SEO techniques – keywords, backlinks and meta descriptions is examined with reference to regular search algorithm updates by Google. Black hat techniques targeting old-school SEO are also described.

Keywords: Keyword, backlinks, meta, google updates, black hat techniques.