SEO is complex. SEO is maddening. SEO is confusing. But more than anything SEO is EFFECTIVE.
It is unanimously agreed that SEO is the top source of driving targeted traffic to sites. Everyone wants top SEO rankings.
The problem is, you look at the SERPs (search engine results pages) and you find sites there that you don't expect to. You see sites that are filled with spam, you see sites with no content, you see sites with no inbound links. And worst of all is what you don't see - YOUR site.
It makes no sense - you've done everything you can, followed all the rules and still your site is no where. How are these other sites that don't belong there holding on to your coveted spot?
The truth is, as smart as the engines are, they don't catch all the garbage sites out there as quickly as we would like them to. There are 2 things we can do to help eradicate this problem.
1. Report any and all spam and garbage sites to Google (and the other engines you use). This is not being a tattle tale, this is not going out for revenge. This is simply asking Google to uphold the rules that they are asking you to follow. It is saying, "I'm playing fair here, so level the playing field so my competitors that are "less-than ethical" don't rule the SERPs". To notify Google of a spam site, click here:
http://www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html
2. The second thing you can do is follow best practices 100%. Be aggressive, be proactive, but be ethical. The more people insist on "black hat" tactics, the more sites we'll see that are sneaking by Google. Know that with the active efforts Google is making daily to weed out spam - you have everything to gain by patiently, aggressively and ethically optimizing your site.
To Your (ethical) Success
