A lot of white space, both physical and virtual, is wasted on the subject of so-called Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

In our opinion, SEO represents a moment in time, culminating in the DarkBlue SEO Challenge in 2004, when simply following best practices would dramatically boost a website’s ranking in the major search engines. These best practices consisted of sensible use of title and meta tags, keyword-rich content, W3C-compliant coding, backlinking, and the not now-banned practice of hidden keywords. However, by the time the phrase Search Engine Optimization made it into print and common usage, the moment had already passed.

Search Engine Optimization, in the best practices sense, worked in 2004 because so few sites were doing it. Now that everyone tries to follow this system, the playing field has been leveled.

Plenty of companies will still sell you SEO services. These range from the utterly ineffective to “black hat” techniques that may actually cause your website to be removed from Google and other search engines.

NCC does not offer currently SEO services, except in the best practices sense. NCC believes that the best way to achieve a top search engine position is by having a useful site with keyword-rich content, developed over time. However, if your needs are immediate or transitional, we recommend letting NCC develop a pay-per-click advertising campaign for your website, using Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing, or MSN Advertising.