These days, because of all Google's recent algorithm changes, the focus is on putting really good quality content on your site, connecting with other bloggers and webmasters in your niche and getting one way voluntary backlinks coming in organically. However, the old easy methods of backlink building like free classified ad submission shouldn't be forgotten. They can still help lift your search engine rankings a little.

This was confirmed to me recently. I have a new site called Perth Business Help and I wanted to promote the page on which I list details of my social media lessons. I wasn't really thinking about SEO. I just thought that the free classifieds might be a way to get some leads. So I posted ads to close to twenty of them. Some did include a clickable backlink. However most, if not all, of these were nofollow.

I didn't do any other link building at all aside from a couple of blog comments (which were nofollow). Anyway, a week or so after placing the ads I did a search of the keyword phrase I was targeting in them to see how the ads fared. I was surprised to see the web page itself showing up on the bottom of page one for it.

I did link back to the main URL in a few of those classified ads as well. And that has clearly risen in the rankings for searches for the three words in the domain. It was nowhere to be seen a week ago. Now it appears on page 2. Also, a page I've built no backlinks for at all has moved up the rankings for another local search.

I have to conclude that this is pretty much entirely to the free classified ad posting, since I've done almost no other backlink building. And the site is still pretty new.

As I mentioned, just one or two of the free classifieds sites I posted to gives dofollow links. Maybe this was all that was needed to confer the entire benefit that I've seen. But if not, it must mean that the other backlinks must have helped a little too. If so, this lends weight to the argument that nofollow links aren't entirely lacking in search engine benefit after all.

You can learn a lot about SEO by browsing blogs, forums and websites. But this tends to be a piecemeal and gradual approach. You can save a lot of time by reading a comprehensive ebook from start to finish. SEO Secrets by Australian copywriter Glenn Murray is such a resource.

SEO Secrets covers a lot of ground. It takes you through all stages of building a website that are required to rank it highly in the search engines. It covers aspects of SEO such as keyword research, site structure, hosting, duplicate content, blogging with Wordpress, link building, linkbaiting, social media, content syndication and more.

When you've finished reading this ebook you'll have a very clear idea of what SEO actually is, and how to best approach the creation of a new site. With this knowledge you'll be able to lay strong foundations that will ensure you'll be heading in the right direction. Your site will eventually draw quality, targeted search engine traffic for years to come.

Over many months Glenn struggled to the top of several keyword searches in a highly competitive niche by applying the concepts he describes in the ebook. So there's no doubt that they work. That's what I think is the great strength of SEO Secrets: It has undeniable authority.

As you'd expect from someone who makes his living as a copywriter, it's very clearly written. This is a real asset for someone such as myself, because I'm not a big fan of technical content. The more "geeky" stuff in SEO Secrets is very easy to understand.

There are a couple of negatives, however. Firstly, there is some content that is a bit out of date. For example there are references to Yahoo Site Explorer and other sites that are no longer in use.

There is also no specific mention of Google's algorithm updates such as Penguin and Panda. Clearly some prospective buyers are curious about whether the book contains advice on these specific issues because Glenn mentioned this recently in a blog post.

But the lack of such an update is not a major drawback, in my opinion. If you follow the content creation guidelines in the ebook you will have a "Panda and Penguin proof" website anyway.

In summary, SEO Secrets is an excellent ebook for anyone with a new website. It's also great for someone such as myself who has been blogging and making websites for a while, and already has much knowledge in the area. The clear, succinct and comprehensive information it contains is something I have returned to often and will continue to do so.

When you have learned a bit about SEO you are constantly monitoring your rankings for various keywords. It can be quite stressful -- particularly nowadays. That's because keyword positions in the SERPs are more volatile than ever.

Almost every time I log in and check my rankings for this site, for instance, I see a slightly different position. For example, I was in position two for Aussie searches for the keyword phrase "SEO tips" for a long while. But over the last nine moths or so, the position has been moving up and down quite often. This variability seems to have been at its greatest over the last couple of months. Some days I'm in position eight or nine, then the next day I'm at five. Then I'm at three, then down to nine again. I've seen a similar level of volatility in my rankings for a couple of my other sites.

This can cause you a lot of angst because you see a huge fall in traffic if you drop out of the top three results. And there's even a substantial difference between positions one and two, and between two and three.

It's not a huge issue for me since I'm not depending entirely on income generated from my sites. But for business owners who had become accustomed to holding the top spot in Google for a targeted keyword phrase, the present volatility must be making them nervous wrecks!

I think this phenomenon is due mainly to the increasing sophistication of Google's algorithms. It's clearly becoming increasingly human-like in its ability to asses the quality and relevance of a web page.

So, how do you deal with this issue? Of course you can do things to lift your rankings, but it's increasingly difficult to dominate them consistently. If you're a webmaster, the whole issue is largely out of your hands. I think the best policy is just to not worry about it so much and accept things.

You should also remember that as long as you've done the fundamentals, there's a good chance that you'll reclaim your previous position eventually or at least not fall too far down the list.

That said, there's always a chance that a webmaster has decided to knock you off your perch for a certain keyword and will just keep plugging away until he does this. In that case there's not a lot you can do.

So, just keep adding quality content, sharing on social media sites, building and most importantly earning links. If you keep at it you will be rewarded by the search engines eventually, even if it's not in exactly the way you'd like.