Search engine optimization is the activity that can shoot your search engine rankings to unbelievable heights. However, it can also prove to be the nemesis of your Internet marketing campaign. Adopt the wrong approach and you can be in dire straits.

When you embark on an aggressive campaign to promote your web business, SEO can be a very beneficial investment. But, the use of wrong techniques can see your website being supplemented, blacklisted or even banned by search engines like Google, Yahoo!, MSN, et al.

There are a few strict No-Nos that need to be adhered to when it comes to Search Engine Optimization Services. Try and stay away from the following activities:

1. Meta tag stuffing - Do not use an overdose of title tags or keywords in your Meta tags' list. This will prove that you are desperate to improve your rankings without using 'fair' means.

2. Hidden text – Quite often, optimizers use keywords in hidden text of their web pages. This kind of text is not visible to the user, but is crawled by search engines, hence optimizing the site for better results.

3. Unrelated keywords – You should always use keywords that form the core of your site's content. Although this might not be caught by search engines instantly, sooner or later, you might have to face the axe.

4. Link farms – When you get into off-page optimization, try and avoid being linked to 'bad neighbourhoods'. If a link farm establishes links to your website, you will not be penalised. However, if you link your site to a link farm, there are chances that the search engine bans you.

5. Penalised websites – Try to stay away from link exchange with penalised or blacklisted sites. Even though you might not have done anything wrong on your site, you can be blacklisted by linking your website with banned ones.

As an optimizer, you should always remember that your competitor cannot really get your website blacklisted, despite using negative tactics. A wrong move on your part will be solely responsible in case you land up in such a situation.