I'm always on the look-out for that essential leg up needed to give my business that competitive edge to stay ahead of the other guy. And being in the web design & development game means that can be a tough game to play!

With that in mind, I thought I'd share with you what I've managed to learn about web design, Search Engine Optimization and Internet marketing in the hope that what I know might be of use to someone else.

Think like a person and not a machine!

Now you're probably thinking: "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?!" And I don't blame you, either! Thing is, this is more of a problem than you'd think, and I'll tell you why.

The similarities between the web, the way the web functions and real life are much closer than you'd think. The search engines are getting smarter all of the time, smart enough to negate the need for you to try and think like they do.

Web Neighborhoods

Just like in real life, there are good places and bad places to be found, and the web is no different in that regard.

If you're like me, you avoid these bad places. If you're running a 'blog, it's best not to get too many people visiting your website from these bad neighborhoods.

Put simply, a web neighborhood is anywhere you'd see a single authoritative website, or a bunch of websites of similar intent, purpose or subject matter, all linking amongst themselves. And, where you might expect to see the same people posting content or making comments on 'blogs and such like.

But how do you avoid being in a bad neighborhood?

Well, be very careful about what comments you post and where. Certain topics - like hacking, pornography and violence, for example - may well pull in the wrong crowd.

Also, if you post to 'blogs belonging to some bad web neighborhood, then that's as good as being seen by some nosey neighbor - that nosey neighbor being either the search engines or your potential audience. Personally, I'm not quite sure which is worse.

As for the search engines, well they see everything! And when they see you hanging around these illicit venues, they make notes ... lots of notes.

Imagine you have some well-trodden path through a field from this bad web neighborhood right up to your back door. People will see this and make all kinds of assumptions. The search engines see where you've been, and can trace your steps back to those bad web neighborhoods.

So when you get a link from a website, it's essentially the same as someone paying a repeat visit to your house.

So if you have a 'blog or a website and you visit or link to a website in a positive, good web neighborhood, your 'blog or a website may well garner some positive karma from the search engines, who you may remember are keeping an eye on you.

However, the opposite is also true - get links coming in from bad websites from bad web neighborhoods and your 'blog or a website could well pick up some negative karma.

Being a good neighbor

So now you know what to look out for and how to avoid bad web neighborhoods, your task is to find good web neighborhoods and make the most of them.

And yet again, society is a good indicator of what to do and how to conduct yourself.

The web is littered with no end of rambling, flame-ridden forum posts where people have clashed, maybe even saying things they regret and then falling foul of the very people moderating those forums.

There's nothing to be gained from washing your dirty laundry in public!

So if you present yourself in a positive way, being respectful to others and their opinions, you may well make your mark, make friends and influence people. Much the same way you would in real life.

Remember what I said about positive karma and the search engines keeping note? Well, being topical and posting relevant, well-worded content within these top-ranking web neighborhoods will only do you, your 'blog or website the world of good.

Do this right and often enough and your 'blog or website could be the hottest venue in your own web neighborhood…