A bunch of silly questions for all you experts!

Hi everybody, this is my first post. I’m a self-taught beginner when it comes to all this computor stuff and I have a pile of stupid questions so please bear with me. Two months ago I started my own business selling natural bath products and soy candles. I taught myself how to build a website and optimized it for search engines according to what I learned reading articles on the internet. The results are not what I was hoping for. I look to Google for most of my vitals due to the vast array of tools available for queries. For the term "aromatherapy sprays" I managed the get position 118, but everything else is beyond the 1000th result displayed by most query tools. I have a number of questions regarding various topics so please don’t feel obligated to answer all of them. I don’t know a lot of jargon so please be gentle!

1. I use WebCEO to query search engines about positioning. I recently read the terms of agreement for submitting to Google and it states that the use of query tools is not allowed. Is there a different way to monitor your position in a timely manner?

2. I read that changing a pages name from aromatherapysprays.html to aromatherapy_sprays.html can increase your rank. All of my pages are currently indexed by Google. Will changing the names now create broken links? Also, how long will it be before Google notices this change?

3. What is a robot.txt file and how should I use it? Is it necessary and what does it have to do with SEO?

4. I have read that meta keywords should be kept to a maximum of 12. Upon investigation, top Google competition uses way more. A few pages on my site have more than 12 relevant keywords - can I list them? I’m very paranoid about the dreaded "blacklist", has my competition just not been caught yet?

5. Regarding keyword density - I have heard that repeating a word more than 7 times on a page is considered spam. Does this include the meta tags (title, keyword, description) and any side bar menus? Is there a limit on text links of a particular word?

Sorry to throw so much at you. SEO seems like a game where you walk a thin line between duelling for position and keeping the privilege of being listed at all. This worries me and I want to know the rules before I play the game - not every one gets a second chance.

Welcome to SEOChat. Those are good questions, not stupid ones. You might want to start with the SEO for Newbies link in my signature. Now, on to the questions.

1. First, go out and get a Google API key. It's free and you can get it here - http://www.google.com/apis/ . You can enter that into WebCEO and you will be complying with Google's terms of service. No worries then.

2. If you do decide to change your page names, use a dash - not an underscore _. Google interprets dashes as spaces and will see the two words as two words. You may get a small bump with keyword rich page names. Remember, there are over 100 pieces of the Google ranking puzzle, and that would only be one of them. But it could help. If you do change, it would be wise to do a 301 redirect from the old to the new. Do a search to find out more about how to do 301 redirects. It probably won't take long for Google to see the changes, but your mileage may vary.

3. A robots.txt file tells search engine what NOT to spider. If you want a search engine to index everything, you don't need one. Again, a search for robots.txt will get you tons of info on how to use one if you decide you need one. Plenty of good tutorials out there.

4. Google doesn't care about meta keywords. A few search engines still do. Definitely nothing to stress over. Don't make it spammy looking, just put in your main keywords, and let it go.

5. There's no magic number for keyword density. If using the keyword 8 times still sounds natural when reading the text, fine. Some sites rank well with low density, some rank well with high density. Play around with it. I usually stick to anywhere from 1% to 8% but that's not set in stone. Plenty of kwd density tools out there. Check out the density of the top 10 of your competition. Start out with a similar percentage and tweak from there as needed.

Read the posts in this forum religiously and you'll get tons of info. Good luck!

Thanks for the quick response! I suppose nothing is cut and dry - that would be too easy. Thanks for the advice, now I'll go find out what a 301 redirect is. From here I'm going straight to "SEO for newbies", I didn't realize there was such a thing. Your response is greatly appreciated.