Research time

As I read thru the forums and learn as much as I can about seo so that I can optimize my site I can't help but be curious about how much time you guys who do seo for a living spend on research. A day dosen't go by where I don't read ih the forums about someones kw ranking go down the tubes as a result of some changes in the search engines.

So what percentage of your time do you spend actually doing research and keeping up on the trends and nuances of the big 3 search engines?

Thanks for your insights.

Actually, staying engaged with the SEO boards and reading input from and with others; with the occasional algo change analysis; is about all I do. Other than that I experiment, experiment, experiment. Keep what works and disgard what doesn't.

I don't do as much research (as in my own tests) as I should. But I'm reading everyday a number of blogs... keeping on top of trends!

When i first started I did lots of experimenting and adjusting to algos. However, if you can get a lot of trusted links and have a high quality site you will not need to do much adjusting. I do less and less SEO as time passes.

Having a curious nature helps alot.

I am always curious about the commonality between these stories in comparison to those announcing the opposite.

If you reduce the stories to facts (get rid of all the emotions) they (in totality) tell the real story.

BTW - when I learned to walk, I was the kid shoving the key into the wall socket... not once, but many times just to be sure what I felt... was exactly what occurred!