Matt Cutts gave some tips on how to rank in Google the other day. On seeing the headline, I got all excited. Then I read his tips and felt let down. Then I had a moment of clarity. You could actually see a weakly luminescent, brain-wave induced, plasma-formed lightbulb appear over my head. I finally understood SEO.

The tips, to paraphrase Mr. Cutts, were to include your targeted keywords on the Web page you’re building, to fill in the various tags to describe your page, build back links, add fresh content regularly, and pay attention to Google Webmaster tools. Thanks a lot, Matt.

No, really…thanks!

A blog appeared on Search Engine Watch and the comments on it were predictable. Most thought that Cutts was only giving basics to beginners. “Nothing new here…good for newbies…” was what what most said. That was my initial reaction too. Until I started to think about it.

In my moment of clarity, I realized that these five points are not beginning SEO, they represent advanced SEO.

Really, at the end of the day, almost every single “advanced” SEO activity can be traced back to one of the five tips. Even the more ephemeral server side stuff is covered in the Webmaster tools and guidelines - at least the do’s and don’ts are.

Of the billions of pages included in the various indices, the ones that show up in the top ten have 5 key things in common. Well targeted keywords (other wise, nobody would ever see them in the top 10), well used tags and body copy, lots of links compared to competitors, fresh content and pages largely constructed using Webmaster Guidelines - whether or not the designer even knew it.

The obvious exception that Cutts leaves out is analysis. Analyzing the competitive landscape in terms of ranking is really the only set of advanced techniques not covered by the five tips. Or is it? Well, if you select good keywords, are you not engaged in analysis?

No matter what the SEO tactic, it can be traced back to the five tips that Cutts mentions. He does in fact tell us how to rank. He gives us the secret. The one nobody thought they knew, but it was staring us all in the face all along.