Article from htmlhelp.com. I consider this reading to be one of the best SEO write-ups I’ve come across.

In order to fully comprehend the rationale for the forthcoming recommendations, one must first understand that there is, in essence, a war raging between the search engines and those that would manipulate them for their own selfish gain.

This document aims to equip Web authors with the information necessary to adequately prepare their Web pages for search engine placement in accordance with the most basic rules of the World Wide Web. Absolutely no promise is made as to the end result of the use of this information; however, HTMLHelp.com has effectively demonstrated that the techniques outlined within are effective and long lived.

The architecture and design of any Web site will play a major role in search engine rankings. A design emphasizing aesthetic values and flashy gimmickry may command a big “WOW” factor, but they will seldom be readily indexable by the machines employed by search engines. One could potentially end up with a fantastic site that no one else can find.

Conversely, a site with rich content but devoid of any aesthetic value may not meet all the needs of Web authors or end users despite otherwise fantastic search rankings. For these and many other reasons, Web authors must take special care when designing their sites to ensure that they will be accessible to all users - mechanical or human.

This wide-spread ‘easy to use’ cPanel installation script offers only outdated and insecure versions of popular open-source web applications and burdens the community of volunteers that make them: “… We can only warn you about what you could be getting into. Fantastico makes it harder, not easier, to run a secure and up-to-date Drupal site.”

For the full Fantastico story, GO HERE: Beware of Fantastico De Luxe

When you say, pay someone else to do the work for you, I am going to assume that you are talking about hiring a professional website designer (or me with assistance from my teachers) to do the work and not your next-door neighbor’s teenage son. If my assumption is correct, then read on. If not, go ahead and flip over to the comics section. You will get no good out of the advice I’m about to give, so you might as well consult Dilbert for your hot business tips.

If your answers were no and yes, respectively, then you have no business building and maintain a Web site.

Remember this: every minute you spend on tasks that are not related to the key focus of your business is time spent to the detriment of your business. In other words, every minute you spend focusing on tasks that do not contribute to the growth of your business and thereby increase your bottom line is time wasted.

If you want to be a web designer, be a web designer. However, if the key focus of your business is building widgets, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that your time would be better spent building widgets, not websites.