“To optimize or not to optimize?” is the question you should be asking yourself when you start doing any search engine optimization on your own Web sites. Many folks do not though. They will either over optimize every single Web page, pack it full of keywords and other seach engine tools and it will look like crap. Then you have the folks that will not do anything to their Web site to make it search engine friendly, and that too will end up looking like crap.

How do you find the right balance when it comes to optimization of your Web site? Itai Levitan of SEO Chat has written up a great article on this subject.

Practically every SEO has a horror story or two about certain past clients. Is there some way we can tell in advance that a job is going to be problematic? Yes, there are certain warning signs. Itai Levitan discusses some of the most common ones.

Just about every SEO that I’ve met has a passion for search engine optimization. It’s a mysterious and intriguing practice, and we SEOs love it! It’s fun to tweak those pages and receive almost immediate feedback as search engine ranking fluctuation are realized. SEO is never boring, because each website is unique, as are the various stages of the search engine optimization work process. SEOs love everything about it, from the initial investigation of the site and its market, learning about what the website is trying to achieve and how; following through to the keyword research and strategy, the optimization, link building, monitoring and improvements. Throughout the SEO process, SEOs are almost always feeling a positive tension and inner drive. They are inspired to work those late hours, knowing that SEO is probably going to pop up in their dreams anyway!

There are various reasons why almost every experienced SEO has taken at least one project that she or he later regretted. It’s simply hard to turn down a SEO project, whether you are servicing a client, optimizing your own site, helping a friend out or what have you. Most SEOs like the challenge, and are not afraid to carve their way in the world. Some see it as a secret riddle that is calling out to be solved, and can’t refuse the challenge. Other SEOs, who are freelancers or employees of SEO firms, simply need to optimize another website as part of their work.

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So which camp do you fit into? Do you optimize too much, too little or just right? Let me know what you do to optimize your Web sites for success and I’ll be sure to share some of the best tricks and tips I hear in a future article.