Although one would think that since search engines are using a formula for determining how to rank websites in the search results, it follows that the formula could be reverse-engineered. If that were the case, then yes, someone could invent some SEO software to do that very thing. In fact, back in the olden days of SEO -- I believe it was sometime in the mid-90s when Inktomi was being used as the backend for a few search engines -- someone had developed a specific template that could allegedly be filled in with your keywords of choice and it would basically guarantee you a high ranking!

Back then, search engines weren't even close to being as sophisticated as they are today.

Today, the formulas (or algorithms) have so many aspects to them, with each factor possibly affecting other factors, that you can't just follow any specific set of rules to gain rankings.

Let me be very clear on that -- there are no specific rules that will always provide you with a high ranking in the search engine for your keywords of choice for any given page. None. Nada. Zilch.

And that includes Google's webmaster guideline "rules" and all the stuff you read in SEO articles, as well as the information provided at conferences.
You will never find that quick-fix, automated, magic-bullet list of specific things that will work for every site/page every time. SEO is simply not black and white, and what the so-called experts tell you is generally just their own best guesses based on what they've experienced. It's exactly that experience with hundreds of different sites that enables them to fit the perfect SEO strategy to the site in question.

This was illustrated recently in a survey given to some prominent link-building consultants at Wiep.net (http://wiep.net/link-value-factors/).
Nearly every aspect of link-building that was asked about showed disagreement amongst the experts. Now, if all these experts who have been link-building for years couldn't agree on the answers, and in fact, were even sometimes contradicting each other, how the heck could there ever be any software that could do SEO?

There couldn't be and there isn't.

We've all seen software packages out there that purport to be able to SEO your pages. Do not believe them, and do not waste your money on them, unless you have extra to waste.

Along with being a scientific endeavor, SEO is largely a creative endeavor, and that's where the software fails. Most of SEO is done through creative
means. First, knowing exactly what the specific site in question needs.
Second, thinking of a unique and interesting strategy that makes sense for those needs. And third, understanding how to implement that strategy.

Every site is different. That's the key point to remember.

This is not to say that there are no SEO tools out there that can automate
some of the repetitive SEO tasks -- because there are plenty of those. And
there are certainly some that can help evaluate a current site and help with some advanced research. But you'd be living in a dream world if you believe that there could ever be a software program that could be set to SEO a site without any knowledge or effort on your part.

Hope this helps!

Jill

CEO and founder of High Rankings®, Jill Whalen has been performing search engine optimization since 1995 and is the host of the free High Rankings Advisor search engine marketing newsletter, author of “The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines" and founder/administrator of the popular High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum. In 2006, Jill co-founded SEMNE, a local search engine marketing networking organization for people and companies in New England.