What works well for SEO these days?

A few years back, article marketing worked really well.  It still works now, but to a lesser degree.

Social bookmarking worked really well a while back, and I’m sure it still does, but I think it hurt one of my sites recently.

I got Google-slapped recently for one of my main pages.  I’m not sure if I’ve been over-optimizing (ie. using the same keyword phrase too much).

Another thing: I’ve also heard around the water cooler that having a profile on tons of social networks (that you don’t use) is also not a winning strategy.  So what is the next big thing? (in terms of SEO)

Anyone know?

  • Is it building profiles on resume sites?
  • Is it super link bait?
  • Is it high-priced press releases?
  • Is it the Yahoo Directory?
  • Is it building an app and listing it on various download sites?
  • Is it being the first to comment on super-mega-popular blogs with millions of visitors?

Anything I’m missing?  I guess it depends on if I’m looking for white-hat or grey-hat.  I guess I’ll keep my eyes open for new trends.