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Search Engines Confessions
by Jim Daniels
Search engine ranking. How important is it really?
Well, if you can never seem to find your web site through search
engines, you probably think it is keeping you from success.
Not true.
Confession #1:
There was a time when I felt that ranking high in search engines was
very important. I even spent hours every week trying to get those top
spots. I mean I tried everything. And lots of the stuff I tried
worked. I enjoyed #1 rankings at Infoseek, AltaVista, WebCrawler and
more. I was in the top 10 of nearly all the major engines.
Then a funny thing happened. I wised up.
You see, I finally realized that there were literally thousands of
other folks promoting related products and services. I knew that
keeping those high search engine positions would become quite a chore
eventually. Hey, I'm just one guy, sitting at my computer. If the few
hours a week I was spending on search engine ranking grew into ten, 12
or 15 hours, something else would have to suffer.
Which leads me to...
Confession #2:
I dropped out of the game altogether. That's right, I gave up the
battle. And it was the best decision I ever made.
That big picture is this:
You need more than search engine traffic to make it online. You need
relationships. You form these valuable business relationships by
promoting your business in other ways. Regular email contact,
newsletter publishing, discussion group participation, offering an
associate program - these are the methods that have brought me
full-time income on the internet. They are also the methods that will
take me further.
I can honestly say that if the search engines all closed up shop
tomorrow (or started to rank pages by who pays them the most - which
is more likely) my cyberbusiness wouldn't miss a beat. Why? I chose
not to rely on search engines for web site traffic.
That's not to say I don't get traffic from search engines. I just
don't rely on search engines for *ALL* my traffic. Like any wise
internet marketer, I take what I can get - especially when it's free.
Which leads me to...
Confession #3
I now enjoy some of my best search engine ranking ever!
"What's that Jim? You gave up the battle and you're winning?..."
Actually, yes. Just this morning I went out on the web in search of
places to spend some ad dollars. As usual, I used my favorite
multi-engine search tool called the Dogpile at
http://bizweb2000.com/engines.htm. I searched on "ezine advertising"
and "direct email marketing" in hopes of finding a few good targeted
advertising opportunities.
What did I find? Well, uh, my own site.
HERE'S WHERE I SHOWED UP...
"ezine advertising"
- #1 on WebCrawler
- #5 on Lycos
- #1 on Magellan
- #1 on Excite
- #2 on AltaVista
"DIRECT EMAIL MARKETING"
-
#1 on WebCrawler
- #2 on WebCrawler
- #1 on Magellan
- #2 on Magellan
- #3 on Excite
"How's that?", you ask. "How does a guy drop out of the search engine
battles and come up with top ranking?"
Simple. I said I dropped out of the battles, not the war. You see, I
still make sure that every web page I create is optimized for good
ranking. I do this by inserting meta tags, using a good title and
adding keyword rich content.
I recommend this as a minimum. It's simple. All you have to do is
create one good meta-tagged page, then use it as a template. Every
time you create a new page, paste in your template and adjust the
keywords for the content on that page. A quick tutorial on meta tags
can be found at my
free help area.
With this "casual" method, you can't help but get some good search
engine raking. Plus, all the time you save battling for those top
spots can be better spent on REAL internet marketing!
So there you have it. Confessions from a once-hooked search engine
junkie. Are you caught up in the search engine ranking battles?
Perhaps it's time to surrender some of the battles. Who knows, you may
just win the war!
Article by Jim Daniels of JDD Publishing. Jim's site has helped
1000's of regular folks profit online. Check out their FREE "how-to"
cybermarketing assistance, software, books, web services & more at
http://bizweb2000.com. No time for the web? Subscribe to their FREE,
weekly BizWeb E-Gazette:
mailto:sub4free@JDD-Publishing.com
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back to the top!
LOSKA.COM
Wanda Loskot - Success Connection
150 Heron's Run, Suite #124 - Sarasota, FL 34232 - USA
Phone (941) 342-4203 - Fax (240) 358-7445
Professional business coach, author & speaker specializing in Internet marketing.
Business seminars, corporate training and one-on-one coaching
for self-employed sales professionals and small business owners.
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All materials Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 Wanda Loskot
and Success Connection.
All Rights Reserved. Do not reprint, or distribute without
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