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"Search Engine 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.
Not only did this decision free up time for more important
online marketing strategies, it helped me see the bigger
picture.
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. I recently went searched the web for places
to spend some ad dollars. As usual, I used my favorite multi-
engine search tool called the Dogpile. 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... (search performed in late 1998)
"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.
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, free
software, business opportunities, manuals, web services and
more! Real money is being made on the net -- get in on it at:
http://bizweb2000.com - Subscribe to their FREE, weekly
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