How well do search engines work for your business today?


There are a lot of spam emails and ads to “optimize” your business website. Most charge monthly fees in the hundreds of dollars. They succeed in signing up new businesses because all business owners want to help their customers find them. But actually, what are the best ways to accomplish this task?

First, let’s explore some essentials about search engines in general.

Did you ever think about why Google is the top search engine? Why, more often than not, do you find your answer fairly quickly? Think back just a few years ago when it took longer to find the right information on the Internet, if you could. Today we search with confidence that we can find a quick answer. But do these answers give us the best choices?

Urban myths abound among new business website owners. “Google only lists those at the top that pay Google for ads.” “Google’s top listings are only the largest companies.” “You must pay someone to get to the top.” "This program will show your ranking” Etc., etc, etc. (These are only a few of many that I have heard – and all, I believe are false.)

Here is what I have found over the past year.

All search engines’ main goal is to have satisfied customers. Otherwise you won’t return. (And their ads won’t work.) Therefore they keep track of the last site you stop your search on. More than likely you have found what you want. This will boost that site’s ranking by one satisfied customer. The more satisfied customers you have, the higher your web site ranks. (Far less likely is the possibility that you have given up, therefore falsely boosting this final site.) These “exit” results count more than other publicize ideas such as “links from popular sites”. Without any promotion or links from top sites my latest website dryiceReporter.com took less than sixty days for Yahoo and less than thirty days for Google to move it to the top ten. This certainly defies all the publicized benefits for paid results.

All search engines are dynamic and change each and every time you search - even if only minutes apart. This is because the search engines are constantly collecting new information that changes their rankings. This is easier to detect in the third to fifth page results, but may be noticed by you when your ranking changes.

Search engines give greater weight to matching words to the title of the web page than to key words hidden within the page. Therefore don’t label your first page” Home” as I have often seen in new sites. Get feedback from a website analysis program (many are free), in order to find the search words used by visitors choosing your site. Then modify your title if needed.

Finally, if you have a “brick and mortar” business, be sure to register on Google Places for Business to be mapped by Google in their search results.

These key steps will help your new searching customers find your business quick and keep your website in the running.

Ken