Search Engines: Overview
What are search engines?
Over the years, any site that allows users to enter
a search phrase and returns a list of results from
its database of web pages and documents has come
to be known as a 'search engine'. These sites can
be broken down into two basic types - true search
engines that use an automated robot to crawl and
map out the Internet, and directories that are organized
by human editors. Seen from the user's point of
view the difference between the two is rather insignificant.
However, from an online marketing standpoint, it
is important to understand that there is a difference
between the two.
True search engines use a robot, to visit sites
on the Internet, 24 hours a day. These robots, also
called spiders or crawlers, are constantly visiting
and mapping all the websites on the Internet. The
robots analyze each site's content and submit them
to the search engine's database for indexing. When
users perform a search, the search engine compares
the user's search phrase with the indexed results
of the crawlers' findings.
Directories such as Yahoo.com on the other hand,
are not automated but maintained by people. When
you submit your site to a directory, an editor will
review your submission and determine whether to
include your site.
Why are search
engines important?
Search engines are vital to bringing in a steady
flow of visitors/clients to your site. Recent surveys
have shown that over 80% of Internet users find
websites through search engines. Getting a high
ranking in a popular search engine such as Google.com
can literally double your traffic overnight. Independent
studies also show that search engines are the top
source of consumers seeking information about products
and services. This results in a targeted group of
consumers with a higher conversion rate than that
generated by other online marketing methods.
What are the most important search engines?
When it comes to search engines, it is important
to think quality, not quantity. A handful of search
engines comprise the vast majority of the traffic
online. Services claiming to submit your site
to hundreds or thousands of search engines are
a waste of time and money. You should focus only
on the major search engines and possibly a few
specialty search engines related to your services
or geographic area.
Google.com has by and large become the heavyweight
of search engines and should be the top priority
in your search engine optimization efforts. It
accounts for 72% of all search engine traffic
due to its speed and quality of results. In addition
to it's own highly used site, Google.com provides
the search results for AOL, Netscape, Yahoo, and
Hotbot.
AllTheWeb.com
and Inktomi
come in at second and third behind Google.com.
AllTheWeb.com
also provides search results for Lycos.com
and Hotbot.com. Inktomi does not have it's own
website but it's search engine is used by MSN,
Overture, About.com, and Looksmart.
Partial list of Search Engines we submit to:
Search engine submission tips?
It is often a good idea to submit your homepage
to the major web directories such as Yahoo and Dmoz.org
before submitting to the search engines. Being in
these two major web directories immediately improves
your site's link popularity. After submitting your
site to search engines, it can take weeks or even
months for your site to be crawled and indexed.
Most search engines will automatically re-crawl
your site on a regular basis once you've been indexed
with them. We recommend that you only resubmit your
site after a significant change has been made to
the web page, or if it's been dropped from the search
engine's index. While different search engines react
differently you can generally resubmit your site
once a month without risk of the search engines
regarding it as "spamming".
Things
to avoid when submitting your site to a search
engine:
- Do not submit your site multiple times in
hopes of getting it indexed sooner
- Do not resubmit your site more than once a
month after it's been indexed
- Do not try to fool search engines by submitting
variations of a URL to the same site
- Do not submit more than 10 pages per day for
search engines that require you to submit each
page individually
How do I achieve a higher ranking in search
engines?
Most search engines use a combination of keyword
analysis and link popularity to rank indexed websites for each search phrase. In the following three
articles, we will be covering these topics in detail.
You'll learn how to:
- Choose
effective keywords
- Utilize
these keywords in your website meta-tags and content
- Increase
your website's link popularity |
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