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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