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. 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: http://www.bizweb2000.com/freehelp.htm
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: sub4free@JDD-Publishing.com
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