Making Sense Out of the World

So, it’s your first time on the Internet and you’d like some information on “cars”. Where do you go? There are so many search engines and directories, which one do you start with?… Which one is best? Which of the many search engines really matter?

Well, the best search engines are usually the most popular and most used ones. This will be true for both the Web site owner as well as the Web searcher/consumer.

Here’s the reason: More often than not, the well-known/popular search engines tend to promote themselves very well and have strong relations and strategic alliances with other Internet powers (AOL and Netscape immediately come to mind). This alone will bring in lots of traffic, especially when compared to the lesser-known search engines.

If you are a Web site owner and your site gets listed high with one these well-known search engines, you’re guaranteed a ton of traffic to your site (a good thing, especially since it didn’t cost you any money!).

For the searcher/consumer, a well-known (hence, very wealthy and commercially backed) search engine will generally give more dependable and accurate results. These search engines will work faster, load quicker and are more likely to be well-maintained and upgraded regularly to keep up with the rapid growth of the Net!

Before getting into the specifics of each search engine, let’s first define the differences between the two primary types of search “services”.

Search Engines

Search engines use robots called “spiders” to index (categorize) your Web site. You submit your Web site and/or page to a particular search engine and the “spider” will index your submission.

Here’s how it works: A spider (which is also called a “crawler”) visits your Web site, reads your page… and then follows links to other pages within your site. This is what is meant when someone says your site has been “spidered” or “crawled”. The spider will also return to your site on a timed and regular basis (say once every couple months) to look for any new changes.

Once the spider has all your information, it goes back home to the search engine where it will begin to “index” what it has found. Most of the time, it can take a while for new pages (or changes that the spider finds) to be added to the index. Thus, your Web page may have been “spidered”, but not yet “indexed”!

Until your site has been indexed (added to the index/search engine listing), you are NOT yet available for search (you don’t exist yet as far as consumers are concerned).

Now, some promotional “gurus” say that you don’t have to actually “submit” your Web site/pages to these “deep” search engines because in theory, these robots are “spidering” new Web sites everyday and supposedly they will find and index your site (eventually).

But the reality is that unless you have links from other sites leading to yours, OR you have registered your site with one of these search engines, your Web site will NOT be indexed – hence, you will never exist!

[I'll explain this in more detail later, but make sure that you submit all of your pages to the search engines. Don't wait for them to spider you!]

Examples of some of the more popular search engines that use “spiders” are:

• AltaVista
• Excite
• HotBot
• Infoseek
• Lycos
• WebCrawler

Next come the…

Directories

Directories will NOT list your Web site and will never become aware of your existence unless you register with them. More often than not, they will only register your home page and not your sub-pages.

The main difference between directories and search engines is that directories will “categorize” Web sites. Hence, if your Web site has to do with cars, you will be indexed under the category of “automobiles” or “cars” or some other relevant topic.

This difference alone will usually make directories a more “relevant” search engine. Examples of some of the more popular directories are:

• LinkStar
• LookSmart
• Snap
• Starting Point
• WWWYellowPages
• Yahoo! (the most popular of the bunch)

Excerpt from one of the many eBooks that can be found in our library at eBooksone.net

Popularity: unranked [?]

Popularity: unranked [?]

When you first got on the Internet (way back when…), what method did you use to track down and find the information you were looking for on the World Wide Web?Chances are you used one of the many search engines/directories. Even though there are literally hundreds and thousands of search engines, you probably used one of the top 10 (like Yahoo!, AltaVista, AOL, HotBot, InfoSeek, etc., etc., etc.)

This is exactly how most people (over 90%) find information on the Net when they first get on. It’s not the most effective way, but it’s a start. As time goes on and you become more familiar (and comfortable) with the Net, you add in alternate ways of finding information… Through banner ads, affiliate and associate programs, newsletter/ezine ads, referral links, etc.

Just as there is no one “best” way of finding information or a Web site on the Net, there is also no best way of promoting your business, product or service either.

So, why is a good search engine ranking so important… if at all?

Well, the truth is that it is and it’s not. Let’s take quick look at the pros and cons of search engine promotion.

Pros

	It’s free! It doesn’t cost you anything to get placed on the search engines. This is very important for the beginning entrepreneur when money is tight and you’re still learning the ropes of Internet marketing.
	Lots of traffic! A good/high search engine ranking can bring in lots of traffic… targeted traffic! A potential customer types in a specific keyword search and if your site comes up, then it’s a direct hit. They will be coming to your site because they want to. They are not forced, tricked or persuaded by outside forces.
	It levels out the playing field. The truth is that a big Fortune 500 company has no advantage over you, the smaller and sometimes “broke” home based business. You have just as much an opportunity to rank well, and above these big time spenders.
	Results can sometimes be seen very quickly. This is a big bonus, especially if you are in desperate need of some initial traffic and sales.
	Search engines are the first place most of the new Internet users go to when searching for information or a product/service (actually, this is true for even the veteran marketer). This is very important because new comers are very open to the Internet and your initial “sales pitch”. They are like kids in a candy store. Because of the high competition and vast amount of information available on the Net, if a “newbie” comes to your site, they will probably buy from you or at least listen to what you have to say. (The theory is that you came first, so “I will trust you first”. This is why Amazon.com or AOL.com have so many loyal customers… they were “first” on the Net!)

Cons

	It’s not very reliable. Sometimes, you can do everything right and use every single search engine trick in the book… and still, some totally lame and untargeted Web site will rank much better than yours. This is a problem that no body can predict with the search engines.
	It’s time consuming. It will take a lot of work to get to the top and stay there! Most search engines change their ranking criteria’s as often as you change your underwear! What works one day may not work the next. Also, each of the top search engines have their own set of rules, so it will take some time to get used to and juggle everyone’s “do’s and don’ts”.
	It takes too long! Even though you may see results within a week on some of the search engines, on others… it can take up to 6-8 weeks before you are listed, let alone get traffic to your site. That’s a lot of time that is wasted that could be better used for other promotional tactics.
	Secret search engine tactics are hidden! There are plenty of tried and proven ways of getting and keeping a good ranking on the search engines. In fact, there are 3 methods (maybe one or two more) that only a small handful of Internet marketers know of that can literally drive thousands of very targeted customers to your site… with very little effort or upkeep on your part… for pennies! But guess what, these “secret” tactics are just that – secret and well-guarded! So, the problem is that most of the information that your read on the Net (at least 98% of it) is just a bunch of bull or it’s totally out dated. This, ironically will get you in very big trouble with some of the search engines and you may be booted of their directory forever! (this is because a lot of the search engine tactics on the Net are considered as “spam” to the search engines… and this is a big no-no!) You need to be very careful about where you get your search engine information… VERY careful!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Buffalo is where it all started for those great little tasting hot wings that you can find in any bar in America. It’s been a popular food for the sports fan to while enjoying their favorite team on the tube. You can now order hot wings in a lot of restaurants and for some it’s their main item they have on the menu.

Now the way it all got started was from a lady that was working in Buffalo, New York and her son and his friends were hungry. Since she was working in a restaurant she just grabs some chicken and mixed it with a sauce that was mainly hot sauce. Her son and his friends loved it and they came back and wanted even more. From there it grew and now everybody knows what hot wings are. Most places will also serve hot wings with blue cheese and celery to help cool down the taste buds. Today there is even contest for eating the hottest wings and serving up the hottest flavor possible. I like a little touch of fire in my hot wings, but don’t over do it. I have never eaten the buffalo wings from the original place it all got started from, but I would like to. I think you can order their sauce online and I might have to go that route to try the original recipe one day.

Popularity: unranked [?]

It seems like everyone has a blog these days. They are a lot of good blogs that deal with technology and all the latest gadgets on the market. These are great blogs to learn about all the new and exciting products that are available now or will become available to us soon.

According to a recent MSN article, they rank some of the best technology blogs out there. My blog didn’t get noticed, but my blog has a wider target base than just technology. These blogs deal directly with the technology market that exists out there now.

1. Slashdot

2. Engadget and Gizmodo

3. TechCrunch

4. Ars Journals

5. ReadWriteWeb

6. Scobleizer

7. Epicenter

8. GigaOM

9. ValleyWag

10. Good Morning Silicon Valley

That is rank of the top 10 blogs for the 100 that they listed. I think number 10 ( Good Morning Silicon Valley ) is a great name for a blog. I’m gonna have to go through each one of these individually and see which ones I like the best. Some of the other notable blogs that got my attention by their titles were:

Tivo Blog

The Official Google Blog

GM Fastlane

BloggingHeads.tv

Danger Room

PaidContent.org

Cartoon Brew

Mental Floss

38 Pitches

Blog Maverick

I Can Has Cheezeburger

Those are some of the ones that caught my eye. The 38 Pitches is a blog by the Boston Red Sox Curt Schilling and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s blog is Blog Maverick. They would seem like sports blogs, but I guess they have a tech-side for them to appear in the list. The GM Fastlane blog deals with the GM cars and a big board member posts on it regularly that makes it attractive. I really like the name of the Mental Floss blog and is obviously a description from “dental floss”. It was one of the best blogs I seen, based on just the name of it. Be sure to let me know some of your favorite technology blogs.

Popularity: unranked [?]