It is easier today to build a website than it was just a few years ago. Not only is building a website easier but the point and click editing and design tools available make creating a professional looking website simple. However, there is one problem most novice website owners eventually encounter that can be the most frustrating part of owning a website: Targeted Organic Traffic.

Once novice website owners complete their website, getting people to view the website is the next obstacle that must be overcome. Simply building a website and uploading it to the host servers will not magically put the new website in front of the millions of people that surf the Internet everyday. New websites must be optimized in order to receive traffic and in order to get this traffic new website owners must implement proper Search Engine Optimization.

The search engine optimization process begins even before the website is built and designed. Before a website is built, a target market or niche must be chosen and this target market is what the website will be built around. New website builders must first determine the market, then do keyword research to locate the search words for the market that people are placing in the search engines that relate to the website theme.

Keyword research is such an important part of the website building process that if overlooked or not properly done, could make the whole website building process in vain. People that are building their first website are usually excited about their new endeavor and quickly become disillusioned once they realize that there website is receiving little or no traffic.

Search engine optimization is a process that must be learned and is also dynamic and ever changing. What works today may not work three months from now because search engines like Google are always tweaking and changing their algorithms for two very important reasons:

The first reason is to deliver a better product. Google is the behemoth of all search engines with the lion share of searches done on the Internet each day, leaving Yahoo and MSN in their wake. Since Google is the market leader, they pride themselves on delivering the most up to date and relevant information being delivered to their users.

The first reason Google constantly tweaks their algorithms leads to the second reason: Because Google is the market leader among search engines, scammers, spammers and black hats constantly try to game the Google system to reach the top slots on Google to exploit the massive amount of traffic that Google produces each day.

This is why search engine optimization is such a difficult part of the website experience for the novice. Search engine optimization is better learned by trial and error rather than taught as theory in the classroom since SEO is an ever changing process. Utilizing the services of a reputable SEO firm is the best avenue for novice website builders that do not have the time to learn the ropes of SEO. However, it should be noted that proper SEO techniques are not exclusive to SEO firms. On the contrary, SEO concepts and techniques can be learned by anyone that has the time and discipline to do so.


About the Author

Doug Fisher writes about search engine optimization and various other subjects. Please visit his search engine marketing Memphis, SEO blog for more information.

Labels: google, search engines, seo, traffic, web design

It's pretty safe to say that anyone who has a computer has at some point or another used a search engine. Search engines are extremely useful creatures. They have had a major impact on our society, I mean its pretty amazing that you can just go type in anything you want into a search box and get back information about it in about two seconds. Before search engines came along you pretty much had to rely on going to the library to get more information. With that being said the popularity of search has created quite a huge market. The advent of paid advertising has sprung search engines into a multi-billion dollar a year industry, thus creating some pretty stiff competition. Right now we are in the midst of a major war on the internet, with the major players being Yahoo, MSN, Google, and an upcoming strong contender in Ask. So you may ask who is winning this war right now? And why? And who will take the lead in the future? One thing is for sure the reward of being the king of the search mountain will reap billions and billions of dollars annually.

So what are these top gun search engines competing over? The answer is clicks, on the paid advertisements they present every time someone uses their search engine. If you notice when you use Google for example that at the very top of the page and on the right hand side it says sponsored sites. This is where people trying to make money online pay to advertise for their company. These prices range from nickels and dimes per click, all the way up to hundreds of dollars per click, depending on the keyword. So the main objective for a search engine is to get as many people as possible using them to search the internet. Just think about it for a second, the more searches they get, the more chance of people clicking on their paid ads, which is where they make their money. Now of course not everyone is going to click on the paid ads, only a small percentage of the searches they receive ever actually make the search engine money. However, with millions of searches a day it only takes a small percentage to really make a big monetary difference.

So who are the warlords going to battle here? And who is in the lead? The three major competitors are MSN, Google, and Yahoo, and Ask is fighting its way back into the mix of things with some pretty sweet search features.

As of right now Google is in the lead, they receive somewhere in the ballpark of 80% of all search queries on the internet. Google is estimated to gross around 3 billion dollars in 2006, all from just paid advertisement. Now you may ask why is it that Google is so far ahead? Well there are a few reasons. First, Google has the most advanced algorithm, which is the mind boggling mathematical equation that ranks and lists sites depending on the keyword. Trying to understand their algorithm is extremely complicated, Google only hires absolute geniuses to work for them. Second, is the brilliance of Google.com itself, which is their homepage.

Take a look at Google's homepage, all you can do is type your keyword in the search box and hit search. There's really nothing else going on it's pretty clean cut and user friendly, with absolutely no distractions from getting people to do what they want. Which is search

Now take a look at MSN, or Yahoo's homepage. It is just jam packed with all sorts of stuff to do from playing games to reading articles about the news. This stuff is great and all, however it does distract people from typing into the search box and inevitably clicking on a paid ad putting money in their pocket. I believe this is a major part in why Google has such a gigantic lead in the volume of searches they receive compared to the other top guns. .

So I firmly believe that in this case the giant will not be taken down. Even though you see commercials for Yahoo and Ask, you know the ones with the cheesy guy screaming Yahoooo and the monkey that Ask is featuring. The bottom line is Google has the best algorithm right now and their site doesn't distract people from searching, which will yield many more search queries. Who knows though just as Google basically came from no where and took over the market, there may be a new kid on the block that will topple them. However as of now though they are the reigning champions.

Author Bio
Search engine specialist Steve Bis, is the author of the free search secrets newsletter and owns a unique web search tool that will help you find anything on the internet in 60 seconds, eliminating your search frustrations.

Labels: ask, google, msn, search engines, yahoo