A Newbies guide to search







For anybody that is new to online marketing this is a short article to explain what search engines are and their role in the online world.



Search engines are used when people search the web for information, services or products. The searcher will enter a keyword or phrase related to the subject they are inquiring about and the search engines will use powerful automated software programs called Crawlers or Spiders to match the searcher with the website which offers the services required.



CRAWLERS AND SPIDERS



They are the tools used by the engines to search the web and collect data. This data is then added to the search engine index. When the search engine is asked a query, the input from that query is checked against the index. The sites within the index that best suit the query are then shown with the best results at the top.

All webmasters strive to get their sites rank high up in the engines index so they will be at the top of the list when a query is received. One of the ways this is achieved is by the use of keywords.



KEYWORDS


These are a list of words or phrases that search engines use to cross-reference your site with users searches.

Keywords can be any word on the web page. To get good results with the engines you need to specify the keyword for your document. A way of doing this is by using Mega Tags. These are part of the web page, which cannot be seen by any visitors, but are visible to search engines robots and spiders. They must always be situated within the head portion of a web page. If a web page does not have mega tags it will never be pick up by the search engines and so will never get ranked. Another way to use keywords is to mention them several times during the document.



LINK POPULARITY



Link popularity is now a major factor in search engine ranking. The more inbound links you have the greater the boost it will give to your ranking. Search engines have the opinion that if the webmasters consider a site interesting enough to link to it then it must be worth a visit.



DIRECTORIES



In a directory a person will actually create your website listing on the search page as opposed to a robot or spider.

A short description and the URL to your site are submitted to the search engines owners. If the site is approved the search owners will assign the page to an appropriate category within the large search engine.

Directories often provide much more targeted results than search engines.



FREE SUBMISSION ENGINES



You can submit to many search engines and directories free of charge. You should only submit once every 30 days to avoid spamming these engines. It is unlikely that you will ever get your site listed with free submissions, Most businesses use PPC (Pay Per Click Engines) as these are without doubt the most effective and measurable method of online advertising.





PAY PER CLICK ENGINES.



PPC engines allow you to bid on a keyword or phrase that you believe people will use if they were trying to find the products or services you provide. Each phrase or keyword will have its own list of bids and advertisers. The advertiser who places the highest bid will be at the top of the listings. The lower the bid the further down the listing you are. Many advertisers will try to outbid others to be at the top of the listings but as this can be expensive you will need to have a decent size-marketing budget. It is better to try to bid on a phrase or keyword that is obscure or unusual. To use these engines you will deposit an initial amount with the search engine and they will deduct the click through costs from the deposit. Before using PPC engines be sure to set a marketing budget and stick with what you can afford because you can spend a great deal of money without getting the results you require. When you are new to marketing it is best to forget about trying to out bid others it is far wiser to invest a reasonable amount of money and practice placing your bids and when you have got to the stage when you understand how these engines work and what you need to do to get results then think about how to get the ranking you require.



PAID LISTINGS



You can pay to have your site listed, but this can work out very expensive on the major search engines. This is best left to those that have a large marketing budget.



As you learn to use and understand search engines, remember to follow the search engines guidelines on submissions and be sure not to spam the engines as this can get your site barred.



All the best

Sue






About the author:

Hello my name is Sue and I am English and I live near a city called Nottingham in the East Midlands also known as the birth place of Robin Hood.My business site www.princehomebiz.comoffers a selection of affiliate opportunities and ideas.