We chose search term "real estate fiji" because it's a competitive industry and geographically specific. We also searched with same phrase, misspelled to see if search engine would suggest correct spelling.

Google

• Initially loading search page for Google is lightning fast. • The look is clean and easy to understand. • Search time was 0.15 seconds. • The search yielded 1,190,000 results. • All results on first page were relevant. • Spellcheck was available.

Yahoo!

• Initially loading search page for Yahoo! is a little bit slower than Google, but still fast. • Search time was 0.18 seconds. • The search yielded 711,000 results. • It is difficult to tell sponsored links from actual web results. • All results on first page were relevant, however one of them directed you to another set of results for your search at DMOZ.org. • Spellcheck was available.

AskJeeves

• Initially loading search page for AskJeeves is fast. • Search time was not posted and was much slower than Google & Yahoo!. • The search yielded 63,100 results. • Sponsored links take up whole screen. You have to scroll down to see web results. • All first page results were relevant. • Spellcheck was available.

A9.com

• Initially loading search page for A9 is fast. • Search time was not posted but was average. • The search yielded 209,000 results. • All results on first page were relevant. • There were image results alongside text results. This could be helpful. • Spellcheck was available.

MSN

• Initially loading search page for MSN is fast. • Search time was not posted but was average. • The search yielded 112,607 results. • All except one of results were relevant. This result pointed to Philippines real estate. Also, one results directed you to DMOZ, where a second search for your keywords is performed. • Spellcheck was available.

Alexa

How I reached #1 in Yahoo!®

            By accident, no all that reading and studying statistics finally paid off.  I started out by reading articles from people with opposing views and trying to figure out who was wrong and who was right.  To find right person to listen to I didn’t only look at his educational background, but was more interested in his results.  Good thing too, because results I found.  And I hope people look at my results to help them reach #1.

            In past I had a great working simple traffic tracker on my site that started stated someone visited my site by typing in ‘online editor flash sites’ into Yahoo!.  I went to Yahoo! And typed in keyword phrase and found out I hit #1 out of 1,040,000 hits!  Two weeks later I dropped to #2 and found out that my other site took #1.  Now I had #1 and #2 position in Yahoo!.  My world changed forever and at that moment and never will go back.  Today I have more sophisticated software, charts, data, articles, and trends referenced for my webs posted on wall.  I maintain contact with forum discussions and receive up-to-date news in my email telling me of changes taking place.  I have achieved top 10 list in top 3 search engines (Google, Yahoo!, and MSN) and wish to educate you on how to do same.

Part One:  Keywords and Keyword Phrases

SEO- search engine optimization; process of designing your site to achieve high rankings in search engine

            Picking right keywords is essential.  Step into your customer’s shoes and think of what keywords they would use to find information on your site and write them down in a list.  Get your friends and others with different opinions and ask them what they would type to find information that is located on your site.  Add these keywords and phrases to your list.  Now check your competitors’ sites that have reached #1 status in search engines.  (Careful don’t pick sponsored sites located at top or side, they got there by using a PPC (pay per click) ad campaign.  You want non-sponsored sites.  Right click anywhere on page and select view source to see site in html format.  Under header tag called <META name="keywords" content="keywords are here” you will find keywords that site used to get to top.  Add these keywords to your list.

            Now you should have about 40 to 50 keywords and keyword phrases in your list to research.  (By way 2 or 3 word keyword phrases are used most today, when only a few months ago 1 word keywords were used.)  Just following one of these three avenues (your list, your friends list, and view source) will not get you to top, you must use all three and research 40-50 words to get to top.

            Now take these 40-50 keywords to search engines and type them in.  Do results pertain to information on your site?  If not, cross them off.  You should have about 40 keywords left.