Richard Zwicky

Most Internet marketing methods are risky and many will not have any affect on traffic to a web site. Some online marketers will sell you anything from banner impressions, to mass email campaigns (spam), to popup ads. All these marketing tools can work, but they are also extremely risky. Some people I know find pop-ups and spam so annoying that they will never purchase anything from a business that uses them. These plans are probably not best customer acquisition strategies, and more likely they are a total waste of money. So why would anyone bother risking money on marketing strategies that probably will not increase traffic to your website? Why not concentrate on what does work? - The search engines.

Have you ever been contacted by online marketers who promise to deliver a "ton of traffic" to your website" ? I get these emails every day. Here's a quote from one I used to get 10 times a day (until I automatically filtered it to trash):

"Hi I visited www.metamend.com, and noticed that you're not listed on some search engines! I think we can offer you a service which can help you increase traffic and number of visitors to your website.

I would like to introduce you to thispromotioncompany.com. We offer a unique technology that will submit your website to over 300,000 search engines and directories every month.

You'll be surprised by low cost, and by how effective this website promotion method can be.

To find out more about thispromotioncompany and cost for submitting your website to over 300,000 search engines and directories, visit www.thispromotioncompany.com. (...)"

Have you ever received one, and wondered why they were contacting you? First off, how did they find your web site? What search engines are they referring to? If they really could deliver on their promise, then they would have so much repeat, and word of mouth business, that they wouldn't have time to be calling or emailing you. Lastly, how many people actually believe that there are 300,000 search engines?

While it's true you need traffic from search engines, you don't need to use spam techniques to get it. You need real results, and not false hope.

Increase Web Site Traffic,.. Naturally It is true that best way to obtain lots of targeted traffic (customers) is to acquire it based on relevance, via search engines. Various studies show that anywhere from 83% to 92% of first time visitors to a web site find it through search engines. That's an incredible statistic. If you are not acquiring those customers as a result of a relevant query, then they will be disappointed. They may be disappointed with search result, but more likely, they will be disappointed with your web site.

In online world that's your first impression. We all know how important a first impression is. You can never get a bad one back, and a good one will carry you a long way. You have to make sure that search engines are sending you visitors that are looking for your products or services. If your web site matches their interests, they will remember it, and come back, even if they do not make a purchase on that visit. If they find it irrelevant, they may have subconsciously formed a negative opinion of your online business, through no fault of your own.

Search engines provide a continuous stream of targeted visitors to your website, and for most part, it's free of charge. Some engines do charge a listing fee, but most do not. The only thing search engine asks is that each web site operator makes an effort to provide relevant and good information to web surfers for a particular search phrase. If a web site does so, search engines will reward site with increased good quality traffic.

Google touts highly its secret PageRank algorithm. Although PageRank is just one factor in choosing what sites appear on a specific search, it is main way that Google determines "importance" of a website.

In recent months, SEO specialists have become expert at manipulating PageRank, particularly through link exchanges.

There is nothing wrong with links. They make Web a web rather than a series of isolated islands. However, PageRank relies on naturally "democratic" nature of web, whereby webmasters link to sites they feel are important for their visitors. Google rightly sees link exchanges designed to boost PageRank as stuffing ballot box.

I was not surprised to see Google try to counter all SEO efforts. In fact, I have been arguing case with many non-believing SEO specialists over past couple months. But I was surprised to see clumsy way in which Google chose to do it.

Google targeted specific search terms, including many of most competitive and commercial terms. Many websites lost top positions in five or six terms, but maintain their positions in several others. This had never happened before. Give credit to Barry Lloyd of www.SearchEngineGuide.com for cleverly uncovering process.

For Google, this shakeup is just a temporary fix. It will have to make much bigger changes if it is serious about harnessing "democratic" nature of Web and neutralizing artificial results of so many link exchanges.

Here are a few techniques Google might use (remember to think like a search engine):