The Search Engine Times Are Changing! by D.Rhodes

The Search Engine Times Are Changing! by D.Rhodes

I have been a cyber citizen now for many years. I was lucky enough to be part of the internet revolution from quite early days as far as the UK goes. I have a lot of experience of using the internet as a 'surfer'.

What amazes me is the growth of the market relating to the provision of search engines services.
I remember when Yahoo! was just about the only search. These where the days of unbiased search results. The search engine market is now big business, and payment to be listed in one way or another is common.

Google, although apparently providing unbiased results, allows PPC or Pay Per Click advertising by its AD Words campaign. When searching on Google you may notice the small advertisement boxes on the right of the returned results. These are free to display but incur a cost to the website owner/advertiser when clicked. Hence pay per click!

Other search engines like Yahoo provide a pay to be included service. Where you may not actually be paying to be listed in search engine results you will be manually approved (or not!) to be included in there yahoo directory for a fee.

But things look like they are due to change. With income now viable for search engine providers, other big players are on the horizon all wanting a slice of the cake. MSN has recently stopped using other search engines results on its pages and has replaced them with its own search engine.

Both MSN and Yahoo now appear to be cataloguing the internet like crazy trying to catch up, and over take, the biggest search engine we all loving call Google.

As a web designer/web application builder and search engine optimisation fanatic I watch closely the log files of my many websites. These files can tell you a host of things. One interesting thing to follow is the visits your site gets from search engine bots (or spiders). These are the automated parts of a search engine that travel around the internet "reading" pages and deciding what they contain, how important they are, and how they sit in relation to other pages and sites in the tangled web called the internet.

MSN for one appears to be visiting all my sites very frequently. Most of the time visiting up to twenty pages per visit. This compares to googles one to three pages when it can feel like it. Yahoo too seems to be doing the same as MSN.

With these two search engines spidering the internet like crazy, it could mean that google has to start worrying about its top spot.

This my friend, should start you thinking. If you own or run a web site, and search engine traffic is important to you, is it friendly to Yahoo/MSN two search engine spiders? Do they like the same things Google does? If Google disappeared tomorrow, would your business still be able to exist?

Food for thought!
About the Author
From the early days of the internet, Darren has always been a part of it in one way or another. A typical "how's it work" kinda guy, he likes to take web pages apart to see how they work. This understanding, and the relationship of how search engines look at web sites, Darren now spends most of his time "Optomising" his many sites. His constantly changing site lives at http://www.netneo.co.uk.

Guide to Internet Business - Concept and Opportunities by Steven O. Ng

Guide to Internet Business - Concept and Opportunities by Steven O. Ng

When deciding what kind of internet business you want to do, there are a few factors you need to look at before plunging into building your website.

a) TYPE OF BUSINESS

The first thing you need to consider is exactly what kind of business you want to build. There are generally two types of internet businesses out there: a full-fledged online store selling a product or service, or an informational website earning income from affiliate commissions and advertisements.

i) You might want to consider setting up an online store if you fall under one of the following categories:

- You have a product that you are already selling offline, and want to use the internet to increase your market.

- You provide a service (such as consulting or web design) and want to use the internet to sell your services and increase your clientele.

- You do not have a product or service, but want to start an online store by partnering with a product manufacturer or wholesaler.

ii) On the other hand, you might want to set up an informational website and earn from affiliate commissions and advertisements. This is possible if you fall under one of the following:

- You want to create a website about something that you really like or are interested in.

- You want to promote an affiliate program or product that you like and want to tell the world about.

- You want to provide information or compile advice from various sources regarding something that you are good at.

b) INTEREST

Another very important factor is your interest in the topic or industry in which you want to do your internet business. It is not advisable to start an internet business relating to a lucrative industry such as online casinos, but you have no interest whatsoever in casinos, and worse if you have moral issues with the running of casinos.

I just want you to be aware of some of the common pitfalls you might encounter if you get involved in something that you are not quite interested in:

- If you have not much interest in a topic or industry, it will show in the content and quality of your website. It takes someone with considerable interest to perform good research on the topic, and to create a website full of relevant and personal information and content.

- Without continued interest, you will slowly start to find excuses not to work on your website. And internet business is a continuous love affair. It requires constant updates and internet marketing effort to enjoy good success. If you've lost interest and start to ignore the business, your profits will also start to decline.

In short, internet business (like any other business) requires genuine effort and interest in order to succeed. And it is a lifelong love affair, not a one night stand!

c) INCOME OPPORTUNITY

However, interest isn't everything. The income potential is important too. After all, it's no use laboring over something you love with no profits to show for it. But the good thing is that internet businesses are so cheap to start that it doesn't take much to make a profit!

i) If you want to setup an online store, don't just look at how big the market is. You also have to look at how much competition you face in your chosen industry. For example, an online bookstore will have a huge market (almost everyone reads), but there are plenty of competitors out there such as Amazon.com with a bigger wallet and are more established. In cases like these, you will have to consider allocating a larger budget for advertising and attracting customers.

On the other hand, if you want to start a online store selling waterproof cameras for diving, the market might not be all that big (probably just diving enthusiasts), but because there are few competitors, it will be easier for your store to stand out. As they say: "It might not be a big pie, but you'll get the lion's share of it".

ii) If you want to create an informational website, you have to keep your competition in mind as well. In addition, you need to make sure that your selected topic has sufficient income potential such as affiliate programs and advertisements.

These affiliate programs and advertisements should be related to your website. For example, a wedding planning website can promote affiliate programs related to photography and event management, but should not promote an escort service! In addition, every website can earn some extra cash by placing advertisements (not too many) on their webpages. A good ad service is Google's AdSense program.

d) Commitment

The last factor I want to touch on is commitment to your internet business. There are two types of commitment you should be aware of: money and time.

By its very nature, internet businesses require very little money to start. However, profits don't come immediately. Websites take time, sometimes as much as 6 months, to start ranking in the search engines and getting traffic. You therefore have to plan for that much time of operational losses (including your hosting costs). If you are in a highly competitive industry, you will also have to factor in your monthly advertising budget.

However, the most important commitment you have to make is your time. As they say: "If you treat it like a business, it will pay you like a business; If you treat it like a hobby, it will pay you like a hobby."

You need to know how much time you can allocate to the business. A simple informational website can be setup gradually on just one hour a day. However, setting up an online store will require almost full-time effort in the beginning. Once your store is done, then your time commitment will drop.

When you've decided what kind of internet business you are interested in, and how much resources to put into it, you can then look at the second step, researching the design and content of your website. You can check out the entire Step-By-Step Guide at http://www.onlinebiz-help.com/step_by_step.html

About the Author
Steven is the webmaster of http://www.onlinebiz-help.com His website contains various resources on affiliate programs and internet marketing advice to help you succeed in your internet business, including a Step-By-Step Guide to get you started.

Affiliate Directory - Find Affiliate Programs by Ratliff J

Affiliate Directory - Find Affiliate Programs by Ratliff J

If you have been searching for a place to sign up for affiliate programs that have been tested and are easy to sell, then you need to check out the Affiliate Directory.

We have listed only the best and successful affiliate programs on the affiliate directory. These programs are rated and have been used by us and hundreds of other affiliates so you can be sure you will get paid and be successful. Learn more today at the Affiliate Directory.
About the Author
J. Ratliff is the author and webmaster of the online affiliate directory at Affiliate Directory.