Copyright (C) 2004 F. Terrence Markle

It is no secret that search engines are number one traffic generating method for driving visitors to different web sites. Search engines are very useful in helping people find relevant information they seek on Internet. The major search engines develop and maintain their own gigantic database of web sites that can be searched by a user typing in a keyword or keyword phrase in search box.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is process of studying search engines in an effort to determine how to get your web site to rank high on user searches. Depending on statistical information reviewed, search engines account for over 80% of visitor traffic to web sites.

Within search engine category, Google accounts for most of search engine traffic. The other top search engines include but are not limited to: Yahoo, AOL Search, Overture, AllTheWeb, MSN Search, WiseNut, HotBot, Teoma, and Ask Jeeves. You can register your web site with various search engines but it is a demanding process and takes time.

Visitor traffic from search engines can be obtained through organic (natural) or pay-per-click (PPC) search results. The non-paid organic search results are list of web sites (generally 10 per page) returned when a user searches on a specific keyword or keyword phrase. Keyword is word or phrase that is typed into search engine's search box. The PPC items are paid advertisements for a specific keyword or keyword phrase and listed on same page as organic search results.

One simple way to add structure to your marketing is to create an overall plan that outlines for you exactly what you hope to accomplish and when. You can then supplement this with shorter-term, action-oriented "to-do" lists aimed at reaching your marketing goals.

Here's how I keep my marketing efforts pointed forward:

1. Every year, I create a short list of "Calendar Year Objectives"--goals I want to achieve by year's end. I usually give each goal a name, and then write two or three sentences describing what achieving that goal should look like. For example, an objective might be to write a book, followed by title and subject matter, and by what date I hope to get it done. This does not have to be a painful exercise--my list usually fills only half a page.