There?s more to Internet search engines than meets the eye

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With marketing and advertising budgets now falling victim to recessionary pressures, there is a clear and obvious need to squeeze every ounce of effectiveness out of what were once considered marketing luxuries, primarily new technologies and methodologies, many of them online-related. |ret||ret||tab|

With most businesses, small and large, now committed in varying degrees to a Web presence, and consumers now addicted in a big way to the information-bearing benefit that it provides, the smart players are searching for every sliver of advantage that they can gain in the online marketing game.|ret||ret||tab|

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Search engine marketing|ret||ret||tab|

Research shows that more than 80 percent of Internet consumers use search engines and directories to look for products, services and information (Internet-stats.com/June 2001). A recent NPD Group study further revealed that "search listings are better than banner ads at creating effective brands." |ret||ret||tab|

The study notes that "twice as many people gave a more favorable opinion of companies in the top three search positions than those featured in ads, and 55 percent of online purchases were made on sites found through search listings, while a mere 9 percent were on sites found through banner ads."|ret||ret||tab|

Given the high degree of consumer use and acceptance of search-engine results, search engine optimization and registration can be the most cost-efficient and rewarding means of generating qualified site traffic and activity. |ret||ret||tab|

In effect, the process ensures that your company's name, description and link appear when Internet users search for keywords that directly relate to your business. It also helps position the site among the top listings in its categories ahead of competitors. |ret||ret||tab|

Atlanta-based 360i.com, a digital marketing agency specializing in search engine optimization, performs such work for a roster of clients including Alamo Rent A Car, Disney Vacations, Sheraton Grand Resorts and BellSouth. |ret||ret||tab|

According to co-president and media director, David Williams," the ultimate goal of optimization is to help potential customers or visitors find the Web sites that are most relevant to the keyword, phrase or search term of interest." |ret||ret||tab|

Typically, a search engine works by sending out a search "spider" to find as many documents as possible that match the search inquiry. |ret||ret||tab|

Another program, called an indexer, then reads the selected documents and creates an index based on the words contained in the document. |ret||ret||tab|

Each search engine uses its own proprietary algorithm to create its indices so that, ideally, only meaningful results are returned for each query. (Note: A "spider" or "Web crawler" is a program that visits Web sites and indexes the pages present in those sites.)|ret||ret||tab|

Since more than two thirds of all Internet traffic comes from the largest search engines and directories, 360i.com concentrates its customization efforts to ensure that its clients' Web sites receive favorable treatment from the 20+ major engines and directories, including Alta-Vista, Lycos, MSN, GoTo, Excite, Hot Bot, Yahoo, Google, AOL and Netscape.|ret||ret||tab|

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Rank counts|ret||ret||tab|

Research shows that most active search engine users will not generally look past the first two or three pages of results returned by a search engine. As such, a site must have rich and timely content that people want to visit repeatedly. |ret||ret||tab|

Notes Williams, "we provide detailed online reports that summarize keyword/phrase performance and search engine positioning. If we observe a downward trend in the rankings, we will re-optimize and resubmit to maintain positioning over time."|ret||ret||tab|

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Pay more, rank higher|ret||ret||tab|

The latest innovation in search engine marketing is the Pay-Per-Click search engine that allows you to bid against competing advertisers for higher rankings. The more you pay per click, the higher up on the list your site appears. Major players in the field include GoTo.com, Spinks and FindWhat. |ret||ret||tab|

What are the benefits of PPC? Ac-cording to Williams, who sees significant potential in this new addition to the search-engine-marketing field, PPC programs offer increased value to advertisers and consumers. |ret||ret||tab|

Advertisers benefit by paying only for qualified leads on a per click basis and gain increased control over advertising exposure and expenditure. Consumers benefit from the ability to quickly find the product, service or information that they are actively seeking. |ret||ret||tab|

(Alf Nucifora is an Atlanta-based marketing consultant.)[[In-content Ad]]