Why search engines are important
Somewhere in the region of 80% of all web sites that are veiwed are found through search engines. As a trainer I often ask people to look at a web site and I give them the full web address. I have watched them type the full web address into the search engine box and get to the web site that way, rather than typing it into the address bar of their browser.
Using search engines has become a basic procedure for all users of the www. Search engine tool bars are now widely incorporated into web browsers.
In my experience, most businesses need to be found in search engines. For some businesses, being found in results is mission critical to their business. Some of my clients trade on the Internet and only on the Internet. If they do not get traffic on to their web sites, they do not get business.
Read postings to Google’s user forums if you want to see heart rending pleas from online traders whose sites have dropped out of the top ten.
BTW, I should have said “search engines and directories”, although the majority of users wouldn’t know the difference between them.
Bear in mind that there are many thousands of ’search engines’ on the Internet. But … 90% of all searches are done in under 10% of search engines.
The most highly used seach engine is Google. It carries much more usage than MSN or Yahoo. For many webmasters, getting found on the WWW is about getting found in Google.
A whole industry as grown up around search engines. There are companies who make a living from search engine optimisation of web sites - and that is ALL they do. Many web designers and trainers (like me) include search engine configuration in our work. When I build a web site I build it to be found in search engines. It is not an optional extra. It is not an add on you pay extra for!! It is a standard part of the job.
One of the world’s key web sites about search engines is Search Engine Watch
This website also has a blog.