Nearly 85% of all knowledge obtained online starts with somebody doing research on one or more search engines. Whether a product or a service, search engines are the tool people are using to find what they want. You would benefit greatly to gain an understanding of how search engines can help grow your business.

Search engines are of two basic styles - portal and search box focused. In either search style, results depend on inclusion within the engine’s extensive database, some using human editing and others fully automated, some requiring paid inclusion and others free. Search results listings are called SERP’s or search engine result pages.

Studies have shown that search engines and links are the most effective way to reach Web users. Search engine marketing is tiered, meaning one may promote a Web site on the search engines at various levels of visibility. Each level offers a distinctly different service than the next. At the most basic level of marketing is search engine listing which is simply registration in any given search database. This doesn’t guarantee or solidify ranking in the top results, but does obtain consideration. The next level is called search engine optimization, or improving a Web site’s ability to gain top rankings in SERP’s.

To rank relevantly within search engine results, Web sites must be considered relevant for a particular search algorithm for that particular keyword or phrase. This is a dynamic and growing strategy based on various tactics aimed to use search algorithms to the marketer’s best advantage. Currently, Web sites rank highest when each page is optimized separately. Metatags are thus developed with appropriate content.

There are countless search engines driving traffic to Web sites. Most of these are small, targeted and growing, while others have a large, broad and loyal audiences. Just a few search engines control the majority of queries on the Internet. These leaders include: Yahoo, Google, Ask Jeeves and AllTheWeb.

Other search sites compile results from multiple search engines into all-encompassing SERP’s. Finally, a one-of-a-kind undertaking, the Open Directory Project or DMOZ is a non-commercial directory focused on human-editing and free inclusion.

Studies also indicate search engines and links are the most effective method to reach users. According to GVU users survey, 85 percent of all new visitors currently arrive from search engines. Other strong marketing venues include word of mouth and printed direct mail advertising.

Traffic Facts

The following shows the average reach. For instance, if you sampled a million Internet users, average reach states how many visit each of the follow (Metrics as of February 2005.)

Yahoo Google Ask Jeeves AllTheWeb Dogpile DMOZ

301,800 reach per million Internet users 170,650 reach per million Internet users 6,905 reach per million Internet users 1,070 reach per million Internet users 1,485 reach per million Internet users 1,880 reach per million Internet users

Today Yahoo is the top ranked Web site on the Internet. Word of mouth grew into what is now a publicly traded company. A Yahoo listing is as important as one in the phone book.

Google.com opened in a garage in September, 1998 in Menlo Park, California. Google handled more than 100 million search queries a day by the end of 2000.

In February 2002, Google launched AdWords, a self-serve cost-per-click advertising model. In December 2002, Google launched Froogle, a free product search service. 2004 brought Local Search and Gmail, as well as a public offering under the ticker GOOG.

No longer a garage business, Google reaches an average of 148,800 million users each day. Being included in the next Googlebot Internet crawls is as important as drinking milk.

Ask Jeeves Inc. was founded in 1996 and is now a publicly traded company with headquarters in California. It syndicates search technology and advertising units to a affiliate partner network including Excite, Ask.com, Teoma, Ask Jeeves Kids, MyWebSearch, MySearch, MyWay, MaxOnline and iwon.

Ask Jeeves began as a human-edited listing but has since abandoned this for algorithmic search results. Smart Search allows users to search keywords such as celebrity names and receive an instant biography and photograph above results. Binocular icons next to certain results allows for quick Web page previews.

An Overture Services business, AlltheWeb’s index (provided by Yahoo) includes billions of Web pages, as well as tens of millions of PDF and MS Word files. AlltheWeb offers specialized search tools for the major browsers and advanced search features, supporting searches in 36 different languages, news, images, audio, video and multimedia files.

AlltheWeb is powered by FAST and considered by some as a likely candidate to exceed Google’s success. The search engine’s strongest asset is fresh information, re-indexing sites and removing broken links every 7-11 days. AllTheWeb is also known for its SafeSearch filtering option that removes offensive content from SERP’s.

The information provided here should give you a good insight into understanding how the major search engines got their start. Market your Web site to these top search engines and improve traffic to your online business.