AFTER YOU UNDERSTAND that the internet is a totally new medium—it's not print, not broadcast—you may begin to ask some questions. Why doesn't my previous marketing experience translate to the internet? Why do some online enterprises flourish while others wither away? Is there a worldwide conspiracy to keep my website off Page One? What is the mainspring that drives this strange new medium? What is the big secret?
Here's the answer: Search engines live or die based on their ability to return valid search results.
Search engines are the essence of this new medium. They occupy the most powerful position within the whole system. For all that, their ability to stay there is totally dependent on how well they mirror the truth.
For example, if you typed "violin maker" into the search box on Google and you got back 240,000 websites about cast-iron cookware, you'd leave Google immediately and try your search on Yahoo, MSN or another search engine. Obviously, Google is not going to let that happen. Some of the smartest minds on the planet are busy night and day making sure it never does.
WHAT THAT MEANS FOR YOU: If you're making violins—if you are a legitimate, honest-to-goodness violin-maker with a website—Google's whole raison d'être is to match up your website with someone who's never heard of you but is trying to find a violin maker. In other words, the biggest, most powerful commercial wave rolling around the world today would love to refer business to your door. For free. FEAR NOT: There is a worldwide, global conspiracy to help your business.
Once you realize that, the question simply becomes, "How can I help search engines do their job?"
And that puts you in touch with a very valuable, productive task: search engine optimization. If you do a web search on that you'll get plenty of free advice about what to do, what to avoid. Here are two important principles:
RULE #1: Never try to spoof the search engines. They don't like it and they will penalize your site when you get caught. Do not tolerate questionable practices others may suggest to improve your position or page rank.
RULE #2: Think like a customer. What words would one of your typical customers type into a search engine? Make a list of expected "search strings" then reverse engineer your site's visible text to mirror those search terms.
