In order for your site to be found on the Internet, we must register your site with the top ten to fifteen search engines on the internet. Search engines are programs that catalog information about web sites and the information they contain. When you use the search function of your browser to find information about a specific subject, say "Hot Boats", the search engine goes out and compiles a list of web sites that have "Hot Boats" in their key word or directory structure. If you use the MSN Search engine and search for "Hot Boats", the #6 listing you get on the first page is Hotboatsforsale.com, which is one of my sites. The point here is that your search may turn up 100,000 sites or more and you do not have the time to explore all of them. Studies show that if your site does not turn up in the top 30, you will not get a "hit" (someone clicking into your site) from that search.

This is where some research needs to be done and is best done by you. Let's use a Home Builder that specializes in constructing Log Homes as an example. First, think about some "key" words that one might use in a search to find the product. "Log Homes" would be a good one but would only be chosen by those that were thinking of building one. What about that segment of the population that haven't considered a Log Home because they have not seen how beautiful they are or are aware of energy benefits of owning one? Then you would consider words like "home builder", "Ozark Homes", "house construction", and other key words along that line.

Once you have decided on a list of words, then sit down in front of your computer and start searching using these key words. See what sites come up and pay particular attention to the top 10 sites. Now, I am going to disclose to you how to get the competitive edge. When you go to the #1 site, select the "View" pull down at the top of your browser and then select "source" from that selection list. What you will see is a page of "html" code that actually creates the web page in your browser. What you are interested in is the sections called "Meta name= description" and "Meta name= keywords". These two items will reveal the reason this site is at the #1 position of your search. Print this information out for later reference and mark it with the keyword used to find it and the resulting position. Do this for the top ten sites. Now go back over your keyword list and compare your list to the others. You should see if any adjustments need to be made.
 

Technically, you are allowed only 12 keywords. You will see some sites with more, but they will be penalized by some search engines for that and get lower rankings. The description is also important because a few search engines do not use the keywords but uses the description instead. The description here is needs to be as unique and use as many of your key words as possible.

After compiling this list and the description, it is time to actually submit this information to the search engines. This is not a one shot deal. It normally takes from one to six weeks for the listing to show up. Then it is a matter of making changes to try to improve ranking. This is a never ending process. Once you achieve a ranking in the top 30, you must monitor this and conform to the changes in search engine rules for submission to maintain or improve that ranking. At a minimum this should be done monthly.

This is where Web Resources comes in. You decide if the initial submissions, monitoring of ranking, and resubmission's is something you wish to do your self or hire out. As your webmaster, Web Resources will be glad to handle it for you. Typically, the initial submission process takes about one hour for "home page" submission. Monitoring and re-submissions take about 15 minutes a session. This translates to $50 initial charge and $12.50 per month for maintenance of the search engine process. You would get an e-mail report on the progress and rankings with the different engines monthly. Remember, it can take 6 weeks before any results show up. Perseverance is the plan.

This is something that you can do for your self. It takes time but it is necessary for a successful Internet business to achieve high rankings by the search engines. The only way for you to do business on the Internet is if your customers can find you.