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6 Common Search Engine Marketing Myths: Myth #1

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needle in a haystackSearch engine marketing isn’t a fast and easy way to promote your site by putting it out there and submitting it to as many engines as possible. It is an ongoing marketing strategy aimed at targeting your audience, gaining exposure for your site and business through evaluation, planning and execution, and giving visitors what they need to become customers.

No matter how terrific your site is, if nobody can find it reasonably quickly on a search engine, you’re losing a major potential customer base. A search engine marketing program can not only help you gain valuable exposure to your target customer base, but can help you avoid the common mistakes that can actually hurt your exposure. In this series we’ll explore 6 common myths that can sabotage a search marketing program

Myth #1: The 7500 Search Engine Myth

You’ve probably gotten this offer in your e-mailbox: “We submit to 7500 search engines for $29.99!” And we’ve got a bridge to sell you.

Ask yourself: How many search engines can you name? Five? Ten? If you don’t know where or what they are, chances are your visitors won’t know either. No matter how you slice it, over 90% of every Internet user out there will use one of the five top engines to find your site, and more than two-thirds of those use Google as their primary search engine.

As for the remaining mysterious 10%, that doesn’t mean you can’t reach them, too. Smaller, secondary search engines are out there, as well as niche directories that may cater to your industry. The point is to concentrate your energies on your largest customer base and to carefully research relevant secondary places to list your site. Otherwise, your site will be lost among billions, floating somewhere in mystery-directory number 7499.

What search engine do you use? (And if you said anything other than “Google” or “Bing”, we really want to hear about it!)

Read more in the “Search Engine Marketing Myths” series

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About Carol Lynn Rivera

Carol Lynn Rivera began her career as an educator and program developer for several private schools in New York and New Jersey. With a dual Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Education and a Master's in Education, she helped to architect programs in startup schools for both full day and after school enrichment programs. Her passion for education and for acting as an advocate for those under her care transcended industries when, in 1999, she and husband Ralph Rivera founded Rahvalor Interactive, a creative services and marketing company, where she shifted her focus from the psychology of education to the psychology of marketing.

In addition to acting as Rahvalor's project manager, Carol Lynn manages search and social marketing programs for both B2B and B2C customers where she enjoys being able to engage in her second passion: writing. As a search and social marketer, she provides search friendly copywriting and editing services, writes for blogs and manages Facebook fan pages and Twitter accounts for customers across a variety of industries.