Search 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
- Myth #1: The 7500 Search Engine Myth
- Myth #2: The $29.99 Myth
- Myth #3: The Automated Submission Myth
- Myth #4: The “I Read This On A Blog” Myth
- Myth #5: The Free Listing Myth
- Myth #6: The “Number One” Myth
