Everybody can be #1! Guaranteed!
Or, Why Search Engines Don’t Always Live Up to Expectations

By Douglas Perreault

As an Internet Service Provider, we get a lot of advertising from people claiming they can put your website at the top of the search engine lists. Some claim to submit your name to 300,000 search engines or even more, implying that you’ll end up at the top of all of them. Can this be? The short answer is yes; you can be at the top of all search engines. The long answer, though, is that being at the top of the list will do you no good if it’s the wrong list. In this article, I’ll discuss how a search engine really works, why being #1 is not always good, and why a guarantee is often worth no more than the paper the e-mail is not written on. But I won’t leave you there. I’ll also explain how you can get real benefits from search engines.

Part I: Background

In the early days of the Internet, I remember running around college with a little notebook filled with the lists of numbers, called IP addresses, that were required to reach a location on the Net. There was no easy way to remember this information, and there was no easy way to find it either. Imagine trying to find a phone number without operator assistance and no phone books. Also imagine trying to remember 1-800-356-9377 instead of 1-800-FLOWERS and you’ll start to get the picture. 

Luckily for us, domain names were invented; Internet browsers took off, and with the boom came search engines and directories. Most people couldn’t care less about the differences between a search engine and a directory, but if you’re trying to get your own website listed, the difference is important. A search engine can be compared to an index in a book. A directory is more like a table of contents. Yahoo is a directory. When you search using Yahoo, the results are returned all neatly categorized for you. Google, on the other hand, is a search engine. When you do a search on Google, you’re more likely to get back more detailed responses, but they won’t be categorized for you. 

To get your website in a search engine, you can simply sit back and wait – sometimes a very long time. Google claims to have one of the largest search engine databases on the web, yet it only indexes less than ¼ of what’s out there. If you’re just sitting back and waiting, you may wait for years. To get your name in a directory you pretty much have to submit it. Yahoo is probably the biggest and best-known directory out there. 

When you submit your website to a search engine, the search engine’s computer programs (called “spiders” or “robots”) are put into action to go out and look at your website. They index as much of your website as they can using the tools you have given them. With a search engine, your website can end up in many categories. On the other hand, it will usually only appear in one category in a directory. Another common characteristic of directories is that they have real people that look at your website instead of the computer programs that search engines use. The people can often do a better job of placing your web page in the right place in their directory than the spiders do for the search engines. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. And so, your website has to be designed with each in mind.

Part II: Is that Guarantee for Real?

We often get e-mails that say their authors can “guarantee” that we will be at the top of the search engine listings. Results are guaranteed or your money back. So, do they work? Well, in a way. This always reminds me of an old H&R Block commercial. H&R Block was guaranteeing that they could get you a refund for next year if you used their tax planning services now. Well, sure, I could guarantee that you’d get a refund too. All you’d have to do is have all of your money withheld for taxes. That would guarantee a refund, but would that really make you happy?

That same problem exists here too. I can guarantee a top placement on a search engine, but is that what you really want? Take the phrase “pharaoh’s carburetor.” As of today, I can guarantee, absolutely guarantee, that I can get your website in the top 10 on all of the major search engines. Don’t laugh. A search on Google for that phrase came up with 8 “hits.” So does that do you any good? Probably not if you sell pizzas. 

There is always a trade off in trying to find a search term that people will actually look for and the position your website will have in the listings. The more common a search term, the more competition you will have. There are over one hundred thousand insurance agents in the US. For several reasons that are beyond the scope of this article, it’s nearly impossible to end up at the top of the list for the keyword “insurance.” But if you sell auto insurance in Tampa, you might end up near the top with the phrase “Tampa car insurance companies.” Will anyone actually search on that phrase? Maybe. Probably. Especially someone who just moved to Tampa. If you choose “Tampa car insurance companies” as a search phrase, will I guarantee that you will be at the top of the list? No, but being number 10 on this list is better than being number one on the list of “pharaoh’s carburetors.”

A guarantee of top position is meaningless by itself. You need a search phrase or keyword that someone will actually use. And this is where our optional search engine optimization service can help you get noticed.

Part III: So, What Does Work?

There are several ways to get to the top of search engines and directories

1)      Pay them. For some search engines, the more you pay, the higher up the list you’ll go.

2)      Submit your site. Done incorrectly, this won’t always guarantee that you’ll be listed, but it surely increases your chances. But done correctly, you will get listed on a search engine. Don’t expect immediate results as sometimes it can take months. Remember, there are millions of websites out there – a new one every 4 seconds! Technology is scrambling to keep up, but patience may still be needed. We understand how search engines work. We understand how to submit your website correctly. With AT Group's technical expertise, you will be on search engines.

3)      Popularity. On some search engines, the more popular your website is, the more likely you’ll move up in the rankings. How do they rank popularity? Often it’s based on how many other websites link to yours. We can work with you to show you how to increase your “popularity” ranking.

4)      Luck. Wait long enough and almost anyone’s website will show up on a search engine. I don’t advertise my own personal website and so far it doesn’t show up. My website is a couple of years old. If you expect luck to get you through, you may have to wait a very long time indeed

PART IV: Wrapping It Up

Johnson Services can provide your company with solutions to your search engine marketing needs that can address all of the options that actually work. We won’t guarantee that you will be number one, but we don’t sell you snake oil either. Our services will give you results that actually make a difference. Give us a call to see how we can best help you