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Further
Reading ...
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Outsourcing NOT Just for Big Business - Paul Rich
Outsourcing has become a controversial issue and a hot topic among presidential candidates this year. But have you stopped to think how your business can benefit from the efficiency, functionality and cost savings of outsourcing? If you have, you...
Network Marketing 101 : for Beginners - Steve Simard
You’ve just decided to make THE move. You are considering joining a Network Marketing Company. Maybe you’ve already found one. Great! You’ve spent some time evaluating the best ones, with the best products, the best compensation plan, the best...
A Little Secret That Produces BIG Results - Jason Tarasi
What if I told you that with each passing day, you are losing dozens of subscribers to your newsletter? As you read this, you are probably losing potential customers, and taking money right out of your own pocket. Don't panic, I have a secret I...
Want to Buy a Home? What is your debt to income ratio? - Syd Johnson
Every time you apply for a credit or a loan, the lender must determine your debt to income ratio. This measures what percentage of your gross monthly income (everything before taxes are deducted) that goes towards paying off your debts. The debt to...
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Google Slavery...Old Habits Die Hard
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Written By:
Kirk Bannerman
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For the first few months after Yahoo decided to go their own way with natural search (and MSN decided to get serious about the search business), the search results provided by those two could only be described as bizarre. Enough time has now passed that the dust has somewhat settled and there are three main (from a traffic standpoint) sites for quality natural searches.
The term "natural search" is to distinguish true searches, as opposed to paid advertisements which appear in the search results for many search engines these days. I guess you can't really fault the search engine companies from wanting to make some money (actually, BIG money) selling ad space, but the debate over the virtues of natural search versus paid advertising search is something that could take up a very large book and still have no clear resolution...much like arguments revolving around religion or politics.
Like most people that have been working as online home business entrepreneurs for a few years, I was strongly conditioned to the need to "feed the 800 pound gorilla" of the search engine world. Basically, "if Google didn't love you", it was very difficult to get any meaningful natural search traffic to your website. Since Google was actually the search engine that was serving up the results for most of the popular search portals, if Google didn't look kindly upon your site and rank you well, you would not be ranked well for most of the high traffic search sites on the Internet.
However, the search landscape changed dramatically early in 2004 and things have been very fluid and interesting since that time. Its not that Google has stumbled, or become ineffective as a search vehicle, its just that major players like Yahoo and Microsoft (via MSN) have decided to make a - continued below ...
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major thrust into the search business.
Having been firmly conditioned (since shortly after 1998) that Google was the "supreme deity of search engines", I took the highly publicized search entries of Yahoo and MSN with more than the proverbial "grain of salt".
Throughout a very recent two month period, one of my websites occupied the #5 position on Google, Yahoo, and MSN for a very popular and important (at least in my line of business) three word search term. This situation provided an opportunity to measure the current popularity of each of these three search providers.
If asked "before the fact", I would have guessed that Google would still be the overwhelming #1 search choice and that Yahoo and MSN would be distant #2 and #3 choices. Therefore, I was somewhat surprised by the results that were tabulated during this recent 60 day period.
For the period in question, the search popularity results were as follows:
- Google: 34%
- Yahoo: 31%
- MSN: 20%
- All others: 15%
Granted, the above results are for a single search term over a particular 60 day time period, but the results clearly show that Yahoo and MSN are already important players in the search business.
Webmasters that stick to the old ways and focus entirely on Google are missing out on a lot of search traffic these days if they are not also well ranked by Yahoo and MSN.
Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and coaches others seeking to start their own home based business. Visit his website at http://www.business-at-home.us for more details.
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| _Additional Resources ... |
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A CEO with Emotional Intelligence - Susan Dunn MA Clinical Psychology The EQ Coach
Herb Kelleher was on my recent Southwest Airlines flight from San Antonio to Dallas – of all things! As you know, he was the president of Southwest, the man who made it a success. Then he resigned, I think he must be about 70, and is now Chairman of...
Expand Your Horizons - Sell Your Professional Services Through ClickBank - Tim Coulter
ClickBank allows its merchants to sell many different types of digital products, but with the proviso that they must be deliverable entirely over the internet within 24 hours of purchase. Most merchants focus on downloadable products...
Insurance For The Self-Employed - Jeff Colburn
The biggest concern I hear from people who are thinking about starting, or already have, their own business is the lack of medical insurance. What most people don't know is that there are many options available that will allow you to have both...
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