To determine which document or Web site to return for a particular keyword search, each search engine must have its own method of ranking documents, otherwise known as the Web sites, within its directory. From time to time, search engines change their scoring systems and stop rewarding certain techniques that gave you an advantage just days before. An example would be using techniques that trick the search engines, what worked a few months ago will not work in the future. There are a lot of ways to market on the Net, but the first step is to get listed with the major search engines. For a lot of sites, search engines may be the best traffic generator there is.
Search engines permeate the Net.
If you don't get into the major search engines, you're automatically excluded from a number of other directories and meta search engines. So if your marketing plan doesn't include getting into the search engines, and getting well placed in the search engines, then you have wasted your money on your web design because no one will ever see it. As web site designers, online marketing professionals, and search engine optimization specialists, we see an overwhelming and recurring problem when we are giving site evaluations to prospective clients. Almost all of the web sites we evaluate are not designed for optimum search engine and directory placement. Because their webmaster or programmer lacks the skill needed to place their clients at the top of the search engines.