Are Search Engine Submissions Dead?

Traffic from search engines has become highly desirable because of its ability to convert customers more quickly than other media. The fact that people are proactively searching for products, services or companies, increases the probability that they will respond to your advertising. Competition for top spots in search engines is heating up in every industry.

So, how do you get listed? Many site owners mistakenly believe that all they need is a search engine submission service. Understanding a little about how search engines work will help you possibly tap a very valuable market.

There are two very different types of listings within the search engine results pages (also called SERPs). Major search engines typically display search results as a combination of sponsored listings and natural (organic) listings.

Sponsored listings can be obtained fairly quickly because you signup for an account and place bids for your desired keywords. Each time a person clicks on your ad, you pay the search engine a fee. Some companies handle management themselves and others outsource this task to PPC management providers.

The other type of listing is called organic or natural search. Organic listings cannot be bought - they must be earned. In most cases, submission is not necessary. Search engines find your site by following links from other sites. Once you are included in their index, your ranking (or lack thereof) is dependent on a number of factors including the relevancy of your site to a particular search query. SEO (search engine optimization) is a method of improving your site's relevancy in order to acquire higher organic rank.

Steps to Getting Listed in Sponsored Search Results:

1. Signup for an account with a PPC search engine like Google, Yahoo or MSN.

2. Create your listings and establish bids on your keywords.

Steps to Getting Listed in Organic Search Results:

Optimize your web site and make sure your content is highly relevant to your desired keywords.

1. Test your web pages for errors and check all links.

2. Submit your site manually to directories and top search engines. You can use search engine submission services but don't rely on this exclusively.

3. Work to obtain inbound links on a continual basis.

The advantage of using pay-per-click advertising is that you can get immediate results - your ad can be up and running in hours or sometimes even quicker. With organic search and SEO services; it can take months to obtain ranking. On the other hand, organic listings are highly valuable in that you don't pay each time someone clicks on your ad.... in fact, beyond the cost and time involved in optimization - you pay nothing.

Successful websites use a combination of both strategies in order to maximize their visibility. Search engine optimization and paid search management are complex tasks to say the least. This is why many companies outsource, but, if you plan on the do-it-yourself route, be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time learning before you obtain success.