Why Search Engines Matter?

As the number of Web sites on the Internet exploded, finding information online became more and more difficult. Search engines were born to solve the problem of finding a needle in a haystack. For the most part, modern search engines do a fairly good job of finding relevant information.

Smart marketers very quickly realized that consumers are also online—searching for products and services! Wouldn't it make sense, then, to make sure that search engines ranked your site higher than your competitor's? An entire industry of search engine submission was born out of this quest for a higher ranking in search results.

If you are trying to sell products or services online, then you should be mindful of the following facts:

• E-commerce is in its infancy and will only get bigger. So focusing your efforts on the Internet-based initiatives is a smart move.
• Dollar-for-dollar, advertising dollars spent on search engine related activities (search engine optimization, search engine submission and buying of keywords, etc.) provide a better return than any other medium.
• Consumers are more and more likely to search for a product online before walking into a physical store. Even if you do not plan to sell online, you should not ignore these "browsers".
• The Web is increasingly being used as a brand-building tool and, worldwide, advertisers are spending close to $8 billion dollars a year on online ads alone.