SEARCH ENGINES - KEYS TO TRAFFIC FOR YOUR BLOG - Part 8

LESSER SEARCH ENGINES

Right now, the search engine field is dominated by three players: Google, MSN and Yahoo. These are the three search engines that matter and care must be taken to make sure all three index your blog. There are, however, other search engines out there. Some are rarely used relics that have managed to hold onto a small chunk of cyberspace. Others are paid-for-inclusion engines that are little more than ways to separate a blog owner from his or her money.

None of these smaller search engines will produce a great deal of traffic. However, it is often very easy to submit to the free search engines. Additionally, there is some information to suggest that inclusion on a lesser engine may lead to inclusion on a bigger one. There is very little harm in direct submission to smaller search engines. It is unlikely to be a huge manufacturer of traffic, but it takes so little time that you may want to consider it. Just use one of the popular search engines to search for other search engines. Then, visit a few of these places and look into submitting your site.

BLOG SEARCH ENGINES

The tactics mentioned above apply to websites of any sort. As a blogger, you can make use of them. However, the growth of blogging has led to the creation of blog-only search engines. You would be remiss if you did not submit your blog to these engines.
A simple Google search for the phrase “blog search engine” will yield many additional opportunities to get your blog noticed. Realize that often the terms “blog search engine” and “blog directory” are used almost interchangeably and can overlap a great deal. Information about many blog directories that also have search functions is included in the “Directories” portion of this ebook.

There is at least one blog search engines that warrant additional discussion--Technorati, which can be found at http://www.technorati.com. Technorati is a widely used blog search engine. Getting your blog listed at Technorati can increase your traffic more than most other blog search engines. Technorati also supports a tagging function whereby you can “tag” your posts with descriptive keywords making them easier for other Technorati users to find.

There is some debate over the value of Technorati in terms of traffic and with respect to some customer service issues the site apparently experiences. However, serious bloggers would be remiss if they did not take a long look at Technorati and consider making it part of their traffic creation arsenal.

There are other services offering a tagging function that seem to be developing an avid following and may be worth investigation. These include FURL and Del.icio.us.


BONUS TIPS

1. Patience is a virtue! It can sometimes take a little bit of time before the major search engines cozy up to your blog. Don’t be offended or too frustrated. Continue working on your blog and following other traffic generation methods. The nice thing about the content tactics covered here are that they are all mutually reinforcing. If a long period passes, go back and check your work. But don’t get frustrated too early.

2. Don’t become too Google obsessed! Google is the biggest search engine player, but the other two can drive a lot of traffic to your blog. There are entire communities dedicating to dissecting Google and its algorithms. Google often befuddles even the most veteran search engine optimization experts. If you want to crack the top 10 in Google, it might require a great deal of work--probably a disproportionate effort for most hobbyist bloggers. You want Google traffic, but it is usually not worth developing an obsession to obtain it.