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About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingr
ef3 Stop Whining About Google !

Blame Game
Nearly anyone and everyone involved with search engine
optimization and Internet marketing is aware of the famous
Florida update by Google that caused many commercial sites
to lose their Google ranking and position.

Industry experts speculated as to why Google made such
radical changes to their algorithm. Those sites that no
longer ranked well for popular search terms had to take
drastic steps in order to salvage the holiday purchasing
season. Many noted the timing and thought perhaps Google was
attempting to capitalize on the Google Adwords Pay-Per-Click
advertising program. Others simply whined that though their
site contained commercial material, it also contains
valuable content and was unfairly penalized.

What many failed to acknowledge is that Google has every
right to make algorithm changes and if they choose to drop
sites that lack relevance, it is their business. Listings in
Google's main search directory are free. Many have profited
from Google's ability to send traffic for years. Google
doesn't owe anyone, anything, least of all an explanation of
their algorithm changes. Businesses that rely on Google's
free listings as their sole source of web traffic lack good
sense. Google, being an independent company, reserves the
right to run their business as their management sees fit. If
you are unhappy with Google stop using them for searches.

If the results that Google serve lack relevant listings,
then find another engine to use! It has happened before and
it will happen again. It is the law of supply and demand. If
Google is unable to provide relevant content that searchers
demand, Google will become irrelevant. Look at the how the
search engine landscape has changed over the past few years:
AltaVista is no longer the leader, Infoseek no longer exists
and others are barely resemble what they once were.

As for the commercial sites who have been battered by the
Florida update here are some suggestions:

- make your site relevant!
- submit to other search engines (MSN, Inktomi, Lycos
etc..)
- pay for traffic (pay-per-click and pay-for-inclusion)
- develop traffic from alternative sites
- rely on traditional methods of advertising
- promote your website in your signature line in newsgroups
- promote your website on your business cards or on
mailings
- participate in industry specific directories
- participate in vertical market pay-per-click the return on
investment tends to be *much* higher though the traffic is
significantly less

The bottom line is become proactive rather than reactive,
stop whining about Google and find alternate sources of web
traffic.

About the Author

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and
http://www.small-business-software.net