If you expect to be found and survive as an Internet marketer, you need to learn how to achieve visibility in the major search engines. Otherwise, you site will be like a billboard placed in the woods: remote, inaccessible and forgotten.

You cannot rely on searchers just typing your url in their browser. This only works if your website is well-know. The days of "accidental traffic" and serendipitous surfers are over. Website owners now much use every resource available to them to get visitors to site. And even then, you still face still competition.

I only consider a ranking to be a site listed within the top 10. Should you be happy with a number 11 ranking in a major search engine? No, you should not. Why do I say this? I say this because most searches do not click-through past the 10th listing. Studies have shown that most searchers don't click past the top 10 results. A number 20 ranking is pretty much useless. It is certainly demoralizing to build a website and the traffic is nonexistent or minimal.

For example, if a searcher performs a query for "gift baskets" and your site is not ranked, then no matter how many types of baskets you sell or how pretty they are, that visitor will not find your site.

In order for the search engines to deliver traffic to your website, a searcher must first click on a search result. You not only want just traffic, you want qualified traffic. This is the whole point of search engine optimization and positioning. You need qualified searchers who are seeking the product, service or content your site can provide for them.

Most people seek the Internet to solve a problem. If the site they find conducting a query doesn't satisfy them, they will go on to to next site. A successful search engine optimization campaign will produce qualified traffic. A ranking is just one key element of the visibility equation. For must sites, the optimal situation is to have a number one rankings on keywords that accurately defines the website's content.

The totality of the seo campaign is not just increased referrals. In essence, a successful seo campaign will result in qualified traffic who finds the site the first time and return a second or third time from a remembered url or bookmark. Your increased referrals will translate into increased unique, monthly visitors if your business proposition is worthy and your content is engaging.

Listen up people: search engine positioning is here to stay. It has its own tricks of the trade and skill sets just like other professions. It has its own body of principals, refined techniques, noted leaders, and its own language.

As websites continue to proliferate on the Internet, you must use every tool at hand to increase the site's awareness. The only organic way to do this is to place the site in the high-traffic core and achieve a top ranking in the major search engines.

In conclusion, you should be aware of what a ranking actually is. Many search optimization specialist will be delighted to obtain a number 10 ranking for you. And the website owner will rightfully says, "So what, I still don't have any sales. A top 10 ranking doesn't directly equal sales.