E-Commerce Millenium Newsletter, Issue #23
Hi Readers! In the wake of so much bad news for e-commerce and with the realization that so many smaller webmasters are still struggling to bring traffic to their sites, we've created this special issue with ANSWERS to your most commonly asked questions in mind! This month we cover the importance of ensuring that your company's website is listed with EVERY search engine (major AND minor) and we also spend some time focusing on the dreaded topic of merchant credit card chargebacks! Speaking of which... Our site of the month award goes to [drumroll, please!] www.chargebackprevention.com - for its continued efforts to school merchants on fraud reduction, dispute resolution, and processing bank fee reduction! It's rare in today's day and age that a site truly delivers so much useful information. We chose this site not only because of its relevance to one of this month's topics...but because of its extensive scope...and the great amount of thought & research that evidently went into its creation! As always: Read-on... Web-on...and Learn! ---TOPIC # 1 SEARCH ENGINES : SHOULD WE SUBMIT OUR SITE TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEMREGARDLESS OF THE COST? - YES! By now, most webmasters realize that submitting their sites to the major search engines is critical to their success. After all, finding sites via search engines such as Yahoo, Google, Lycos, & Altavista, still exists as one of the leading instigators of e-purchases. But what too many merchants FAIL to realize is how important it is not only to be listed with every "major" search engine but also to be listed with every "minor" search engine as well. For every "top" engine there are least ONE HUNDRED lesser known ones as well. And although these inferior engines are admittedly much smaller and can hardly boast the same levels of traffic, it's quite clear that maintaining solid listings with a few hundred minor search engines is as least as important as maintaining one good listing with a major search engine-- So why not maintain both? Sure: One big engine is far more important than one small engine...but what about One big enging vs. 250 smaller ones? We firmly believe in being listed EVERYWHERE for this reason ...and others A few years ago, Google was a "minor" search engine. Then it developed incredible search technology, got recognized and adopted by Yahoo, and BOOM!-- it's now one of the key players in the industry. Those sites that were already included in Google's index certainly had some lead time on everyone else who only waited until it was "big" to get listed. Remember also, that just because YOU'VE never heard of a particular search engine doesn't mean that it's not well-known in some other region. Even within such large countries as the US of A, Internet Service Providors will very often pick one engine -- sometimes an obscure one-- to service users from their home page. There are typically entire towns...counties...even regions..using search engines YOU may never think about. Can your company afford not to be listed with them? Can you every really have too much traffic? If your answer to both of these questions is a firm "NO!"--then we believe your company should spend at least 1-2 full days going through every search engine out there..and ensuring that your site is submitted! We recommend conducted searches online for key phrases like "list of search engines" to find some of the most comprehensive directories out there; itemizing engine by engine! YAHOO also features a "search engines" category with a pretty extensive list of its own. Listed below are some of the top "mid-range" search engines we recommend getting listed with immediately (if you're not already up there!): Voila ( http://voila.fr/ ) -- Yes, even foreign language search engines are likely to bring in an occasional order for your company. Even if 100 of them each only bring in one per year... that's 100 extra annual sales you would not have had otherwise! Azoos.Com ( http://www.azoos.com ) -- Great example of a regional search engine with its own niche market. Azoos charges a small fee to add your site but guarantees SAME DAY inclusion. Can you really afford NOT to be listed? Surely, your company is bound to make back its tiny "investment!" All The Web a.k.a. "FastSearch" ( http://www.alltheweb.com/search?query=&cat=web&type=all ) -- Rapidly growing into one of the Net's most significant engine, their database is used by a number of engines and sites. 'Tis foolish not to be included! SunSteam ( http://www.sunsteam.com ) -- Another fee-based submission site, SunSteam originally created its database from free listings and has grown into a significant minor league player over the years. TrueSearch ( http://www.truesearch.com )--A quick & easy free listing for your c
E-Commerce Millenium Newsletter, Issue #23
Hi Readers! In the wake of so much bad news for e-commerce and with the realization that so many smaller webmasters are still struggling to bring traffic to their sites, we've created this special issue with ANSWERS to your most commonly asked questions in mind! This month we cover the importance of ensuring that your company's website is listed with EVERY search engine (major AND minor) and we also spend some time focusing on the dreaded topic of merchant credit card chargebacks! Speaking of which... Our site of the month award goes to [drumroll, please!] www.chargebackprevention.com - for its continued efforts to school merchants on fraud reduction, dispute resolution, and processing bank fee reduction! It's rare in today's day and age that a site truly delivers so much useful information. We chose this site not only because of its relevance to one of this month's topics...but because of its extensive scope...and the great amount of thought & research that evidently went into its creation! As always: Read-on... Web-on...and Learn! ---TOPIC # 1 SEARCH ENGINES : SHOULD WE SUBMIT OUR SITE TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEMREGARDLESS OF THE COST? - YES! By now, most webmasters realize that submitting their sites to the major search engines is critical to their success. After all, finding sites via search engines such as Yahoo, Google, Lycos, & Altavista, still exists as one of the leading instigators of e-purchases. But what too many merchants FAIL to realize is how important it is not only to be listed with every "major" search engine but also to be listed with every "minor" search engine as well. For every "top" engine there are least ONE HUNDRED lesser known ones as well. And although these inferior engines are admittedly much smaller and can hardly boast the same levels of traffic, it's quite clear that maintaining solid listings with a few hundred minor search engines is as least as important as maintaining one good listing with a major search engine-- So why not maintain both? Sure: One big engine is far more important than one small engine...but what about One big enging vs. 250 smaller ones? We firmly believe in being listed EVERYWHERE for this reason ...and others A few years ago, Google was a "minor" search engine. Then it developed incredible search technology, got recognized and adopted by Yahoo, and BOOM!-- it's now one of the key players in the industry. Those sites that were already included in Google's index certainly had some lead time on everyone else who only waited until it was "big" to get listed. Remember also, that just because YOU'VE never heard of a particular search engine doesn't mean that it's not well-known in some other region. Even within such large countries as the US of A, Internet Service Providors will very often pick one engine -- sometimes an obscure one-- to service users from their home page. There are typically entire towns...counties...even regions..using search engines YOU may never think about. Can your company afford not to be listed with them? Can you every really have too much traffic? If your answer to both of these questions is a firm "NO!"--then we believe your company should spend at least 1-2 full days going through every search engine out there..and ensuring that your site is submitted! We recommend conducted searches online for key phrases like "list of search engines" to find some of the most comprehensive directories out there; itemizing engine by engine! YAHOO also features a "search engines" category with a pretty extensive list of its own. Listed below are some of the top "mid-range" search engines we recommend getting listed with immediately (if you're not already up there!): Voila ( http://voila.fr/ ) -- Yes, even foreign language search engines are likely to bring in an occasional order for your company. Even if 100 of them each only bring in one per year... that's 100 extra annual sales you would not have had otherwise! Azoos.Com ( http://www.azoos.com ) -- Great example of a regional search engine with its own niche market. Azoos charges a small fee to add your site but guarantees SAME DAY inclusion. Can you really afford NOT to be listed? Surely, your company is bound to make back its tiny "investment!" All The Web a.k.a. "FastSearch" ( http://www.alltheweb.com/search?query=&cat=web&type=all ) -- Rapidly growing into one of the Net's most significant engine, their database is used by a number of engines and sites. 'Tis foolish not to be included! SunSteam ( http://www.sunsteam.com ) -- Another fee-based submission site, SunSteam originally created its database from free listings and has grown into a significant minor league player over the years. TrueSearch ( http://www.truesearch.com )--A quick & easy free listing for your co
