Search engines are used to find websites over 250 million times daily. This dominant “tool” has provided parity in the online marketing world. All websites are equally at the mercy of their control. The search engine has become the new “Gold Rush.” There are significant riches to gain, if you can successfully play the search engine game.

Online marketing is by far the least costly advertisement medium. The small town store can equally compete with larger chains, not just locally but globally. The secret to success is simple: attract the search engine!! Yahoo and Bing are major players as search engines, Google has become the de facto standard, controlling an almost 85% of the market.

Now pay careful attention to this tip. In order for the small business owner to succeed in online marketing, you only have to do one thing, appeal to Google. Change your spending mix and online strategy.

Contrary to popular practices, do not focus on attracting your customer through online marketing, focus on attracting the search engines. You can have the world’s greatest website, even award winning, but if the customer can’t find it without knowing the direct URL, your strategy is flawed.

I don’t want to bore you with statistics but sometimes “the truth hurts”. Statistically, 93% of all consumers use search engines to find websites. That same number holds true for ALL internet activity traffic; people use search engine.

The secret to attracting Google is simple; establish a search engine optimization (SEO) plan. A plan that should follow what I have termed as the “flamingo approach”. The male flamingo spreads his colorful feathers as part of his mating ritual. The female is attracted to the most colorful male and the species continues.

A – Authority – Your website’s “story” should have relevance to your products and services. Make sure your content stays on topic and is narrowly focused. Your goal is to be considered an “expert” source based on your topic.

B – Building Relationships – Your goal is to collect as many “friends” or back links as possible. That is, other websites connecting with you. You can research and solicit back links from other website owners. The amount of back links is an indication of the internet popularity of your website.

C – Content – Your content is not limited to product and services, but also to what is called on-page optimization. This takes into consideration, keywords, keyword density and tagging. Some of these items are “under the hood”, and addressed with the assistance of your website developer.

D – Displays – As in traffic, views, and hits. This item is not so complicated. If people are going to your site, the search engines know it. Your new found popularity will push you up the search engine result pages very quickly.

That’s the secret to get to the top of the search engine and successful online marketing. That’s a major tip because 65% of online revenue (about $25 billion annually) is generated by websites in the first three positions of the search engine page.

Now that you know the secret, you have a decision to make. As a business owner, you can function in the “do-it-yourself” mode and be somewhat successful. Select and hire an expert just as you would any contractor to paint your house, repair your car or cut your hair. Research to find the best for your business.

Ask for referrals, there is a huge online community out there that is willing to offer an opinion.

Use the search engine and search for an online marketing expert that is in the top three (at least top 10) of the search engine result page. Use simple search terms like “SEO”, “get better search results”,” online marketing experts” and “online marketing”.

Why? if they can not position their website on top of the search engine (and that’s their business), how can they perform that task for you. It’s like the auto mechanic with a broken down car.

A few warnings; you get what you pay for and look for credentials ( education / certifications) and never, never fall for a top 10 guarantee in 30 day scam. They may get you there, but Google will penalize you for what they deem as “suspicious” craftsmanship, a potential penalty of removal from Google for up to one year. Search for quality seo expert.