I am talking about the process of learning to relate, collate, attract and in a sense organize actions and reactions to things and events around us.  For instance, we watch  our parents  intently to understand what they smile upon and what they frown upon. We learn what is acceptable behavior.  We know they are tracking us for this “acceptable behavior” and frowning on “unacceptable behavior”. Our tools are their expressions and reactions. We learn how to track them using this tool. Thereafter we behave in ways that would appease the trackers and make them smile more than frown.  We do the same in school, college and at work.  The tracked trackers teach you how to track them and we creating tracking conditions that make sure they track us the right way!

Search Engine Optimization is nothing but an online version of track the trackers.  We have a product we wish to promote. We track user behavior by searching for frequently searched keywords that are associated with our business. We use tracking tools that are available online to track this behavior. Once we have tracked it, we use the keywords to make sure that search engines track us and place us where trackers(browsers) of the keywords see us and visit our sites!

We use the same tools to track the competition and to check where they are placed vis-a-vis our website.  We examine what kind of traffic flows to their site and use tracking strategies to divert the traffic to our own site. Here we are tracking the competition.

We again track websites that may be interested in using what we have to offer or which sell a complementary product or service. We use this tracking information to find out if these websites could partner with us and link back to us reciprocally or one way to promote our products. We find partners and affiliates in this manner.

Therefore, if you are in the business of creating websites or are contemplating creating websites, you need to just consciously play the game you always played instinctively! Use the innumerable tools that are available for free or at a price on the Internet and track the trackers so that they track you correctly. Alternately, you could hire the investigators called web consultants and SEO experts to do the investigation and play the game for you.  Tracking the trackers is challenging and may even be profitable! So why wait? Start now! Get the mastery you seek!

Why is that so?  Search engines are after all computer programs. You need to create databases and databases means records of something. So search engines create data bases of frequently searched words and match them with websites in which these words occur. They also create databases of links that connect  or from one site to another. When a user types a keyword, the database is searched and results are produced. When ranking sites access a website, they check the number of links to the site or from a site from the database and award the ranks. Hence, it is not surprising that a new world of commerce has grown around search engine optimization and link building!

But what about the googlies? I thought we were talking about search engine googlies! Yes we are. However, if you look deep into the issue you will find that it is not the search engines that make the googlies but the site owners who force search engines to produce the googles that visitors see! How?

Many site owners set out to improve page rankings for their site by ensuring that their sites are search engine optimized. Of course, they do not make a fetish of providing their visitors with information or knowledge in the process. They include the keywords in image descriptions, title of the page and scatter the keywords in sufficient percentage to ensure that search engines are hoodwinked into thinking that the site is relevant to the keyword. After all search is a computer program and the law of garbage in garbage out never changed since the introduction of the computer.

These site owners also love article directories. They will buy or create quantities of articles that are qualitatively poor but provide links back to their sites to make sure Alexa and other similar sites rank them high because of the number of incoming links to the site.  While this is cheating for links, how does it matter?

In the circumstances it is not surprising that “searchers” experience the “goglies” when they search for relevant information.  What is your experience? Do you get googlies when you google? Come share it with us!

Perhaps the characters in the novel would be amazed if they were to encounter the techies and consultants of today who are struggling to guess the “true name” of websites!  Is this a game for better control of business or……… what?

It is clear that the players of the game “Web Presence” begin with a well defined  set of rules. The rules fall into neat categories–Search Engine optimization, Search engine marketing, Keyword optimized content, link building, Page ranks, site scores, Partnering, affiliating and so on.  Each rule based evaluation produces a tally. The tally and subsequent rank, marks the extent of control or lack of control.

The contest–as usual–is with the opponent–your competition (such fierce competition at that!) to grab positions (page ranks, incoming links etc) and seize assets (keywords, traffic) and wage cyber wars for a variety of reasons–sometimes based on rules and sometimes lawlessly (if you consider the hackers, virus producers etc). The “web presence” or “true name” will also be determined by how effectively and efficiently you win the cyber wars and stand terrorizing the attackers.

On the stands are the hordes of spectators who watch the game and influence it. These are the poeople who blog, twitter, forum or socialize and create the traffic to the site and also discuss among themselves about the merits of the site (with or without reference to the tally). These are people who have something to say about what intersts them and what the “true name” should be.

Ultimately, getting at the “true name” may well prove to be too much to “bite off” and chew….

So, what is your take on that?

Not surprisingly a whole new industry has sprung up around link building. Specialists have emerged. Links are being bought and sold.  Link building strategies are discussed and link builders perform co-citation analysis and link analytics for your site. Link building is regarded as mix of public relations exercise and SEO.  Link builders chase links. Search engines like Google validate this and the industry thrives.

So, what are the links that one can buy? How can one get another site to link to your site?  How can you work your way into the higher ranks on search engines?

There are a number of directories that allow you to submit your website URL to their site. The sites do this for a fee or for free. While paid links are immediately listed, free links may or may not be listed.  They make their kill by accepting your URL.  A few directories will agree to host your link for free provided you host their link and the link of a number of their clients on your site.    It follows that if you URL is listed in a number of link directories, Search engines will be hoodwinked into believing that your site is considered important enough by a number of sites and your rank will creep up the hierarchy. So everyone scratches everyone’s back and alls well with the world.

Article directories are a better option. These directories allow you to submit content to their sites. You may embed a link or two to your site in the article you submit. The articles are hosted for free and anyone can pick up the article and post it on their site—provided they keep the links and the author box intact. Your URL travels as a link to all the sites that pick up your article for posting on your site. So, a single article may generate a host of links to your site. Search engines, only see the statistical frequency of the incoming links and is happy to rank you high on their list.

Unfortunately, the surfing user is completely unaware of the “behind the scene acts”.  He trusts that a keyword search will reveal to him the most relevant sites that contain the information he seeks.  Often, he finds his trust misplaced. The incoming links and the frequency of the keywords will prompt the search engine to rank a site number one.  The rest is history.

Sadly, link chasers are missing the point. Valuable links can be earned by using valuable content. This type of link is more permanent and will attract visitors over a period of time. If you want to make a quality statement, patience, hard work and honesty of purpose will serve you well.  Link experts, too are conscious of the importance of valuable content and they urge you to develop and host high quality content if you want to retain your visitors and convert them into customers.

Search engine optimization or SEO is the prime mover.  This is because people normally reach your web page via search engines. Search engines need to index your pages on the basis of keywords and their density/frequency on your page.  Your content needs to be search engine optimized so that search engines will rank your page higher than that of your competitors. The best part of this process is that it is FREE. All you need to do is make sure your content displays the keywords in sufficient and meaningful regularity.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is all about tidying up the website and filling out appropriate forms that search engine crawlers can use to identify context and reward it with a high page rank. Of course, this requires you to invest time and money and you need to ensure that your advertisements are placed in the right pages on the right sites.  You also pay to ensure that your advertisements are displayed on relevant search queries and you again pay if someone clicks through the advertisement to your site.

Blogs and online content can be a marketing tool if you know how to exploit its potential. The bottom line is that you will have to blog everyday to attract visitors to your site via the blog. You can use your blog to publish content on the web that is replete with the pertinent keywords and score on SEO. Blogs also develop an online community that is entirely based on the content you display and the product you are marketing.

Social Media marketing is the new mantra of the decade.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Digg help in developing a strong social network that can be exploited for business gains. It also helps to develop an intimate relationship with your customers and readers.

Email marketing is another effective method of reaching out to customers. These marketing campaigns are easy to create and almost free. However, one must be cautious in the use of this tool. It can backfire. It can be treated as spam and your site can be black listed for generating spam!

So if you have acquired the license to drive, it is time to learn how to drive!