The most important action a web site can perform is to attract visitors — and, they need to be the RIGHT visitors!

There are actually 2 types of visitors that come to a web site – search engine spiders and human visitors.

I am going to put *Search Engine Spiders* first here, because one of your biggest concerns as a business owner is *do I show up in the search engines?* — Right? And, it is an extremely important goal of your web site and your business’s online presence.

Unfortunately, *Search Engine Optimization*, also known as SEO, is NOT a subject that all web designers/developers know about… and the dirty little secret is that a talented web designer and a beautiful web site may actually be sabotaging your web site in the search engines!

YIKES!

Who’d a thunk!

OK, don’t panic – let’s look at this issue in detail.

A *Search Engine Spider* is a program that follows or *crawls* along the internet, going from link to link and reading the contents of that page, which is then stored in the Search Engine memory. Now, there are TWO key issues here:

1) the page needs LINKS – If a page doesn’t have any links, coming or going, the spiders can’t find it. Most web site pages have links, usually multiple links, and so a *Search Engine Spider* will crawl from page to page and web site to web site.

2) the page needs CONTENT for the spider to READ – Let’s be clear here… at this point in internet technology, Search Engine Spiders can ONLY read TEXT. Search Engine Spiders can not read images! (et least, not yet! LOL) They can read the file name of a picture, and that can be used to help with search engine standings, but if all you have on a web page is a picture and links — if there is no real content for the search engine spider to READ — that page is NOT going to do well in the Search Engines.

In other words, if you have your restaurant’s menu displayed ONLY as a graphic/picture, while your human visitors may be able to read about your famous signature dish, the Search Engines won’t ever know about it and your web site, or at least that page, won’t show up in the results if a human visitor does a search for your famous signature dish!

OK — NOW you can panic!

So, what can YOU do? First, YOU — as the business owner — need to be taking an active role in your web site development, and this means protecting YOUR interests by educating yourself. The Internet is still new enough that comparing it to the Wild West is not a far leap. You need to protecting yourself and your business!

Fortunately, there is an incredibly valuable resource available online — and it is FREE.

Cricket Walker offers intensive online courses here:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SEO_Techniques/

and here:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/successful-website-marketing/

If YOU don’t have time to take the courses, have one of your employees do so, especially the employee in charge of your web site.

No matter what, YOU need to read Cricket’s book, Search Engine Techniques.

http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/seo-techniques.htm

The reality is, you can’t trust anybody but yourself to protec your interests. If you have read Cricket’s book, you will know enough to protect yourself from talented and well-meaning but clueless web designers. ;-)

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