Is registration with search engines required?

The simple answer is no – registering with a search engine isn't necessary. Most search engines today (especially Google) crawl and index pages by following links. Following this logic, a single inbound link from an already indexed page identifies your page to the search engine. If that page then links to other pages on your website, those will also be indexed, and so on.

For this reason, inbound linking is very important. In fact, acquiring backlinks is perhaps the most important part of search engine optimization. In theory, however, a website operator shouldn't have to hunt for links. If the content presented is interesting, useful, and/or important, internet users have a natural tendency to link to information. This is the basis for the Google PageRank algorithm.

With all due respect, submitting your website to search engines can't hurt. Besides, it only takes about five minutes of extra work if you submit your website to the major search engines. And once is enough... You don't need to submit your website more than once. It doesn't do any good, and it won't make your website crawled any faster or more frequently.

It's worth noting that there's no fee for submitting your website to Google, Yahoo, MSN, and many others. Many SEO companies claim you have to pay to have your website indexed. This isn't the case, and I would stay away from these companies. They're greedy and don't have your best interests at heart.

Can you imagine driving across the country on vacation without a map? It's hard enough to navigate some places with just a map. How difficult would it be to embark on this adventure without one? Yet, this is exactly what people do in the online world every day. They try to build their own online business without a plan for success. Then, after months or years of wandering around the internet, they get frustrated and give up. They give up and say the internet doesn't work for them. The reason they didn't work is because they didn't pick up a map and follow it!

You don't have to get lost in the online chaos. Below, I'll give you ten steps to help you find your way and head in the right direction. While this isn't everything you need to know, it does provide a foundation to build upon.

Consider it your beginner's guide to internet marketing success.

1. Choose a target market

The biggest mistake most people make when starting a business is choosing a product and then trying to find buyers for it. If you go in that direction, you'll be heading in the opposite direction of your goal. Smart businesses operate according to a different concept. They first find a market and then a product those people are looking for. In other words, instead of trying to find potential customers to sell their product to, they specifically seek out potential customers and then ask them what they want to buy.

Don't think about starting a business until you know exactly where you're getting your leads from. Think about your target audience first. Then you can develop a product for that audience. Would you rather have 1,000 hits to your website every day from a general audience or 10 hits a day from people who are desperate and willing to pay any price for your products? If you're smart, you'll target the people who are ready to buy!

2. Develop a product

Next, you need to develop a product or service for that market. This step shouldn't be a simple affiliate-based approach. There are three key ways to sell a product online:

a. You create your own exclusive product.

This is your best opportunity. When you develop your own product, you can set your own price, sell reprint rights to others, set up an affiliate program, etc. Don't tell me it's not possible. Tens of thousands of innovative entrepreneurs have used their own information products to launch their careers. You can too.

I'm sure you've learned something in your life that you could share in a manual. Perhaps you know someone who has the knowledge necessary for a manual, and you could offer to help them create it, provided you both share the rights. Don't let this opportunity slip away and claim it's impossible.

b. You purchase the rights to a product or establish a joint venture for an offline product.

c. You participate in an affiliate program.

If you're just starting out with an online business, this can be a good choice. However, keep in mind that it doesn't quite offer the profit potential that developing your own product or acquiring the rights to one offers. You absolutely have to have it. Also, pay close attention to the profit you make from each sale.

If you only receive a 5% commission on a $10 book sale, you're only earning 50 cents per customer. You'd need 2,000 customers to generate $1,000 in profit. That's not how you make money online! Look for higher-priced products and higher commissions—especially commissions in the 25% or higher range.

3. Create a unique selling point

Create a unique selling point for your product or service. Too many companies try to model their online presence on others. In a global economy, you can't just be like everyone else and expect to make a profit. It's too easy for your customers to simply go to the website of the nearest provider and order from them.

You need to make your product or offering unique. What can you offer that no one else can? Can you offer better warranties, better customer service, more technical support, faster shipping, or lower prices? Think of something that sets you apart from your online competitors and describe it in detail.

4. Choose a domain name and hosting service

The next step is to choose a domain name that describes your company, your unique selling proposition, and what you offer. Keep it as short and descriptive as possible. Avoid hyphens or misspellings in your product. Both of these things will cause users to forget parts of your domain name when typing. Someone else will get the free traffic you worked so hard for.

For hosting, I personally chose Virtualis because they offer the fastest customer service and technical support in the industry. Try them! They respond within an hour – anytime, 24/7. No other company I've ever dealt with comes close to that speed!

5. Develop a customer-friendly website

The next step is to develop your website and present it to the world. If you're pursuing a full-time career online, I recommend learning how to design your website yourself—using one of the dozens of programs available at any software store.

You'll save a lot of money by doing the editing work yourself as your website grows. If your main business is offline and you only earn a side income, consider having your website professionally built.

When designing your website, always keep the customer in mind. Offer order forms for online credit card orders. Make sure all links are easy to understand. Keep your website simple. Think like a customer, not a business owner.

Your customers aren't nearly as interested in your business as you are. Make sure your website's benefits and unique selling proposition are at the top of the page. More than half of internet users stop on the first page of information, so you need to provide them with the information they need as quickly as possible. The rule for every business is: benefits, benefits, and more benefits.

7. Start your own opt-in list

Almost every full-time internet marketer I know has created their own opt-in email list in some form. For most, this is a weekly newsletter they send via email. For others, it might be a tip of the day. Still others might simply have a list they send important updates to.

Whatever you decide, your chances are good if you focus on building a list of loyal email subscribers. Customers rarely buy from you the first time they visit your website. Most of them land on your list, stay for a few weeks or months, and then buy from you. They need to get to know you before they're willing to spend their money with you.

I've found that the most effective leads are generated through offline advertising. For example, you could place ads for your business in a popular, targeted magazine. You could also purchase a postcard from one of the card decks. Form a cooperative and get ten other people to advertise with you and place your own ads for free. Offline leads that come to your website often contain a much higher percentage of buyers than online advertising methods.

Our short 10-step guide will give you a basic blueprint for your own online success story. You wouldn't embark on a journey without a map, either. So don't try to navigate the internet alone without one.

Terry Dean's brand-new free eBook, "10 Quick & Easy Ways to Boost Any Website's Profits Overnight!" reveals more proven internet marketing secrets than 99% of the paid products available... It shows you step-by-step how to increase your traffic, reduce your expenses, and skyrocket your profits.