Google may be the undisputed ruler of the search engine industry, but the last thing it can be called is complacent.  Google has launched an extensive revamp of its search engine algorithm under the title of Google Caffeine.  Caffeine provides a speedier method of indexing and allows new content to rise to its rightful place more quickly.  Through a new method of quality rating, Google will also cut down on inadvisable SEO practices, which raise the ratings of sites which don't actually have the quality they advertise.  Here at WebsiteBusiness.com, we want you to stay in the know!

Website owners and browsers don't need to get the jitters over Caffeine's big launch, however.  Outwardly, very little has changed, and Google continues to perform its main functions in much the same way.  The major differences are in the form of the number of pages indexed per website and the quality determination of a website.  For a solid, quality website with unique content, this can only be a good thing.

The main thing to remember when optimizing a website for Google Caffeine is that it looks for quality over quantity.  It's only when a website uses "cheats" such as hidden text, unnatural keyword density, or comma separated lists that a website owner needs to worry.  Information should be relevant and unique, and social networking sites can be used to create more quality links.  Consider the use of sites like Facebook in improving site quality. 

The load speed of the page also has a significant impact on Google's reaction to the site.  If a crawler tries to index a page and it times out, the page will simply not be indexed.  All of this is aimed at providing Google searchers with the fastest, most accurate, and most useful search results possible, as well as at directing traffic to those websites that truly deserve to be found.  As you can see, WebsiteBusiness.com is only here to help you stay informed and get ahead with your website!  Above image from the Google Blog, at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html.

It's no secret, traffic is the essential ingredient for a successful website.  However, what people don't realize is that the best way to draw traffic to your website is through Search Engine Listings.  These engines are the main way in which people find the websites they need, and a good ranking for your website will lead more people right to you.  The big three search engines are Google, Yahoo, and Bing, which is the newest incarnation of MSN.  Bing holds a very small market share, while Google is the undisputed leader of the bunch.

Considering its size and prestige, Google can afford to be picky about its results.  There are a couple different ways to make sure that Google regards your website favorably.  The first and most important is to optimize the content of your site.  It must be useful, unique, and well presented.  Secondly, it is important to get relevant and high quality sites to link to yours.  This improves the quality of your site in the eyes of Google.  This establishes credibility and popularity, which will result in a higher PageRank, which means more traffic - the overall goal!

After trying both of these methods, it's time to try a more active approach.  One way to get listed by Google is to get your site listed in the free, Open Directory, dmoz.org.  You can submit your URL on their site by clicking on the "Suggest URL" tab.  However, you must wait for the site to be reviewed before it is listed.  Also, if you don't have enough content on your site, it will most likely be rejected.  You can also try submitting your URL directly to Google, at http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl, though this is considered less reliable than an Open Directory listing.  A final way to attempt to ensure your website's inclusion in Google's listings is to get a link from a website already in the listings.  Thus, when Google's webcrawler visits the site, it will follow the link to your site.  Blog reviews can help for this, which WebsiteBusiness.com offers!

The methods for getting into Yahoo's listings is much the same - by getting linked from a listed site or submitting the URL for your website manually.  Another place where you can submit your website on Yahoo is in the Yahoo Directory.  This is a categorical listing which is not directly associated with the search engine or its functionality.  While the Yahoo Directory is not as commonly browsed by users, it does provide listed sites with an extremely high quality link.  Since search engines determine quality of site by the quality of the links to it, this can be a huge help when trying to get one's site a good ranking on a search engine.

As you can see, there are many ways to get more traffic for your website, on your own, for free!  For those who cannot afford WebsiteBusiness.com helpful marketing services, start with the above advice.  If you really want to own a successful domain, do all you can to get more traffic!  WebsiteBusiness.com wants to see you succeed!  If you need more guidance on this, give our Website Business Customer Support a call; they will be more than happy to help!  1-877-205-1720  :)

The Internet has opened the way for a new form of journalism, one that can be written by the average person, for the average person.  Blogs post articles on many subjects, whether general or specialized, and some have become just as famous, if not more so, than many traditional journalistic publications.

The Huffington Post is the acknowledged leader in the blogging field.  With a long list of contributing bloggers and about 28 million unique monthly visitors, the Huffington Post informs readers on a multitude of subjects, ranging from politics and media to arts and entertainment. 

For those looking for entertainment news and celebrity gossip, the leading names on the net are TMZ and Perez Hilton.  These sites get 17 million and 9 million unique monthly visitors respectively. 

If you're not so interested in celebrities, but would rather read about the latest gadgets, there's a whole realm of tech blogs that cater to the discerning geek.  Engadget has articles on everything from the newest laptop to the most recently leaked info on 4G phones.  There's even an article about scientific advances in body armor.  The Gizmodo blog features some tech and gadget articles, but also some news that is just plain weird.  For an even more specialized tech site, visit Kotaku, the leading video game blog on the net.  Four million gamers get their news on new releases and upcoming changes on Kotaku.

These blogs have become so popular because of their accessibility, entertaining writing, and frequent updates.  It's possible to check back at one of these blogs several times per day and discover new stories.  Therein lies their appeal.  You can't look at your morning newspaper in the evening and expect the stories to have changed.  These are the online sources that have set the bar as far as blogs are concerned.  Your goal should be to become one of the major leading blogs.  At WebsiteBusiness.com, we are always here to help!  Above image from http://amirariff.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/blog1.gif.

The Internet is a vast network of information, holding subjects beyond belief or count.  The only way to find the exact information that you want, short of already knowing the web address, is through the use of a search engine.  Search engines utilize web crawlers to explore the Internet, following every link on every website, and then they index the results.  This indexed information is used to provide results for the search terms that are entered.

The most commonly used search engines are Google, Yahoo! Search, and Bing.  While quite a few smaller endeavors exist, these are the forerunners in the industry, and each has its own following.  See this Search Engine List.  Google has become a very important name on the Internet, having introduced a new method of sorting results called PageRank.  This ranking system displays results based upon the number and quality of sites which link to a particular webpage.  The system operates under the assumption that more links to a site indicates higher popularity and relevance.  After Google, Yahoo Search is the second largest search engine on the web, followed by Microsoft's search engine, Bing.

Due to the great importance of search engines, optimizing websites to increase rating and visibility has become an industry of its own.  Various methods have been developed to ensure that search engines take notice of a particular website, including cross linking, meaning linking together pages of the same website for easy navigation, and adding relevant keywords.  These will increase the overall popularity of the website, as the search engine judges it, and once the search engine believes it is popular, more actual web traffic will be able to easily locate the site.  At WebsiteBusiness.com, we are always here to help!  Above image from http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/google-remains-the-top-search-engine/.

Do you have a FaceBookpage yet?  If you have a website, then you should, to help spread the word about it!  FaceBook is one of the most popular social networking sites out there today.  In fact, so many people now use it that it's practically become universal.  Gone are the days when only college students created long distance networks.  Today, families, friends, and business associates of all ages make FaceBook their home.  Thus, completing and customizing your profile page can be an essential step in making use of this great networking tool.

Getting started is simple.  In the upper left-hand corner, directly below your name, there is a link which reads "Edit My Profile."  Once you click on this, you will be able to edit all of your profile information, starting with the basics and progressing down the list to your profile picture, relationships, likes and dislikes, education and work, and contact information.  Some of the information is very useful to those seeking information about you, such as your current city of residence and hometown, while other information is just for fun, like your favorite quotations.  You can choose which items to fill in and which to leave blank - those categories which you do not fill in will simply not appear on your FaceBook profile.

Perhaps the most visible method of customization is the profile picture.  Profile pictures must be under four megabytes in size and can either be uploaded from your computer's hard drive or shot with a web camera using the button available on the site.  After this, you can define your relationship status and make a note of your relatives who are also have FaceBook accounts.  Then after you fill in your interests, musical tastes, and favorite books, movies, and TV shows, you can let everyone know about your educational and professional background.  Wrap up your profile modification with any contact information you'd like your friends and contacts to have, such as your email, address, and website.  Image from http://lifeinthenhs.wordpress.com/2009/02/.

If you currently have a website with a blog, you can actually link your blog to your FaceBook profile!  That way, all of your friends can stay updated  on your blog posts!  Hopefully this will help you gain more traffic, for FREE!  To learn how, log in to your FaceBook profile.  Then look up NetworkedBlogs on FaceBook.  Next, click "+ Register A Blog" and follow the steps.  Your RSS feed URL is always your domain/rss.xml.  If you have a web community, the RSS feed is your domain/blog/rss.xml.  At Websitebusiness.com, we are always here to help!  Above logo image from http://www.nuigalway.ie/erasmus/incoming/news.html.