WebFusion - 2:42 pm on Feb 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

It looks to me as if this update is over, so I'll just add this bit of advice (for lack of a better word) that served me well over the past 5 years or so.

When I first started in this business, I was also enjoying the free ride on the back of the search engines (at the time it was altavista/Inktomi/Yahoo treating me well). When Yahoo dropped Inktomi for it's supplemental results, it took about 4000 visitors a day I had been receiving with it, which of course, made me contemplate my decision to go into business for myself on the web.

I spent many a sleepless night the first few days pondering what I could do, hoping they would see the "error of their ways" and bring my site backs, etc.

In the end I finally realized the only reliable way to market from then on would be to assume the engines no longer existed (in fact, I printed a banner that hung in front of my desk that says "There are No Search Engines" ;-)

Consider it....what if no one had ever invented a search engine....how would you get the word out about your site then? Out yourself in that mindset and see what you can come up with:

For instance: If you've been spending hundreds (or even thousands) a month on purchased links from unrelated/semi-related high-PR sites solely for the reason of increasing your PR and artifically increasing your ranking in the serps (and you site still tanked), take those funds and redirect them to a more long-term solution, i.e. hire some content writers, seek out partnerships/paid advertising with high-ranking sites that DO still rank for your search terms, have a ghost writer create some press releases about your products, look into starting an affiliate program, etc. etc.

Use this as an opportunity to drastically change the way you market your site, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised what a few months of work in that direction can do. We receive OVER 4000 targeted visitors (on average) per day from NON search engine sources. And I've got news for you...the visitors that reach us via non search engine traffic convert at a rate that is almost double that on free search traffic.

Just keep repeating to yourself "There is no google, there is no google...."