Beyond Google - The Value Of Adding Yahoo & Bing - Part 4

DON'T FORGET THE LITTLE SEARCH ENGINES THAT COULD

Just as it's so easy to overlook the value of being included in Yahoo and Bing instead of solely focusing on Google; it's just as easy to forget there are so many smaller search engines as well.

Granted, their usage by searchers is minimal compared to the main three, but are you aware that you may be included and ranked in them simply because you're indexed in the main ones?

While SEO people already know most of the smaller search engines are owned (or bought up) and fed by the major ones, the average site owner might not be aware that the small guys are often part of a bigger family.

Way back in the early days of online searches, companies tried finding their own niche appeal as to what they thought might be fun or useful for users just starting to visit the web. They were each busy trying to figure out how to build their own little house or hut, and never really thought about trying to take over the world in search engine domination. For example: old SE names such as Altavista, Lycos, Megellan, Hotbot, Mamma, Looksmart, Excite and so many others were simply happy filling the search pleasures for their own little groups of fans.

While many of the old search engines have passed away or been retired to rest homes for aged search engines, quite a few are still slowly clicking away for diehard fans. While they may not be getting full facelifts or new toys, they still index and rank sites in their own little listings – in fact, many have great sites that have been long forgotten (or out-ranked) by the big search engines.

Rather than expending efforts to completely wipe out the small guy, the big engines often bought them out instead (Google runs Ask, AOL, and others – Yahoo operates Alltheweb, Lcos, and more, etc).

Check out the great timeline interactive Search Engine Relationship Chart ^® online to see how a little effort can rank in a lot of places.

While the minor search engines might be owned or run by the major known search engines, they're often left to continue using their own algorithms, with some additional input and site discoveries or inclusions found in the big guys.

By making sure you're submitted and included in all the major search engines, you also likely to be included in the smaller ones as well – and believe it or not, people still do use them. They may not bring you hordes of traffic or searches, but it's always fun to discover a user visit that came from these little engines. Better still, I've actually gained clients who originally found my services in some of these now obscure little search engine treasures.