Some people do not want to be dependent upon the Google search because they have so much trouble getting onto the first page. Some companies are just bad at getting there and others face such fierce competition that it is not worth their while doing it.

Other companies are at a disadvantage when it comes to search engines. The results may show that their company charges the most, when compared to other adverts on the screen. This is unfair if one company has a significantly higher quality item compared to the other websites and adverts showing on the screen.

Affiliate programs

This is a very simple premise. If you do not want to have to rely on Google search, you should try an affiliate program. It will run adverts on search engines, but will also run adverts across various networks.

Your adverts will be seen on blogs and article websites. It may even be seen on some of the more mainstream adverts. If you go for a simple Pay Per Click (PPC) scheme then you will receive traffic in return for a small payment. If your sales can comfortably cover that payment then there is no need to rely on Google searches.

Favorites

This is a factor over which you have little control. The favorites bar is used by people to save website links that they will want to use frequently. For example a person may save a link to their banks online website, save a link to their closest hardware shop, and a link to the cheapest supplier of stationary. If you use the web browser IE, you may also save your links in folders that you name yourself. So you may have a folder called banks, and another called clothes shops, etc.

To get yourself onto somebody’s favorite list you are going to have to offer a service or use that people need repeatedly. How repeatedly is irrelevant; they may use your site every week or once per year. You must provide a service or a use–even if it is a small one.

Some people use their favorites bar to save pages they wish to read later. If you wish to stay on their favorites after they have read your site, you will need some sort of hook. Otherwise they will read your web page, delete the favorites link and never visit you again.

Homepage

You can have a button or a link on your pages that says, “Make me your home page.” It does not buy you many takers, but is a method of weaning your site away from Google search dependence.

RSS feeds

This is more commonly seen on blogs, but can be used for a number of reasons. You need to have the viewer sign up to your RSS feeds. When you create new content you are able to issue a notice via the RSS feed. The viewers feed aggregator will pick up on the new addition and highlight it for the reader. That way the reader will know when to visit your site again, and will also have a link to follow so that they can visit without using Google.

Links

People build links in order to gain a higher search engine results rank, but few people remember that a good link is a way of getting direct traffic. You can filter traffic from one page on the web, and bring it to yours without the user ever having to touch Google.

Directories

Some directories are free and some are paid for. They are good if your company sits in a very specialized area. These are often in industrial settings with companies such as large plumbing companies or suppliers for manufacturing. There are other directories that are dedicated to just one business sector. You may be lucky enough to be in one of those sectors.

Offline-advertising

This is the oldest trick in the book, but it works.

Written by Sonia Jackson from www.essay-land.com