As the Internet evolves, so do the offerings of search engines as they battle to get your attention. New engines form constantly with changes in technology and old ones leave us behind.

Here's a sampling of some you may already know:

AOL Search - A Google powered search engine used by AOL users also pulls listings from the Open Directory Project.

AltaVista - the Internet's first Web Index, has very comprehensive coverage and a wide range of power searching commands, which make it a particular favorite among researchers. It gets its listings from Yahoo! Search.

All The Web - uses results from Yahoo! Search plus an index of tens of millions of pdf and doc files.

Ask.com - (formerly Ask Jeeves) is a human-powered search service that attempts to direct you to the exact page that answers your question. If it fails to find a match within its own database, then it will provide web pages from their search engine.

Bing - Microsoft's MSN web portal also offers free email, instant messenger, and a directory. It previously used Looksmart for its search results but now provides access to Yahoo's listings.

Excite - A popular web portal (a page that, in addition to search, includes news, sports, weather, email and much more) on the web. Excite uses a metasearch engine that searches Google, Yahoo and Ask listings.

Google - Currently the most popular search engine, makes heavy use of link popularity as a primary way to rank web sites. This can be especially helpful in finding good sites in response to general searches such as "cars" and "travel," because users across the web have in essence voted for good sites by linking to them.

Google is also known for a wide range of features including: cached pages, excellent spell checking, access to dictionary definitions, stock quotes, street maps, telephone numbers and more. The Google Toolbar is also very popular.

HotBot - has advanced search features and presents listings from either Ask.com or MSN and the Open Directory Project

LookSmart includes past and popular searches right on their home page. They also have a pay per click advertising program.

Lycos - another web portal offers "personalized content" including free email, websites, blogs and photo sharing. They include listings from the Open Directory Project. A good looking site.

Netscape Search - Netscape Search's results come primarily from Google and the Open Directory Project.

Open Directory Project - Uses volunteer editors to catalog the web. It was acquired by Netscape in November 1998, and the company pledged that anyone would be able to use information from the directory through an open license arrangement. Netscape itself was the first licensee. Lycos also uses the information for its main service and within Lycos-owned HotBot. Here's more information about Open Directory.

Search.com - A metasearch engine owned by CNET, that searches Google, Ask.com, LookSmart and dozens of other leading search engines to bring you the best results.

Snap - An innovative search company that offers previews of websites in search listings.

WebCrawler is a metasearch engine that combines results from Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN Search and Ask.com. They also offer a toolbar with Dictionary Search that you can download.

Yahoo! Search - Once the web's most popular search service is still a good alternative to Google. Yahoo is the oldest major web site directory, having launched in late 1994.

Frank Beecham
Webguy
Mystique Creative

Scents Alive ia a custom manufacturer of natural personal care, skin care, pet care, and natural candles.

Since 1987, they’ve helped customers formulate better quality natural products, or reformulate their existing products to make their lines more natural.

Mystique Creative was commissioned to create a new website that was not only fresh but optimized for the search engines. Traffic is up as a result, as is business!

Paul Bies

President,
Mystique Creative

Amtruck Limited is one of the premier sellers of refuse and municipal vehicles in North America. Founded in 1984, they remain a family run business. Russell and Peter continually strive to maintain a high standard of quality and customer satisfaction. Constant improvement is always on the forefront. In this effort they contacted Mystique Creative to help update their brand -- starting with a new logo design.



How's your image?

Paul Bies

President,
Mystique Creative

While the economic situation seems better now than it has for some time, cash flow is still a problem for many of the small businesses that we talk with. A resulting challenge is how to build your brand when there's little or no money to invest in brand development? Keep in mind that it's absolutely essential that you continue your branding efforts even in lean times. Stay committed to a long-term strategy.

Here's six practical ways you can brand with a small budget:

1. Research. Do your homework. What's your competition doing? Strengthen your knowledge of your industry and competitive products. Read books on branding. Take the time to evaluate your brand - possibly repositioning it to ensure that you differentiate from your competitors.

2. Embrace free and low cost tools. There are many online tools available to you that you should consider integrating into your branding strategy. Use social networking tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Delicious and others to promote your products and services. Use a blog or comment on other blogs to help build your network. For that matter, network by phone or in person in an effort to extend your brand presence.

3. Work in phases. Consider your needs and categorize them into Essential, Non-Essential, and Potential categories. Focus your efforts on the essential needs, and work on other areas when possible.

4. Build relationships. Create a list of your customers or clients outlining strategic marketing information such as their industry, and their general interests etc.. When you come across relevant articles or information send these to the appropriate contact. And while email works… don't under estimate the power of a hand written note attached to a torn out article or a simple card.

5. Co-brand. Look for colleagues, fellow business owners, or others who may be interested in co-branding their organization with yours. Discuss ways to help boost each others' businesses. Possibly host marketing initiatives together such as seminars or webinars sharing the cost of the marketing materials.

6. Negotiate Terms. Chances are your consultants, designers, and agencies are hurting too. Don't shy away from negotiating options such as deferred compensation with interest, a percentage of future revenues, or payment plans. Depending on your business, you may even be able to work out a barter arrangement. Some may not be able to make such arrangements, but others may be willing.

So even if finances are stretched out, you need to stay positive and keep focused. As long as you're working hard towards your goals, you'll be closer to achieving them. Bottom line is that when it comes to growing your brand there are ways to do so even with a small budget. Be creative. Stay informed. Develop a strong brand idea, and solid brand strategy, and you'll profit from you branding efforts.

Paul Bies

President,
Mystique Creative

Want to know where and how traffic goes to your website? Well in brief, Google Analytics is a free service where when added to the pages of your site, you can learn a lot of information about visitors to your website, such as traffic that is referred, visitor loyalty and even the keywords used to get to your site.

To get Google Analytics to work on your site you need to sign up for a Google account where you can have Google Analytics generate tracking code which you add to your site's pages.

From then on, you can follow visitor trends like visits: meaning the number of sessions or times visitors interact on your site; or bounces: meaning the number of visitors who instantly left; or page views: which include how many pages were requested in those visits and how many in each visit; you can even check how long each visitor spent on your site.

All in all, Google Analytics is more than just a web counter. By looking at the visitor trends to your website, you can target certain landing pages for maximum traffic. You can also alter the way visitors navigate to your site by changing keywords to direct them to you. You can also track certain blogs and email marketing tools as well. The more visits you get the more business you'll garner.

Talk to your web specialist today about Google Analytics and watch those hits coming in. You can get some more information and tips by watching YouTube videos at the Google Analytics channel: www.youtube.com/googleanalytics

Frank Beecham
Webguy
Mystique Creative