Over half of all US online adults use search engines most or every time they are online, according to a recent "How America Searches" study from icrossing. "How America Searches" takes a detailed look at why people turn to search engines, which engines have the most loyal users, how well people can distinguish natural and paid results, and other questions.

If you ever want to create a state directory, article directory, dating site or link directory, you need to know about creating database driven web sites. This may seem like a daunting task at first, if you have never done it, however I was in the same boat as you. It is not as difficult as you think.

Benefits of building database driven web sites

-Store vast amounts of information about your products or services.

Your small business needs an appealing and professional website but that is just the beginning. If no one visits your website and -- more importantly -- if it does not bring in new customers and allows you to sell more to your current customers, then your site is not effective. What do you need to improve your online marketing efforts?

The first step is to decide on a primary goal for your website.

Your content is what gets you in search engines, speaks to visitors, and ultimately decides the success or failure of your site. Meanwhile, your content has to be updated at least once a month if you want to get return visitors and search engine traffic. You need to have a web content strategy for your site to succeed.

Web Content Strategy Components

There are four basic ways you can get content for your site.

Anyone who does business on the internet today has heard of SEO (search engine optimization), and many have tried their hand at it themselves. Most find, however, that they don't get much response from their efforts. This leads to a dilemma for a start-up business: Is there any way to capitalize on internet traffic without paying big bucks for a professional SEO?

The answer is, yes and no.

I can't think of any business alive today that couldn't benefit from at least a minor presence on the web. Now that I've made that statement, I'm sure someone will point out one. My point is, however, that having a web presence today is about as cheap as anything going and if you ever get one client or sale from the web you are way ahead.

How many times have you come across someone who would be ideal as one of your customers.

The Google Toolbar has grown significantly in features since inception. It now features several new useful features but the main focus of this article is on those that aid in search engine optimization. So without further ado here's the Google Toolbar unfolded.

PageRank
Upon installation of the full Google toolbar you will notice a small bar near the center of it that may or may not be partially filled with a green color as displayed in the diagram below.

Ahh...our fledgling little industry is growing up.

The little search marketing companies are unfurling their new wings and trying to peer over the edge of the nest. Suddenly, VC firms are looking at search marketing technology with stars in their eyes. It's beginning to seem that a few people are going to make a lot of money in this industry.

In a television network the end devices are stupid, while the network itself is sophisticated. Control is exercised within the TV network itself. On the Internet, the opposite is actually true: an end-to-end deliberately dumb network with all of the intelligence concentrated at the periphery.

"To be a real-time video journalist, all you need is a blog, a camcorder, and a laptop with WiFi.

It is interesting to watch the varied reactions to the new Yahoo! search. As a spectator I can sit back and take it all in and form my own opinions. I can then apply my ideas to my clients and watch them succeed. One such topic of interest of late is Yahoo!'s policy on spam in the index.

To quote what Yahoo! considers unwanted:

"Some, but not all, examples of the more common types of pages that Yahoo! does not want included:

Pages that harm accuracy, diversity or relevance of search results
Pages dedicated to directing the user to another page
Pages that have substantially the same content as other pages
Sites with numerous, unnecessary virtual hostnames
Pages in great quantity, automatically generated or of little value
Pages using methods to artificially inflate search engine ranking
The use of text that is hidden from the user
Pages that give the search engine different content than what the end-user sees
Excessively cross-linking sites to inflate a site's apparent popularity
Pages built primarily for the search engines
Misuse of competitor names
Multiple sites offering the same content
Pages that use excessive pop-ups, interfering with user navigation
Pages that seem deceptive, fraudulent or provide a poor user experience
Yahoo!'s Site Guidelines are designed to ensure that poor-quality pages do not degrade the user experience in any way.