SEO Information

The Power of Topic Specific Search


What are Topical Search Engines?

Simply put, topical search engines are search engines focused on a specific industry, sector or topic.

While many marketers are scrambling for links, any links, an area that is often overlooked is topic-specific search engines. What many don't realize is that these engines do produce traffic, and they often contain traffic that is very targeted. Anyone who has taken the time to analyze weblogs and track sales sources will likely see that targeted traffic converts at a significantly higher rate than non-targeted traffic.

A savvy online marketer realizes that often, the quality of the visitor is far more important than the quantity of visitors. Web marketers should focus their energies on attracting targeted traffic whenever possible.

For example, if you sell saddles, advertising on a site related to horses or advertising on a topical search engine like http://www.horse-stall.net will bring significantly more sales than advertising on a generic web site or search engine.

Niche engines are considerably smaller than general search engines but they can still be quite lucrative. The small size of a niche or topic-specific engine ensures that the there are few competitors, and advertisers are generally willing to pay a little more for the focused traffic. Advertisers appreciate the unique benefit of reaching a very targeted audience who have a higher likelihood of purchasing their product or service. As a result, topic-specific search engines and directories are a burgeoning market. There is far less competition in niche directories and dominating a specific market segment and establishing brand recognition is significantly easier.

It is virtual suicide to attempt to compete with the behemoth search engines like Google. Web-surfers are interested in simplicity and efficiency, which translates to as few clicks as possible. This is an area where Google really cannot compete with a topic-specific search engine. Creating a simple, clear navigational structure of related content while cross-promoting related products or services will increase the site's value.

Advertisers will also flock to search portals that are industry-specific, as they appreciate the unique benefit of reaching a very targeted audience who have a higher likelihood of purchasing their product or service.

Consider the niche search engine, Alarm Tools - http://www.alarm-tools.net. The traffic this portal attracts will be of significant interest to manufacturers of security equipment or emergency supplies. Imagine the targeted traffic that an alarm company could receive from a link in the above search directory.

Comtemplate the quality traffic a financial planner could glean from an RSS search directory focussed on finance and investing at http://www.finance-investing.com.

Locating topic-specific search engines is not all that difficult. Consider using the resources provided by Search Engine Watch, Web Search Engines, and Search Engine Guide to locate engines that are topic-specific:

Search Engine Watch - http://searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php/2156351
Web Search Engines - http://www.web-search-engines.net/directory/topic-specific.html
Search Engine Guide - http://www.searchengineguide.com/searchengines.html

Qualified 'clickers' or interested buyers is what it is all about; whether you are selling a product or advertising, the more targeted the traffic the better the fit. As an advertiser, consider topic - specific search engines. As an online marketer, consider creating a niche search portal, as the market is ripe.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.


MORE RESOURCES:

PR Web

SEO, Why You Are Doing it Wrong
Search Engine Watch
What follows is a cautionary tale of missteps towards the complex problem of ranking on search engines and an examination into why small businesses are completely at a loss as to what constitutes “ethical” SEO. Before he was worried about Google and ...
Google Releases New Penguin Update, Numerous Online Sites AffectedSan Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Microsoft And Others Serve Up Google Panda And Penguin AdviceMediaPost Communications
Google Penguin - A Lesson It Teaches [Infographic]SubmitinME
Travolution -Hit Search -Search Engine Land
all 16 news articles »


SEOReviews.co Offers Consumer Reviews of Leading SEO Services
Seattle Post Intelligencer
In today's marketing environment, many businesses find it essential to invest in an SEO service, but finding the right SEO service can often prove challenging. A new site, called SEOReviews.co, is seeking to provide objective information and customer ...

and more »


SEO Miracle Presents Platinum SEO Service Package
Albany Times Union
SEO Miracle has decided to present its new and final SEO service package for this year called the Platinum package. An SEO service has taken a totally different meaning since Google presented its PageRank algorithm. Ever since then, website owners are ...

and more »


SEO Positive Announce Acquisition with Leading Snail Racing Company
PR Web (press release)
The search team at SEO Positive are pleased to announce the acquisition of a new contract with the UK's top snail racing firm Fundeo Limited. Based in Edinburgh, Fundeo specialise in providing their customers with a new and entertaining way to enjoy ...

and more »


PR Leap (press release)

SEO Advantage Barack Obama Over Mitt Romney
PR Leap (press release)
The amount of traffic to Barack Obama's website as opposed to Mitt Romney's can be attributed to the SEO of the candidate's websites. Mitt Romney's website has only 16% of the amount of external followed link Barack Obama's website has.

and more »


SEO & SMO Technology Masterclass 'On Demand' at One Wimple Street
ITCM
One Wimpole Street's latest free technology masterclass on Thursday 17th May gave event organisers the opportunity to find out how social media optimisation benefits business and why search engine optimisation (SEO) is so important when it comes to ...



Entrepreneur

SEO vs. PPC: Knowing Which Is Right for Your Website
Entrepreneur
BY AJ Kumar | May 21, 2012| When it comes to boosting traffic to your website, you have two basic options: pay-per-click (PPC) advertising or search engine optimization (SEO). You can pay for traffic using the PPC advertising programs provided by ...
Learn: SEO Lingo DefinedSearch Engine Journal
29 Prime Enhances Client Websites with New GPS Location FeatureSan Francisco Chronicle (press release)
SEO Miracle Allows Users To Check Google Rankings In CanadaRedOrbit
Albany Times Union -iTWire (press release) -Search Engine Land
all 24 news articles »


Fusion SEO Launches SMART Capture SEO™, Striving to Expand Upon the Maryland ...
Virtual-Strategy Magazine
Evan Featherstone, President of Maryland-based Fusion SEO, has launched SMART Capture SEO™, with the vision of having Fusion SEO be the future benchmark of local, results-based web marketing consulting. Baltimore, MD, May 22, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Evan ...

and more »


SEO Project Manager
Bizcommunity.com
We are seeking the skills of a self-starting SEO project manager to manage and build an SEO team with an aim to rank our websites for multiple highly competitive casino related keyword terms and phrases. You must have strong people and project ...



SEOPressor Chosen as the Mandatory SEO WordPress Plugin in 2012
Albany Times Union
Powering more than 15 million Wordpress pages, SEOPressor remains the best On-Page SEO plugin in the market. It's also been voted as the top 10 premium plugins by SitePoint. SEOPressor is in use on more than 15000000+ WordPress pages and is growing as ...
More on Plugins for WordPress and SEOBusiness 2 Community

all 5 news articles »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006