Shortly after I wrote the article in the last newsletter about search engines, Google, the premier search engine on the Internet changed its programming code to try to eliminate what it calls cheaters. Some companies built a whole industry around trying to find ways to obtain a position of the first page of a search. But now it's all topsy turvy. A number of articles have been written about the subject and I suggest that you do yourself a favour and not read them. The pieces are technical and obtuse at the same time.

What this situation highlights is that if you are banking on people finding your web site only via search engines, you are not going to be happy. It's a bad idea to have your financial fate in the hands of a third party company over which you have little influence.

To have a site that is easily found by search engines, you need a good site with lots of relevant content. By relevant, I mean loads of information about your business and the area in which the business operates. For example if you are in North or West Vancouver, information on your site about Grouse Mountain, Capilano Canyon, Lynn Valley and Cypress Bowl would be good. It not only makes your site more useful to visitors unfamiliar with the area, but makes all search engines think your site is for real.

The second part of the puzzle is good links to other sites. If you are a B&B, for example, you can list yourself in a variety of sites ranging from local tourism associations to sites that focus on your area. For example, listing in a B&B site that focuses on Washington State when you are in Alberta isn't logical. Logical sites on which you can list are not limited to geography. For example, our new affiliate, kid friendly!™ is good because it highlights your commitment to a particular type of service. This makes your site visible to all kinds of different qualified people.

The trick to linking, is to link sites you are on to your own site. For example, if you join kid friendly!™, put their site link on your site so that your guests can learn more about kid friendly!™. This helps in both sites' rating in search engines. I suggest that you have a specific "links" page on your site. Make sure to have a description of why you are linking to these sites so that the page is interesting and not just what is called a "link farm."

When choosing a site to list your business on, there are really only two criteria to worry about. 1. Does the site clearly show your web site address? 2. Are the people who are lured to that site the type of people who would book at your business? Our TravelInBC site (with some contractual exceptions) has our customers' web sites in obvious links and is all about online booking. Only people who plan to travel in BC go to our site.

In essence, don't let search engines keep you up at night or distract you. Simply keep your web site interesting and up to date.

Robert Ford is the president of Quokka Systems Consulting Ltd. and is a regular contributor to ComputerWorld Canada. (www.itworld.com)

Robert can be reached at Robert@quokkasystems.com

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