The Power of
Topic Specific Search Engines
by: S. Housley
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:
by-http://www.feedforall.com
