It is a mistake to build one's Internet business on the basis of organic search results. You are not in control, the search engines are.

People should relate to organic search results as PR -- but not as Page Rank, but as Public Relations: You can affect it, but you cannot control it. Build your business on solid and controllable advertising, and build PR as best you can.

Why make your income rely on the ups and downs of search results? Who has not experienced the constant change in search results, wrought by the engines continually tweaking their selection algorithms?

Instead, invest substantially in controllable advertising: Pay per click, listings distribution, directory placements, and so forth, in addition to search engine optimization.

Remember that the Internet is simply another medium of communication, taking its place alongside print, radio, and television. Therefore, it's an advertising investment. Don't get trapped in the “build a better website” mentality. You'll end up like all the agents who built a better brochure: A pretty (expensive) 4 color pile of recycling taking up space on your shelf.

Anyone can build a Website. And everyone promises the moon with search results.

A Website is merely a tool to be leveraged online, among other tools. It can be an effective image builder and lead generator -- if it receives traffic, and if it has sufficient 'carrots' to induce consumers to fill out forms and divulge information.

Don't get seduced by the hopeful promise of search results to generate your traffic. For every search engine expert helping clients rise in search engines, there are scores of experts wringing their hands as their clients fade. Could it be otherwise? For every search, there are thousands of optimized sites vying for top placement, and only 10 fit on a page. And those 10 can change at any moment.

Investigate the true cost of controllable, reliable Internet advertising, and budget accordingly. Invest in optimization as an adjunct. Otherwise you are building your business on the trap door of ever changing search results. Even now, your site could be in a totally different search position than the last time you looked.

Published: January 26, 2005

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Lawrence Schoeffler is Vice President of Dominion Homes Web Services and founder of NUMBER1EXPERT. Dominion Homes Web Services includes Advanced Access, Agent Advantage by Homes.com, and Best Image Marketing, and is a division of Dominion Enterprises. Advanced Access is the industry leader in agent websites. More agents invest in an Advanced Access website than any other. Agent Advantage is the official agent website service of Homes.com, one of the most popular real estate portals in America. NUMBER1EXPERT by Best Image offers America's Top Performing Web Sites, with traffic and leads unequalled in the industry, sold exclusively to Top Selling Agents. Email Lawrence at .