I went in search of a particular business card today, a client's card. I had apparently stashed it away unwittingly, and could not find it.

I DID find the following cards, however:

• Flight instructor's card (I'm learning to fly.)
• Crump Sound & Audio
• Courtesy Auto Unlocking Service
• Cogbill's Store & Museum
• Insurance agent's card
• Hobson's Vacation Inn, Grand Junction, TN
• ANOTHER Courtesy Auto Unlocking card
and
• A used card dealer's card

Finally, FINALLY, after an extended, thorough, and diligent search, I found the card I was looking for! It was hidden in the back of a kitchen drawer where some family member of mine stuck it when they were cleaning the kitchen counters. (They refused to confess who was the culprit, even when threatened with a lie detector test.)

It dawned on me that a lot of Internet searches end up this way. What if someone is trying to find your Internet "business card" and, instead, finds returns for sites that have little if anything to do with the object of their search. What if your site is buried in the "back drawer" so to speak of the third, fourth, or fifth page. . .or worse, the 1000th!?!?! You'll NEVER be found! (Keep reading. This story has a happy ending.)

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As a teenager years ago I started learning to play the guitar. One of the hot bands at that time was Deep Purple. I recall reading an interview in Guitar Player magazine with their lead guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, where he advised young players to copy the "licks" they heard other guitarists use. He said that was one technique he had used to become competent on the instrument.

In learning how to optimize your website for the search engines, I suggest you use a similar strategy. Here's how it works: Type a keyword combination apropos to your business into the major search engines, and see who's websites return the highest ranking.

Then, take a look at their sourcecode. Study the keyword and description metatags. What other keywords and keyphrases are they using? Also, study what types of keywords are used in the "alt" tags, as well as how those same words are used in the body copy.

In order for a site to return a top 10 on any major search engine, they must be doing something right. Take Blackmore's advice and learn from them. It's just one way to help your site find it's way up the rankings too.

I have many more tips where that came from. Contact me with your small business marketing needs.