They say that almost everything you need, you can find on the Internet. The Internet is an online hub where a user can get valuable information, shop for designer clothes, get medical advice and do almost anything with just a few clicks of the mouse. With literally thousands upon thousands of websites out there, can you imagine life without Google? That can really be quite a nightmare!

Search engines are designed to retrieve information stored in its database whenever an online user types in a specific phrase or word. In the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) jargon, this is termed as the keyword. They would then present this data to the user and list all the websites that meet such criteria. Websites with top rankings are sorted out because of their relevancy to these keywords.

There are three basic things that search engines do. First, they search the Internet for relevant keywords. Second, they keep an index of the keywords they have collected. And finally, if a user types in these keywords, search engines present listings of relevant websites where these keywords appear.

Search engines are very important for Internet marketers and online business owners. Since most surfers would naturally rely on search engines to find specific information or to select a particular product to buy, search engines can potentially hoard in a lot of visitors for your website.

Online users would most likely choose to use search engines that generate dependable and fast results. Top quality search engines are well maintained and are updated regularly to keep up with the Internet’s fast-paced development.

There are three major key players in the search engine industry – Google search, MSN search and YAHOO search. Other notable search engines include Ask Jeeves, AOL Search, AllTheWeb, LookSmart, Lycos and AltaVista among others.

Google is without a doubt the no.1 search engine today. It is run by Google Inc. and was launched in 1998. It’s famed for it mission statement: “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful“. It was reported to reach over 3 million queries in a single day and indexes over 25 million web pages and over 1 billion images.

Another well-accepted search utility is Yahoo. It is the Internet’s first web directory and was first launched way back in 1994. Initially, it employs human editors to categorize websites. But in 2004, it started using its very own crawler-based search listing technology.

MSN search is also one of the top movers on online search. It was formerly powered by LookSmart but improved a great deal through the years. It is in the process of developing its crawler-based search technology that promises more comprehensive results.

Because search engines are great sources of traffic, submitting your websites to these major search engines is very vital for your website’s success. Search engine submission or registration would simply mean that you would get your site listed to let the search engines know that such a website exists. Now, getting on top of the page results is an entirely different thing.

Search Engine Optimization is where all the fun is. Websites are all eye-ing on the top spot in page results. SEO employs a number of techniques that basically aims to make your website be on the first few pages of search results when an online user keys in a particular word or phrase.

Here’s a scenario: an online surfer who wanted to buy herself a pair of pearl earrings might possibly key in “pearl jewelry” on a search box. If you have a pagerank of ten (PR 10) your website would appear on top of the search results. If this is the case, you definitely increase the traffic of your site, thus increase your potential customer base- that ultimately means more profit for you!