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This article was contributed by John Braithwaite.

Dan Briody of msn.com recently wrote a great article on how to make your web advertising more effective.  As the internet is such a relatively inexpensive way to promote your products and is quickly rendering other forms of marketing obsolete, I thought that he offered a valuable tip on how to get your website to pop up on a search engine more often than your competitors.  He says,

“Realistically, the chance of a potential customer randomly stumbling across your site is, well, one in a trillion. That’s why Internet marketers talk about search engine optimization, which is simply a fancy term for ways to increase your company’s chances of being found by search engines.  Fortunately, it’s not as hard as you think. Search engines are not complicated. They like two things: 1) content, and lots of it, the fresher the better; and 2) links, either to or from your Website.

First, I want to talk about content. Your Web site may have flash animation, the finest design and a really great shopping cart. But if it sits there for years, unchanging, offering the same 12 static pages, the only search terms that will bring it up are “boring Web sites that add no value to anyone.” So start updating your content, and keep updating it if you want search engines (and customers) to find you!

Search engines look for dynamic, active sites. They want content that changes frequently and builds on itself. They want blogs, commentary, feeds, polls and user-generated content. A blog is the easiest way to start generating relevant content. Be sure to blog about things your customers care about. For example, if you run a real-estate firm, blog about mortgage rates and refinancing options. If you run a restaurant, blog about food. Offer advice, link to interesting articles, record a podcast, film a video.”