Ever see those little custom icons next to a web site listing in your favorites folder or on your browser address bar? Have you ever wondered how to create one for your own site? Well I'm going to teach you in this article.

Unlike submitting to search engines, submitting your site to directories and niche portals usually involves a lot more than simply typing in your URL. You often have to start by researching the various topic categories to find the most appropriate area to submit to. Then you generally have to provide some detailed information about your site, its’ content, your company and your contact details.

Search Engine Marketing requires both technical and marketing skills. Search engine marketing includes SEO (Technical) and PPC (marketing) and SMO (advertising).

Your small business probably uses multiple marketing "channels" already, whether you think of them as channels or not. Print advertising, email campaigns, pay-per-click marketing, direct mail, banner ads - all of these are different types of marketing channels that you may already be using to promote your products and services. But although most small businesses know that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important for their web sites, not many use SEO as one of their strategic marketing channels.

Search engine marketing is increasing playing a dominant role in driving traffic to business websites and this trend does not appear to be changing. In today's economy, there is a pertinent need, now more than ever, to review the search strategy for your business. And if you don't have a search strategy, it is more important now to develop and implement one.   Has today's declined economy impacted search volumes? The answer is Yes. Search volumes have surged, in obvious categories such as job-seeking sites, new internet business ventures sites, home-based business sites, joint-ventures sites, in short, ways to make a living. For the day-to-day, information and retail offer sites such as coupons websites, home-maker saving tips and DIY websites are visited more often as consumers seek out frugal ways to go about with their daily lives.   Search volumes have increased in the last few months, purely because more people are searching for information and solutions from the internet. If you're in the business of providing information and solutions to paying consumers, search space is where you need to be. Perhaps the search strategy you had in place six months ago was based on seasonality of your product and service, or based on consumer pre-recession behaviour, this is the time to review these strategies and change with the times.   In travel for example, the trend of advance booking for the Easter holidays was absent this year, with many consumers skeptical of the future dating from Christmas. Moving into the new year, more have lost their jobs and livelihood. This resulted in re-focusing of family budgets on more immediate necessities and short-term expenses. Planning and booking of traditional family outings over Easter holidays was left to the last minute, which also meant that families were seeking deals and doing more research before they would part with their dollars.   A simple 3-step health-check on your search strategy: Step1 Review and Re-focus - review your target keywords and campaigns. It doesn't mean you have to change them but it may require a shift in focus to answer directly consumers' search for value in your product and service. Check which high quality links are driving traffic to your website. Step 2 Revamp and Implement - revamp and implement your search ad campaigns, utilize free tools such as Google Webmaster Tools, Yahoo Site Explorer and Microsoft Webmaster Centre to optimize your web pages to better rank in organic search, and build more links with networks or organizations that have proven to drive quality traffic to your site. These actions should help put you on a level playing field with your competition. Step 3 Track and Test - unlike traditional forms of advertising, online and search marketing is fully accountable, so tracking is crucial. With tracking and accountability, it also means that you'll be able to test campaigns and optimize the performance of your campaigns, to achieve the revenue objectives of your business. Tracking and testing needs to be priority and an on-going discipline for search. Bear in mind that the search place is a global marketplace. With millions and still growing number of consumers visiting this market everyday, be prepared to optimize your search campaigns as often as possible to ensure you are reaching your audience. So where required, review and revamp, test and track again.