You've added meta tags to all your pages, paid the big search engines the big bucks to maybe get added, eventually, someday, to their search results. You monitor them daily, bid on placements, and type in your keywords everywhere you can find a place to search ... Sometimes you're in the top 10, then someone takes over and you drop to 50th. You check your web statistics and you're getting a million hits a day! So why aren't you getting more customers?

I used to work as a publicist for a large video game company. I did press tours, press releases, product demonstrations with the press, the whole nine yards of promotion. When the product didn't sell, the marketing team would come looking for us ... they wanted to know why it wasn't on the cover of every magazine, and why the sales were so low. We had to look them straight in the eye and say "the game sucks." Somehow we've come to believe that spinning stories ("any press is good press") and buying ad space will win customers, when it really comes down to the product or service. Movies with a lot of hype will sell a million tickets the first weekend, but no one will come the next weekend unless it's good. Give the audiences a week to talk about the movie, and that's when you can measure its success.

No one stays on top in the search engines (try getting placed above amazon.com if you're in the book business). There's always a new way to get there, a new way to stay there, and more and more all these tricks and placements take money. But placement does not guarantee customers. If getting on the search engines alone isn't working, think service, empowerment, content, and contact.

Is there anything more important than being number one on the search engines? Yes, word of mouth. If you never got placed on any search engine, anywhere, you could conceivably survive and be a great success with only word of mouth. Yes, search engines can help you get that first customer, and the next one, but the only way to build up a customer base is by word of mouth. And the only way to get this going is by giving them something to talk about. Provide a great service that fills a need and word of mouth will follow. Conduct your service professionally, reliably, and honestly. It is more important to concentrate on this aspect than on any other piece of the online marketing puzzle.

Next, make sure you communicate how your service empowers your customer. One way to get noticed and to make your customer feel like you can empower them and help them succeed is to become known as an expert in your field. Write articles and submit them to print and online publications; email them to new and former customers. Associate yourself with other experts as well, develop and nurture your reputation.

Contact is also key. Check in with your current and past customers. Ask them how your service is working for them, find out their success story using your service or product, and let them know they're not alone in their results.

List your site on every search engine known to man, monitor your placement, but most importantly — maintain your reputation through a reliable service that empowers your customer and aids in their success.