In the second place comes Yahoo with the share of 20.29%, which shows a drop of 0.30% from
February 2008 and almost 1% in comparison with March 2007!

In the third place come MSN with the share of 6.55% which shows a drop of 0.30% from February
2008 and 2.36% in comparison with March 2007!

Last but never least Ask.com with share of 4.09% which shows a drop of 0.7% from February 2008 but shows also an increase of 0.61% in comparison with March 2007!

This leave to us 1.72% left which is covered by the remaining search engines!

The figures above clearly shows that Google is still the ‘big mama’ not to mention that the report also showed that the number of traffic generated from search engines for Travel, Entertainment, Business and Finance and Sports categories have doubled and Google contributed to this traffic increase by 17%!

These results shouldn’t be misleading to a decision to concentrate your efforts to only Google as there are still more than 30% of 10 million internet users (Hitwise studied their search habit as a basis of analysis ) are still using other search engines.

1. Beef up content. MSN optimization experts say that MSN algorithm gives preferentiality to ‘page optimization’ efforts. So the more relevant your content, the higher you will rank. The old ‘keyword density’ still works in the new MSN search engine technology. It’s true what they say – in MSN optimization or virtually any search engine optimization campaign, content is king.

MSN optimization experts say that MSN algorithm prefers heavier levels of keyword density both in the page and in the URL than other search engines (such as Google). Expect to have greater MSN optimization edge if your site has high keyword density. MSN optimization experts even go as far as to say that the MSN search engine prefers three times the keyword density preferred by Google.

2. Get indexed. Search for and hook up to links on other sites that are already indexed in MSN. Get directories that are regularly indexed by MSN to list your site – this way, when MSN spiders their site, your site gets spiders, too.

3. Work on incoming link anchor texts. Like all search engines, MSN reads only anchor texts that are informative and sensible. Do not overdo it, though –overuse of keyword phrase/s in the anchor text will do your MSN optimization campaign more harm than good. Just split your anchor text into two or more different phrases – as you can imagine, this will give your site high MSN search engine placements for more than one phrase.

4. Update regularly. MSN optimization experts all agree that of all the search engines, it is MSN that favors dynamic sites the most. Revamp your content on a continuous basis to amp your MSN optimization campaign. This will not only boost your MSN rankings – it will also increase your readership and sustain your reader’s interests, which is always a good thing by any measure.

Other developments to look out for

The list of MSN optimization techniques will surely become longer in the next months as MSN implements changes in its technology as it attempts to gain a bigger market share in the search engine industry. MSN is soon launching a very intuitive and personalized search engine feature that reviews a user’s past behavior to ‘guess’ exactly what he or she is looking for. MSN experts also say that MSN will soon be intensifying its RSS feed.

MSN optimization is therefore very important now more than ever –topping the MSM ranks could rake in huge dollars for your online business. Always update yourself on the latest MSN optimization techniques to make sure that your site is never left behind.

What are the different types of search engines?

A search engine is actually a user-friendly program that indexes websites in a database to help users locate sites and pages relevant to what they are searching for. There are three different kinds of search engines: (a) crawler-based search engines, (b) human-powered directories, and (c) hybrid search engines. Each type works differently, and you therefore need to know what tactics to employ to make sure you rank high in any kind.

A crawler-based search engine (such as the ever popular Google) works without human intervention. It literally crawls or ‘spiders’ the internet based on keywords (especially titles) to generate its listings. The process is fully-automated, so if you make changes to your website, Google finds it robotically.

Getting high rankings in crawler-based search engines entails skills in “Search Engine Optimization’ or SEO, which should be easy if you happen to have a solid background in programming. If you don’t however, it may be best to seek professional help. There are companies who specialize in optimizing your website for crawler-based search engines. While their services can cost a good deal of money, your investment almost immediately pays off in the form of increased site traffic and sales.

Another type of search engine comes in form of human-powered directories. As its name implies, this type of search engine relies on humans to manually add to its listings. Depending on the search engine company, you can either (a) submit your site details yourself, or (b) talk to their editor to write an entry for you.

Note that if you modify your site, you need to manually submit the changes to the search engine. Things that are important to crawler-based search engines (such as metafiles and keyword-rich content) have little or no importance to a human-powered directory. If you want editors to notice your site and put it in the top ranks of the search engine, you just have to improve its quality and usability.

Finally, there are hybrid search engines that are very prevalent today. An example of such a search engine is MSN. How does this kind of search engine work? By combining crawler-based technology and human-powered listings, MSN uses LookSmart to lead users to sites of general queries, but also uses Inktomi for more ambiguous search engine queries.