Just about every web marketer has heard the term search engine optimization, and virtually every internet user is familiar with search engines and how they work. While search engines can be incredibly useful, they do have a number of important drawbacks as well as advantages. Tagging and pinging is quickly emerging to address some of the shortcomings of search engine technology, and smart web savvy marketers would do well to understand the differences between these two competing technologies.

Perhaps the chief difference between traditional search engines and the new tag and ping method is how the content is categorized. While traditional search engine algorithms rely on spiders which continually crawl the web and place millions of web sites into search categories, the tag and ping method relies instead on actual human beings to do the categorizing. It is perhaps this personal touch that is so important in the world of the internet, and this may be why so many people find the results generated from tag and ping much more useful and much more reliable.

The tag and ping method can be much more useful for internet marketers as well. One of the key benefits from a marketing perspective is that the latest post will appear at the top for the word under which it is categorized. For instance, if I post a web site link or blog entry using the tag "business", anyone who searches for "business" will see my post at the top. After another post has been made with the tag "business", my post would drop to number two. Contrast that with the incredible difficulty and expense it can take to get a web site in the top 10 of a search engine and it is easy to see why the tag and ping method is becoming so popular.

More and more web users are becoming frustrated and disillusioned with the traditional search engines, and more and more users are turning to alternative methods, like tag and ping, to find the information they want. Staying on top of these important trends and movements is one of the most effective ways for smart webmasters to keep their businesses in front of potential customers, and to keep their profits as high as possible.

By Cody oya