Is it realistic to base business around free serps

[ted]

Is it realistic to base business around free serps? On one hand, you can never be sure your website isn't going to get booted by the SERPs. On the other hand, Google is almost necessary to get any significant traffic.

Is the compromise that you have to split up your website into many to ensure that you don't lose traffic? Or do you try to build a business that doesn't depend on Google SERPs?

Thanks in advance for your reposnse -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --

[dexter]

I think the answer is kinda yes and kinda no.
It's much harder now than 3-4 years ago.

I'll give you the good news. If you are interested in a real business, and not a "take whatever you can get now" thing, and you're in it for the long haul, and want to work hard at it, AND have skills in web design, real content development, and real business skills (or can access those skills), then..

yes, it's realistic. -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --

[jared]

I would say that yes it is possible, but you need to hold extra cash back to absorb the traffic volitility caused by depending on SERPs, especially if one SE becomes your dominant source of traffic.

Hope that helps -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --

[solomon]

It would seem unwise to build a business on something that may some day disappear through no fault of your own. Some might say that a business model which relies on free traffic is no business model at all.

In my situation, my business is large enough that when traffic is 'on' it requires several paid employees to manage it. Because of the type of business it is, I could not pay for advertising and have it be profitable, but when traffic is 'on', it is a very profitable business. It would be insane to walk away from the money just to have a 'real' business plan.

The solution for me has been to run as clean of an operation as possible. I make sure my employees are constantly aware of the possibility that they could lose their job in a week if everything doesn't line up perfectly, but I pay them well so that if I have to lay them off, they have no regrets. In the event of a Google catastrophe, I would manage the business with just me and my wife, and then -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --

[sylvestor]

Realistic? Possibly.
If you have nerves of steel that will carry you through the more nerve racking moments, and enough skill or time, or both, to get enough natural rankings to begin with.

More realisticly might be a balanced act where you toss in a few traffic generating inbound links which, just by chance of course, might also help the search engines find all your pages. -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --

[pinnacle]

I do think that it depends on if you have poker player mentality.
In theory yes you should be able to build a business online in the same way offline - but we all know that sometimes it gets a bit crazy.

However, in terms of traffic - there are more search engines than Google.

If you build your strategy on all the majors, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask - and you put your ROI figures in to your calculation (and it doesn't rely on one of them) then it will work.

When the going is good with Google then work hard at finding what works with the rest of them, don't wait for Google "update disaster" before you look at what you are doing.

But in general if you have the traffic now, you aren't taking a fine line, and you have spread your risk across the other engines - than why not?

If your strategy relies on Google - then you have to be a good player! -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --

[kremnik]

Hi, According to me, you shouldn't base a business with high fixed costs. You should build a lean, flexible business that will thrive on feast and survive famine. You should start small and only grow with reinvested profits. Basing only around Google is like inviting trouble. -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --

[orlando]

I have a pretty successful online-only mail order company. I, like many others, was suddenly dropped from Google one day. It comes and it goes. I use PPC to see me through the good and bad times.

I also started a 4 day a week job at the beginning of the year because I wanted the security that if the database died, site died or I was dropped totally from search engines I still had an income to pay the mortgage and feed the kids.

I work long hours and I work hard but I sleep easy at night which is what it's all about for me. -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --

[pumice]

if you have great content on your site and you start making a user base, you can excel with free SERP traffic as well.

Also, you need to do something creative and also to keep people attached to your website. -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --

[vibrant]

you may get traffic from Free SERPs, but best thing is to use them in the right way.

Offer something intresting and they will keep coming back.

Keep on adding content and you will keep on getting new visitors from SE.

New visitors may even sign up as members.
Its just a snowball effect, keeps on getting better with time -- This message may have been cut off and the rest will only be shown to members. To become a member, click here --