You'll always have bigger and better competitors, but that doesn't mean you can't succeed. You can always offer something 'slightly' different or a 'radical new alternative' if you insist. However, to deliver your message to the maximum number of people out there, to effectively compete with the competition, you first need to get your website ranking higher on the search engines. In fact being on the first three slots will guarantee you steady traffic to your Internet business.

Ever since the creation of Google in 1998, getting ranked high in Google's search engine has become a major concern for web site owners, a goal to be achieved that marks success. Recent statistics show that 80 percent of Internet users use Google to search for something whether it is information or a product. However, no one can say for sure the exact criteria that Google uses to determine its rankings. It is rumored that over 100 criteria are used to determine the algorithm which ranks your site's credibility with its search engines. Of course, some of these criteria are secret, but there are some known methods to achieve higher rankings.

The first thing of importance is your website content. Quality content in an easy-to-use site is perhaps one of the most important things you can do. "Content" refers to the words, articles, documents - generally all text information on your site. Search engines do not regard graphics themselves as content. Although flashy graphics will impress your visitors, they won't help you in getting high ranks with search engines beyond the alt text that you place in the coding of your page for the graphics. Search engines use programs called spiders to research the content on your website. These spider programs in general won't be able to decipher the information in your flashy graphics. If your page is graphic heavy you may even end up on the lower scale of the results.

Another thing that you have to employ is keywords. Having a website with only the prices and the names of the products will not get you very far with the search engines. You need key words on your pages that tell the search engine what you content is about. Also make sure to update your content frequently and with quality content as this will help you get a better ranking on the search engines.

A common mistake web owners make is in spelling and grammar. This will put off potential customers as a result of appearing unprofessional. As well, it has also been found that more than three spelling mistakes can cause you to lose your ranking with the search engines.

Another essential key to ranking is getting links back to your website from other websites on the internet, particularly sites with good page rank status. This lends heavily to your site's credibility in the eyes of Google and others.

Reaching and keeping your website high on the search engines' top lists will be an ongoing endeavor. With well written content, filled with niche-rich keywords, and pages low on graphics and high in quality information plus back links for authority-delivered traffic, you can climb the ranks quickly and consistently with a little work and a lot of results.