If you go strictly by the numbers, Yahoo, MSN and Google are the "Big 3" of search engines and directories. Between them, they index millions and millions of pages in their directories. Although Google claims to index over 4 billion.

However, that's a subject for a different day. The point is, out of all those millions and millions of pages, there's room for only a very few websites at the top of the results pages.

That means, if you go strictly by the number of indexed web pages in their directories, you have a better chance of winning the lottery, than getting high enough in the results pages to where it's going to make a significant difference in your traffic. That's not my opinion, it's a fact!

You're simply playing a game YOU CANNOT WIN!

So what can you do about it? The first thing you need to do is forget about the search engines--period! Just forget about them!

Why? Because even if you're one of the fortunate few to get a high enough ranking to where it's making a significant difference in your traffic, there's no guarantee you'll get to keep it. Since the search engines are constantly changing the rules of the game (AKA) their algorithms, you could be number one in the search engines today and totally off the results pages tomorrow. Again, that's not my opinion, it's a fact!

If you don't believe me, just ask those thousands of devastated and bankrupt business owners whose websites disappeared off of the results pages altogether, when a category 5 hurricane named "Florida" swept through the Gulf of Google on November 16, 2003.

But that's exactly what happens when you put all of your eggs into one basket. And just like it's wise to have "multiple streams of income," it's also wise to use a variety of ways to promote your website.

It's sort of like all of those millions of people who flock to Las Vegas every year hoping to get lucky. There's only one problem. The system was not designed for you to win. It was designed to make you think you could win. That's the allure of Las Vegas and that's the allure of the search engines--they make you think you can win. You can't!

Oh sure, just like in Vegas, you'll have your lucky few who hit the jackpot and snare a top ranking on the results pages, at least until the search engines change their rules again. But the vast majority are left on the outside looking in, and at the mercy of so-called SEO experts who are only too happy to take your money and continue to make you think you can win the game. You can't!

What you have to do is forget about the search engines. Just forget about them! I realize it's difficult, especially with all thats been written said over the years about how critical the search engines are to your business. Believe me when I tell you, it's all a bunch of bull! Businesses were doing just fine, when there weren't any search engines. Just fine.

In fact, I'm earning a very comfortable living on the Internet, without any significant search engine presence whatsoever.

What's my secret? I don't depend on the search engines! I never have. I refuse to play the game. That's my secret in a nutshell! My traffic comes from the dozens of articles I've written that have been picked up and published on popular websites all over the Internet. I also get traffic via word of mouth, newsletters and ezines that my articles are published in, and a few other secret methods that I use.

And you can do the same thing. You just have to get out of that search engine mindset.

Now I realize writing articles may not be a desirable option for many of you. That's fine. However, there are many other proven and effective ways to market your website. Here are just a few: ezines, newsletters, forums, online magazines, sponsor listings on other websites, exchanging links.

Here are a few offline options: magazines, direct mail, shopper newspapers, cable television, radio, flyers, hospital newsletters, card decks, trade journals and directories, bulletin boards, tabloid newspapers.

In addition, do yourself a favor and buy the book, "Guerrilla Marketing," by Jay Conrad Levison. It's loaded with low-cost ways to promote your business!

As you can see, you have plenty of other options available to you, besides the search engines. All you have to do is use them--and a little imagination.

It's time to stop playing a game you can't win, and start playing a few that you can!