I was thinking the same thing as Lisa.

Backlinks (inpointing links from other sites to your site) are the way to get Google's attention.

Post some articles, get in some directories (the higher the Google Page Rank the better) use signature files in niche-related forums...

After you have 50 (gulp) or more backlinks, Google starts givin' you some love.

Oh- and they're the toughest to please in all categories:
1- Google won't credit you for all of your pages of content
2- Google won't count all of your links (or as many as Live or Yahoo)
3- When they change their algorithm all your indexed pages may fall off the search engine scene for a while.

But...

Right now, at least, they're the best show in town (in some categories). They've made me happy, upping my PageRank as my site has grown (I'm pleased to have a PR4 now - makes me smile - and that will continue to grow).

But I've learned from some folks that they ignore Google and focus on Live and Yahoo more - and those SE's bestow upon them copious traffic in return.

That's why they make chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, right?

Lisa's right: over time, as you build your site (lots of high-value content and meta tags and good keywords) you will win.

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Amy
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