Google Shakeup Puts commercial-fishing.org in Top Spot

December 29, 2007 - On December 16, 2007 Commercial-fishing.org overtook several important websites to gain the Google search engine's # 1 spot for the term "commercial fishing". While Google is known for fluctuations in its search engine results and ranks are likely to change again, the upward shift in rank was an important benchmark for the site. The site held the #1 spot thru late December.

Craig Banks of www.commercial-fishing.org explained the site's significance to the commercial fishing industry. "In late 2006 we began building an online resource that would benefit commercial fishermen as well as businesses and organizations connected to the commercial fishing, seafood and aquaculture industries. The site officially opened in January of 2007, offering the commercial fishing sector with tools such as a business directory, web forums, news, articles and other resources."

Among the features are tools such as discussion forums that allow small business owners and fishermen to directly contribute information and discuss issues facing their industry.

Banks spoke about the site blueprint, "Our emphasis has always been on the site being interactive. The idea was to give people that are connected to the commercial fishing industry a variety of tools that allow them to share information, promote their business and learn about industry changes. We have had a good initial response with users from several segments of the industry contributing ideas, articles, photos and other content."

The site owner went on to explain about the changes in Google's rankings of commercial fishing sites. "Our business, Daybreak Web Designs, specializes in analyzing the behavior of search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN. We happened to be in the right place at the right time when Google resorted things. For the last 12 months we have worked to present content that is of benefit to the industry. Having the tools in place to allow others to contribute is a vital component for us. The site content helps us rank well with Google and other search engines and much of the content came from the commercial fishing industry, so everyone benefits."

When asked if the site might retain the #1 position with Google in the long term, Banks replied "Search engine results change daily but we stand a good chance of staying in the top results for a variety of key phrases not only with Google but with Yahoo and MSN. This visibility allows us to offer some of the best online advertising values available to those businesses that provide commercial fishing-related services and equipment."