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Submit your Web site to search engines
Q: I have a Web site that has been up for 3 months. I am trying to figure out how to submit my site to search engines so it is easily found by potential customers. I know there are several companies and software that will assist in submission. What are your recommendations?
A: Search engines are getting smarter all the time. These days their computerized "bots" come to your site, do a fairly good job of reading your copy, then put your site in their database according to the words found most frequently in your copy.
Your title, that line of text in the little box on your browser, is the key factor. After that, your first 50 words of text are important. Several search engines also look at META Tags, code in your HTML, to classify your site. AltaVista.com has a very good and simple explanation of how to write META Tags.
I've tried several different submission services and found that submitting myself does just as well. You can submit your URL to all the major search engines free with one click at sites like all4one.com. Don't worry about getting on the hundreds of search engines some services advertise. Most are small directories with little traffic. The top five or six search engines draw 85 percent of all users.
Also be aware that top search engines will let you pay to get listed. Yahoo has an Express Submission service that is well worth the money. Looksmart, who provides results for MSN, Excite, AltaVista, and IWon, also has paid submission.
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