Free Search Engine Submission
For the most part, there isn't much need to take the time
to submit a web site to spider-based search engines. Most
of these engines have robots that scour the web looking for
content and new pages to add to their indexes. If you work
to establish incoming links to your site, it shouldn't take
long for them to find you on their own and include you in
the index, and since most of the major directories are spidered
on a regular basis, getting your site listed in them is a
sure bet that the spider based engines will find you on their
own.
Nevertheless, many webmasters and SEOs prefer the satisfaction
of knowing they have submitted their web site to the engines,
so here's a list of the most popular search engines that allow
for free submission and how to add your url to them.
The most popular search engine, Google, is one of the few
that still remains entirely free to submit your web site to.
Google has stated in the past that they prefer to find sites
on their own, since the number and quality of incoming links
is an important part of their ranking algorithm, but if it
makes you feel better to submit your site, no harm should
come from it. Using their add url feature, you can submit
any page of your web site for inclusion in their next round
of indexing. It usually takes one to two months before you'll
find your site completely indexed. There's also no need to
submit every page of your web site. Submitting your index
page, or your site map will give Google enough information
that it will eventually work its way through your entire site
on its own.
You'll want to include FAST on your list of spider-based
engines to submit to. Now that it powers partner site AlltheWeb's
search and once popular site Lycos, a listing with FAST can
help drive traffic to your site without costing you a penny.
FAST does have an add url option, but much like Google, it
is very good about finding your web site pages and adding
them to the index on its own. Once again, working to build
relevant incoming links to your web site is the best way to
get your site included in this search engine. Using the add
url feature, it will likely take your site about six weeks
to get listed with this engine.
The last of the major search engines that still accept free
submission of your web sites is search veteran Alta Vista.
Although Alta Vista will, in time, find your web site on its
own and include it in the index, it does have an add url feature
that you can use to submit your site with. Unlike the other
add url options, Alta Vista utilizes a spam busting submittal
process that will require you to type in a combination of
letters and numbers that are shown as graphics on the screen
before you are allowed to submit your pages. This keeps automated
programs from being able to enter the "password"
and submit sites. Alta Vista's human only submission form
usually results in your web site being included in the index
in about a month.
A common myth associated with submitting sites to the free
search engines is that you'll need to resubmit your site each
month in order to maintain or improve your rankings. In reality,
resubmission does nothing to improve a site's ranking once
it has been indexed, and in some cases, could cause you to
be flagged as a spammer. So, before you take the time to resubmit
a site, check to make certain it's not already listed in the
index.
Overall, you'll need to realize that submitting for free
will take time. Sure, it takes only moments to add your url
to each engine, but you'll still need to wait for the spiders
to visit your web site, work its way through all of your pages,
and include you in the directory. Count on this process taking
anywhere from one to three months.
However, if you aren't the patient type, and you've got a
little money to burn, you might be interested in the paid
inclusion option offered by several of the spider-based engines.
|
