| Submitting your site to the search engine monster Google is, without a doubt, the most important first step one should make with regards to the successful marketing of their website. However, a URL listing on Google is not the end-all, be-all solution to getting your web pages found in the search engines. With its enormous size and market share, we sometimes forget that there are other important search engines, aside from Google, worthy of submitting our website to. In fact, there are quite a few other top search engines to which we should always submit the URL of our new web site.
Once at the top of the search engine heap, and still an important player in the industry, is Yahoo, the web’s oldest directory. Submitting a site to the Yahoo search engine should be just as mandatory as a Google submission. Another old player with a new name is the Bing, the search engine formely known as MSN Live Search. Submit your site to Bing for free via their submit URL page. Another major search engine worth submission consideration is Ask.com, formerly known as “Ask Jeeves” (still known as Ask Jeeves in the UK).
The importance of successfully submitting to the top search engines above becomes apparent when we look at the next level, or 3rd tier, of search engines and beyond. For example, Alta Vista, once a top site in the search game, now provides results powered by Yahoo. The same goes for AllTheWeb.com (FAST). Search results at Snap.com are enhanced by Ask.com, among others. And, at this writing, Netscape Search is powered by Google, as are a number of lower level engines and directories. So one sees rather quickly that submitting to, and being listed on, the big search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask can have a significant “trickle down” effect with regards to your website being ranked, not just on those big names, but on any number of lesser, yet still important search engines and directories.
In addition to search engine submissions, smart webmasters will also pursue other avenues for gaining exposure and back links. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have become important tools, as has submitting articles and related website content to sites like Digg.com, StumbleUpon.com and other content sharing community sites. |
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