If you've put up a new website and want it listed by search engines so as to get free traffic, and are asking "How do I put my website on a search engine?" -- here's how.
Search engines have various means of finding a new website, such as via links to it from other websites. But you can add your website to search engines directly, to expedite the process especially when there are no links to it yet, by submitting your website to them.
There are many services out there that offer to submit new websites to thousands of search engines for a fee. Some of them even offer free search engine submissions.
But it's not really a good idea to buy into those services. Here's why not.
To submit to so many search engines, these search engine submission services use automated software.
Unfortunately, most search engines, especially the major ones, ignore automated submissions. And you wouldn't even know, because the search engines don't tell you or send any notice of confirmation or rejection.
There're services that claim to do it by hand, but for the fee they charge, it's not realistic. To cover the hundreds of search engines they claim to submit to, would require so much work that it cannot be worth their while.
So it becomes worse than useless, since you are lulled into a false sense of security, thinking your site has been safely submitted. As it normally takes weeks before a search engine spiders a website that has been submitted, you might waste a lot of time waiting before you realize that yours has not.
What Should You Do?
You can do free search engine submissions yourself. Here's why and how.
The major search engines, namely Google, Yahoo!, and MSN Live Search, and those which use their results, account for over 90% of all search engine traffic on the global Web. (AOL and Netscape use Google's search results, including the rankings it assigns.)
The remaining hundreds of search engines each do not have even half a percentage of web traffic.
You therefore only have to submit to the 3 major search engines, to be covered for most search engine traffic. In fact, traffic from these 3 are so important, that you should not risk using automated services for them. The steps you will take below are no worse, and in fact better, than what automated services can do.
Search Engine Submission to Google
Google has close to half of all search engine traffic. Submitting to Google is free. Go to Google's Add URL page. You only need to submit your home page. Once Google's spider gets to your site, it will find your other pages. However this method of notifying Google does not always work.
So at the same time, submit to The Open Directory, using the Suggest URL function. Google will look at websites listed there. Just note that it will take time for a listing to be done, as this directory is run by volunteers.
Also, they can reject your site without telling you why. So ensure your site has a fair amount of unique content before you submit it.
Alternatively, Google might find your site via a link from another site that is already in their index. It is therefore a good idea to get a few links from established sites, quite apart from the other benefits of such backlinks. (As explained in Link Strategies: Backlinks, in the next section.)
Search Engine Submission to Yahoo!
To submit to the Yahoo! search engine, go to their Add URL form. Like for Google, there is no guarantee that your site will be listed.
Here again, backlinks from sites already in Yahoo's engine will help Yahoo's spider find your site.
Note that the Yahoo! directory is not the same as its search engine. Being listed in one does not mean being listed in the other. Most people use the Yahoo! search engine rather than its directory.
However, there is value in being listed in the directory as it helps your Google ranking. (Applications for submission into this directory are manually vetted, so Google views sites listed here favorably.)
To get listed in it, go to Yahoo! Directory and click on the 'Suggest a Site' link at the top right of the page. It costs $299 to apply for a listing, and there is no guarantee your site will be accepted. While it seems a lot to pay, some people say it's worth it for the extra traffic they find their site getting after being listed.
Submitting to MSN Live Search is as straightforward as the rest. Go to MSN's Add URL page, and key in your homepage address there.
What Next
Don't worry if your website is not indexed immediately. It sometimes takes weeks, or even months. In the meantime, continue to grow your website. To check whether your website has been added, type your address into the search box of the respective search engine.
