Okay, this applies to every search engine, but since Google drives at least 70% of search traffic to most websites, why beat around the bush? Yahoo’s decent. MSN Live Search and ASK are a joke. You aren’t going to make a living off them. So let’s deal with Google.
There are three primary ways to get indexed. Ready?
- Linking to your site from other blogs.
- Directory submissions
- Publishing from a blog on your own site
As an avid blogger, it has been my experience that blogs are the fastest way to get something indexed. I am using WordPress as my standard of blogging software. The reason blogs get indexed is because they automatically ping services that notify Google of a new page’s existence.
So, if you have a blog on your site, and you post to it, it should draw Google spiders to your doorstep. If you do not, arrange for another blog to post an article with a text link to your website. That page will get indexed and send Google spiders to your site as well (they’ll follow the link).
The old school way to get your site indexed is to submit it to directories. Top directories include Yahoo Directory, dmoz, BOTW (best of the web), Business.com, JoeAnt, etc.
I do recommend directory submissions to each website. I do NOT recommend them for the purpose of getting indexed. Why? Because directories usually rely on human editors to review the submissions and approve them. This can take weeks, even months depending on the directory. Blogs are much quicker solutions.
Will this get every page of your site indexed by Google? No. That is not guaranteed. First, Google has to know you exist. Second, your site has to be formatted properly so that Google can easily find every page of your site. We’ll cover how to properly format your site’s structure in order to get completely indexed in another post.
For now, get your home page noticed and indexed.
