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Using
Search Engines Even though there are literally thousands of search engines (most of them very small and localized) most businesses only need to be concerned about the top 15. Once your web site is completed and uploaded to the World Wide Web, you want your site to be accessed by these "Top 15" search engines ASAP. After your site is registered with each of them, they schedule your site to be "indexed." Basically, this means that they send out a "spider" or a "robot" to go through your site, adding the descriptive words and phrases to their own databases. Then, when someone types in a search query, they use their software to go through these databases to find the closest matches. Each search engine uses a different algorithm to rank your site, so it is virtually impossible to be listed near the top with each of them (in fact, your ranking within each engine will shift periodically as they alter their own algorithms). The key is to have your site as correctly designed as possible, register your URL (and re-register it every 6 months if necessary!), and then let the search engines do their thing. Be aware that since search engines are commercial sites, some of them will list a company's URL higher if that firm pays for that position, so nothing you do will put you ahead of these people unless you pay more than they have. Finally, understand that
there is a technical difference between a "search engine" and
a "directory". A search engine will automatically index your
site once you register with them, whereas at a directory (such as Yahoo!) you submit your URL for consideration, then an editor (an actual
human) decides if your site is right for them.
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