Hi Catherine ~
Even Google will tell you there is no guarantee your site will be
included in its index.
While you can submit your site for inclusion on Google's Add URL page,
- ://www.google.com/addurl.html
You will see that they advise, "we cannot make any predictions or
guarantees about when or if they will appear."
You can increase your likelihood of being included in Google's
directory by making sure your site has relevant content, there are
links to your site, and that your basic HTML and design are both
user-friendly and search engine friendly.
Just so you aren't totally in the dark, Google supplies a great deal
of information on how to get listed and rank reasonably well.
I am including important links from Google's site. This information
will help you understand Google's goals and responsibility to the web
searcher (and not the webmaster or site owner).
Webmasters who follow the guidelines and avoid Google's "Thou shalt
nots" usually have no problem getting listed and showing up under the
search terms they desire.
* Google Today (absolutely the best information you
can read about the "how and why" of Google's results
- ://www.google.com/corporate/today.html
* How Do I Get My Site Listed on Google?
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html
* My Web Pages Are Not Currently Listed (a good 'primer'
on how and why Google works so well)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
* PageRank Information (covers both Google's PageRank and
SERPS)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html
* Webmaster Guidelines (contains both the dos and don'ts)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
* Google Facts & Fiction (can you buy your way to a
high ranking in Google?)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/facts.html
* Search Engine Optimizers (some good advice on what to look
for if you're going to hire a Search Engine Optimizer)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
* Frequently Asked Questions (pretty much what it says, but
definitely worth wading through)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/faq.html
* Remove Content from Google's Index (just in case you feel
a burning need to start all over again)
- ://www.google.com/remove.html
Pay particular attention to the type of sites linking to yours and
develop RELEVANT links. Do not participate in linking schemes or
exchanges with no other intent but to try to boost your Page Rank,
because those will ultimately hurt more than help.
Make sure you use the search terms within your site's CONTENT, not
just in metatags which are mostly ignored by search engines.
Make sure your site is designed properly with no errors that may
prevent search engine crawlers from being able to index your site.
After you have done that, you can submit your site and wait for it to
show up. This can take as long as 12 weeks, because it takes a long
time for an index of over 6 billion pages to completely update.
Search terms
==============
I relied solely on the information and resources I use on a daily
basis to answer this question. Google provides detailed information in
the links I gave on how to be included and even rank well, if you
stick to their Guidelines.
Best wishes, and good luck,
Serenata
Google Answers Researcher |
