Hi wfscottiii ~
Getting listed on Google isn't hard, provided you include good rich
content which includes the terms under which you wish to be found.
There are two ways Google suggests for getting your site listed:
One, as Compie-ga mentioned, is Google's "Add:URL" page, here,
- ://www.google.com/addurl.html
The second, though, is what Google considers the best way,
"The best way to ensure Google finds your site is for your
page to be linked from lots of pages on other sites.
Google's robots jump from page to page on the Web via
hyperlinks, so the more sites that link to you, the more
likely it is that we'll find you quickly."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A2
And it further explains its technology in "Our Search: Google Technology":
"The heart of our software is PageRank?, a system for
ranking web pages developed by our founders Larry Page
and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. And while we
have dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect
of Google on a daily basis, PageRank continues to provide
the basis for all of our web search tools."
and its PageRank in "PageRank Explained"
"PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the
web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of
an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets
a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for
page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume
of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the
page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are
themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make
other pages "important."
Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank,
which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. Of
course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don't
match your query. So, Google combines PageRank with
sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that
are both important and relevant to your search. Google
goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a
page and examines all aspects of the page's content (and
the content of the pages linking to it) to determine if
it's a good match for your query."
- ://www.google.com/technology/index.html
Please note - that does NOT mean signing up for a bunch of link pages,
or link farms, it does mean that having relevant links from other
pages to your own is the best way to get listed, since Google's search
engine crawler follows links from other sites.
Just signing up for a bunch of link pages is greatly frowned upon -
and are often regarded as an attempt to "spam" Google. Such practices
could conceivably get you banned from Google, so make sure the links
to and from your site are relevant to the site's content.
===========================
Establishing Links
===========================
As noted above, Google's PageRank is based on the number of pages
which link to your site. You will also have to establish relevant
links TO your site in order to be included and rank well in Google's
index.
There are many practical ways of establishing links which are
beneficial to you in your endeavor to get respectable position
placement on search engines. These methods may take time, but they
also help in establishing credibility and help with your page rank.
Approach like-minded or complementary businesses about linking to your
site (with a reciprocal link from your own). This works without
harming search engine positioning or page rank.
A WORD OF WARNING:
==================
Google specifically warns "Don't participate in link schemes designed
to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid
links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web as your own
ranking may be affected adversely by those links." (See Google's
Quality Guidelines - Basic principles)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
It stands to reason that what's good for Google, currently ranked as
the number one search engine is good rule to follow for other search
engines.
Articles on Link Popularity
===========================
Some excellent articles on how to establish the right kind of links
are available in Traffick's "Ten Steps to Building Links to Your
Site", Craig Fifield - 5/3/2002
- http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=77
Search Engine Watch's "Google PageRank Lunacy" by Mike Grehan, March, 2004,
- http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3319461
and his "Link Equity Explained", available in PDF,
- http://www.search-engine-book.co.uk/LinkEquityExplained.pdf
"Link Building Is Important", which discusses link building from A to
Z and also provides a good reference page with linking resources.
- http://www.linkingmatters.com/WhyLinkingIsImportant.html
The information contained in the above articles offer suggestions
which can be easily adapted for use on any website without resorting
to link farms. The differences in "good links" and those which may be
harmful are discussed, and the articles offer simple ways to get
started to the kind of linking search engines prefer.
==============================
Other things you should do
==============================
While you didn't mention whether or not your old site was listed in
Google's search index, if it was, an excellent way to help direct
Google and others to your new site is to permanently redirect the old
site to your new site. If it is listed, Google will find the new site
quickly enough.
========================
How Quick Is "Quick"?
========================
The best and most honest answer is "it depends" on many factors. If
you submit your site via Google's "Add:URL page", you may see it
appear and rank well for a short time only to disappear again. This
often happens because it is added to one of Google's data centers but
takes time to get added to them all.
Google explains it in "Multiple indices",
"We update our index about every four weeks. If you
happen to enter the same query repeatedly while we
are in the process of posting the index at our
various data centers around the country, it might
seem like you are seeing inconsistent results from
Google. What is actually happening is that you are
seeing a result from an 'old' version of our index
one time and a result from a 'new' version the next.
Due to the size of our index, we can not simultaneously
post a new index at all of our data centers, which
may result in this behavior for a short period of
time."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#B2
You can see the benefit of redirecting the old site until the new site
is totally included in Google's index.
============================
Using A Submission Service
============================
Google specifically recommends NOT using a submission service to
submit your site. There have been instances reported by different site
owners and/or webmasters that their sites have been banned for using
such services to submit and/or check their Google rankings.
Here's what Google says in its "Quality Guidelines - Basic principles",
"Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit
pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume
computing resources and violate our terms of service.
Google does not recommend the use of products such as
WebPosition Gold? that send automatic or programmatic
queries to Google."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
==========================================
Important Google Links For Your Reference
==========================================
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
================================
Other Sources of Information
================================
There is also good information from many of the top search engine
optimization experts, such as
* Jill Whalen, High Rankings
- http://www.highrankings.com/
* Shari Thurow, Web Pro News (and quoted all over the Internet)
- www.webpronews.com/
* Detlev Johnson, Search Engine Guide
- http://www.searchengineguide.com/detlev/
* Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Watch
- http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
who all have columns or newsletters to which you can subscribe and
keep abreast of the best way to use good content for better
positioning in search engine results.
In addition, Webmaster World - http://www.webmasterworld.com/ - has
discussion boards on most of the search engines. While some of the
discussions are anecdotal and/or questions for information, there is
usually enough discussion to keep abreast of what seems to be
happening.
There is an entire section devoted to Google at:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/
It never hurts to keep track of the discussions; but remember, trying
to optimize for search engines only is like trying to hit a moving
target. You'll notice among the more experienced contributors to the
discussions - plus the SEO experts listed above - that there really is
no substitute for content, relevant links and good HTML.
Search terms used ~
====================
The information supplied in this answer required no search
terminology, as the information is bookmarked and used regularly in my
regular day-to-day business.
If you follow the basics, provide information rich, relevant content,
establish links to your site and design it in a user-friendly (hence,
search engine friendly) manner, you should have no trouble getting
listed in Google's index in a reasonable length of time.
While some users say it has taken as long as 12 weeks, most have found
their sites listed in less time than that. You'll be able to tell when
your site has been indexed and included by putting your new domain
name in Google's search box.
Here's to a hasty listing and ranking well in search engine results.
Regards,
Serenata
Google Answers Researcher |
