Registering with search engines

A search engine is a piece of software that enables users to search through an index or database of websites that has been created either by people or automatically by software that crawls through the World Wide Web looking for new websites and indexing them. A search engine is actually the tool that a website such as Yahoo or Google employs to enable people to search its index for websites, images, words or phrases.

Registering your website with search engines such as Yahoo is relatively easy. It is often free and is the first thing you should do once a new website has been launched or an existing one has been re-developed. Registering with search engines is one of the most effective ways of making it easy for people to find your website.

What to do

Option 1: You can register your website yourself with search engines. Here is what to do.

• Compose a descriptive sentence (usually up to 25 words) that summarises your site's content. This sentence should be simple, in plain English, and state the main contents of the website. For example, if you owned a cardboard box factory that sold standard sized boxes and also made them to clients' specifications, you might compose a sentence like this: "XYZ Box Company makes quality cardboard boxes of every standard size and we can produce boxes to your specifications and your budget." (23 words)
• Identify the most popular search engines that allow you to register your site with them.
• Log on to their sites, locate the online registration form or area and complete the instructions - and you will probably be asked to use the sentence you composed in step 1 above.

Many search engine directories, like Yahoo, are organised into categories, and allow you to register your site in multiple categories. It takes time to register your website with the most popular search engines and may be a day's work, but usually it is free.

The search engine owners will check your application and choice of categories and index the site. This usually takes 2 to 6 weeks.

Option 2: You can pay an organisation to register your website with search engines. Many companies offer this service. Locate them using a search engine and select one that offers the best value for money and will register your site with search engines that are popular with your target audience.

Refer to www.searchenginewatch.com for further information about search engines and registering with them. This is a very good reference website, full of well-written information about search engines.