Web surfers who know about your web site but don't have your URL may rely on search engines to find your web site. Still, others that don't know your company exists, may use search engines to enter search phrases that should apply to you.

 

Search Engine Watch is an excellent source for getting more information about search engines, including a list of search engines. http://www.searchenginewatch.com/

 

Search Engines

An online utility that enables Web surfers to find Web sites based on search criteria they provide. Search engines are the keys that unlock the information treasure houses of the Internet. Unfortunately, most people have no idea how to tap their power. Like software applications, each search engine has its own unique features. People who know how to use these features are able to focus their searches more sharply and are more likely to find the information they want. Each search engine also has its strengths and weaknesses. It is important to select the right search engine for the job.

 

Many search engines, such as HotBot (http://www.hotbot.com/) and WebCrawler (http://www.webcrawler.com/), utilize software programs called robots, spiders or crawlers. These programs venture out onto the Web when activity is low and search for new pages. When they find a site they've never visited before, they follow all the internal links within the pages to learn about the pages on the site. They also occasionally revisit sites to update the information they already have. The kinds of information that they gather depends on the program. Some programs gather just Web page titles, others gather every single word in the page. Still others gather information stored in special meta tags embedded in the page.

 

Directories

While some search engines depend solely on robots, spiders and crawlers, others, such as Excite (http://www.excite.com) and Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com) start with a directory that entries can be manually added to. Some of these directories are static, containing only the information manually entered. Others use directory entreis to send out robots, crawlers and spiders to gather information directly from the Web sites entered.

 

The Database

The information gathered about Web sites is stored in a database that can be indexed and searched. Web surfers search the database based on words or phrases. Sites that match the criteria are displayed in a search results list. Most search engines list results based on how well the search word or phrase was matched in its database. Direct Hit (http://www.directhit.com) lists results based on popularity and how many people click through to that page. Still others paid for listings near the top and others below it.

And of course, whether a listing appears at all depends on whether the listing was added to the search engine's database to being with.

 

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is this: to be found by a search engine, your site must be included in that search engine's database. Your job is to get included in as many search engine databases and directories as possible.

 

Read http://www.serachenginwatch.com/webmasters to master the art and increase your odds of being listed near the top of the search results list.

 

 

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