Creating Web Pages

By Bob Pajot

Here are some questions that I have been asked about search engines.

What is a search engine, and why do I need to use one?

A search engine is like a huge telephone directory.

Once you have created your Web Page, you need people to locate your page. If you don't list your URL (Uniform Resource Locator) which is the Internet address to your page with any search engines it's like opening a new store in a hidden alley with an unlisted phone number. Sure it's there, and the phone works but you shouldn't expect too many customers or phone calls.

For people to find your site you need to add your URL to the search engines around the world. Most search engines provide a free listing in their search database.

Which search engines should I use?
Some of the search engines that you can submit your details to are...
Yahoo, Excite, Webcrawler, Infoseek, Alta Vista, Lycos and the list goes on. There are also some useful sites that submit your information from one point to many search engines at once which saves you time adding your URL to each individual search engine. One such site is located at http://www.submit-it.com. They submit your details to the top 16 or so search engines for free, otherwise they will charge around US $60.00 for submitting your URL to around 300 search engines.

How do I list my URL?

To list your URL you would normally go to the Homepage of the search engine you wish to list with.
ex. http://www.webcrawler.com
Somewhere on that page you should find a link that says "Add Url" or "List Your URL" or something similar. It is very important that when you type in your URL that every character be exact with no space between characters and it must be in the proper format.
ex. http://www.wpcug.com/index.htm is the URL for our homepage, one wrong character and the web surfer won't get to your page.

You may also have to type in your e-mail address in another form box.

Note: Yahoo does not allow listing to the homepage, you must work your way down into their directory listings to an area where your page would be classified. They also require you to type in a description of the site.

How can I be sure I don't type in an error?

What I usually do is to open 2 browsers, one to the search engine's "Add Url" page and access the page I want indexed with the other, now highlight the address on the location line. Once highlighted hold down the "Ctrl" key and hit the "C" on the keyboard. (Ctrl+C is the COPY Command) Then go to the browser with the search engine page and where prompted to type in the url erase the "http://" that is usually there and PASTE ("Ctrl+V") the url that you copied from the location line. Enter any other information required and submit.

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E-mail me at webeditor@wpcug.com