Getting listed in Search Engines - it's very different these days 

More computer tips

This one is rather old....

New: If you have a new domain name and get too many links to it, too quickly, you'll often be penalized in Google. They're doing that to minimize the effect of spamming.

In the old days, you blasted all the search engines and directories you could think of with submissions. Eventually you'd get listed, and then you'd try to get a better listing by changing your front page - then resubmit.

These days the search engines and directories have figured out that businesses are willing to pay to get listed fast - instead of waiting for the process to run its course as in the old days (Yahoo took its sweet time back then). A few (like Open Directory Project) still take submissions for free, but it can take a long time for an editor to review your listing.

But the most effective way - though a lot slower than paying for fast listings - is to get listed on sites that get frequently crawled by spiders. My most visited site is one of those. I've twice noticed that sites linked from mine got listed on Google in less than a week after I included the link.

Andy Beal says in his blog that:

...Google has always preferred to find new websites by spidering existing sites in its index and following new links from there. If you want to increase your chances of seeing your website indexed, find some quality websites or directories to link to your new site now. You don’t need hundreds of links, but 3-5 quality links at this stage will encourage Google to index your site...

That underscores what I found. Apparently they update the full index every month these days, so it may take longer than a few days... ;-)

Most of the other search engines also like following links to discover new websites, but I doubt they're as quick as Google can be occasionally.

You should definitely read the full article on Andy Beal's site. Just remember that it's geared towards businesses who would rather pay the submission fees to get their sites listed immediately.

By getting your site listed on my site you WILL get the news out immediately (my site is often at the top of the search engine results for an actor name), but it may take a month or two before your new site address rises to the top of the search engine results. Unless I already have a profile page for a specific actor, the relevancy will be lower and my pages will sink below pages from other actor directories - with little content besides the name of the actor and a few movie links.