Let Robots Find You

In "The Internet Robot's Guide to a Web Site" (May's Core: Programming column), Tonya Engst explains how to deter search engines from picking up your site. What about the opposit e? Could you provide some tips about the best ways to get picked up by search engines?

Kulvir Singh Bhogal
bicky@mail.utexas.edu

Basically, the trick is to submit your URL to the various search engines. A good jumping-off point is Submit It ( http://www.submit-it.com ). Different search engines use different criteria to determine whether they pull your page up first in response to a search or put i t down near the end of the list. Perhaps the best tip is to make the title and first paragraph on your home page a good description of the page, since that's often what will show up in the search engine's list. --Tonya Engst