Search Engines allow viewers (users) to find a web site based on
subject matter. It is very important, even crucial, for a web
site to have a high ranking in the results returned by a search engine.
First, a web site must be registered with a search engine for
the engine to even know about the existence of the site.
Second, a web site must supply each search engine with the
search criteria used by each engine. Not
all engines use the same criteria.
And, certain Search Engines do not use robots
to index a web site. Instead, after notification, these engines
assign your web site to a human who acts as editor and may or may not
choose to place your web site in their directory service.
The developer of a web site must always bear in mind the importance
of search engine rankings during the design process, if the web site
owner wants the best possible search engine rankings. On the
other hand, not all web
sites require placement with search engines. For example, an
internal Intranet web site does not need to be placed with an Internet
search engine. Personal or family web sites for the private use
of individuals may not need placement with a search engine.
However, if you are putting up a web site for commercial or other
use where you want a high number of visitors, then the designer and the copywriter must have a plan for
obtaining higher rankings with search engines.
There are more than 1,500 search engines. Some engines use
spiders/robots to index a web site. Others use people to
review and place/register a web site. Some search engines require registering
via an on-line form while others require e-mail notification.
Some engines use a combination of methods.
Some search engines are specific to a particular subject while
others try to catalog the entire Internet. Some web sites need to
be registered with as many engines as possible, while others may need
to be registered only with a single engine, or no engine. Each
web site will have a different requirement based upon the web site
owner's requirements for exposure.
