Availability
Search engine registration is only one way to let the world know about the existence of your website. The dominant engines are Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Google doesn't register sites, never did. Yahoo! and MSN have various paid registration options, and hundreds of other directory sites have followed the paid registration model. Some are good and some are not. Plan to spend several hundred dollars per year for registration.
Registration is falling out of use because of services like local search technologies through Google, Yahoo! and MSN, serious entry into the web by phone book and yellow pages type companies. Local search registration provides the best option for most businesses and organizations. Simple local search registration is free, and some advertising may be advised.
The latest method of letting the world know about your site is RSS technology. With developments in technology comes increasing complexity. Suffice it to say that RSS sends out information to millions of people who subscribe to various RSS categories. Google's Sitemaps provide a basic level of RSS/XML use.
To do more with RSS requires that you provide a stream of information and/or page updates that provide a reason for the RSS to send out its information. There are two methods for accomplishing this: email newsletters and blogging.
Email newsletters are easy to produce and send out, but the increase of spam (unwanted junk mail) has taken a toll on email newsletters. Fewer and fewer people want them — not because your newsletter is spam or poorly done, but because there is only so much people can read. People are taking more control over their email boxes by reducing the amount of email they receive. I'm not saying that you shouldn't use email newsletters, just that they are not as effective as they used to be.
Blogging is the latest vehicle for exposing people to your website. Blogging is not difficult, but it does require the discipline of regular writing.
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