You’ve probably already figured out that it’s important for search engines to be able to find your website so that they can send traffic your way.
There are two ways to ensure this happens:
- Patiently wait, and hope, that all the search engines will find your site on their own. This could take some time and a lot of patience.
- Submit your website to their directories yourself. This is the fastest and most reliable way to be sure that Google, Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and any other search engines you like will find you.
How to Submit Your Website to Online Directories
It’s not as hard as you may think to do this and it should only take a few minutes for each search engine you’d like to submit to.
For Google, you will need to visit their Search Console to submit your website. Click the “Start now” button to get started. Then, type in your full domain name or URL to the search space.
Google will ask you to verify your domain name by copying the code they provide and pasting it into the back-end of your website. Open a separate browser window or tab to do this so you don’t lose the verify page. These instructions will vary based on your host provider, but they are pretty simple to follow. If you’re not sure exactly what to do, click on “Full Details” for step-by-step instructions.
Once you paste the code into your website, return to Google’s verify page and click “Verify.” Google will then take a couple of days to verify the information and you’ll be all set.
Bing and Yahoo
Bing and Yahoo are a little easier since they can be combined as Yahoo’s search engine is powered by Bing. Go to Bing’s Webmaster Tools page. You will need to sign in if you have an account, or sign up if you don’t. You can easily sign up with a Google or Microsoft account.
Click on the “Add a Site” box and type in your URL, then click “Add.” You will then have the option to add a sitemap if you have one, but it’s not necessary, then click “Add” again. Just like Google, it will give you some text to copy and paste into your site’s back-end, simply follow the directions, but open your site in another window or tab. Once you’ve done this, come back to the Webmaster and click “Verify.”
Submitting your website to online directories will bring you more traffic, and possibly more business, in a shorter period of time. It’s worth the extra effort to do this instead of waiting for search engines to find you.
Other Posts of Interest
Other posts you might find interesting regarding search engines.
How to Submit Your Site to Bing
