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Search engine submission
Search engine submission
Search engine submission is one of many search engine optimization tasks that are completely unnecessary. This page aims to dispel a few myths and traps that many budding site optimizers fall into. Here are some of the most common misconceptions that can actually harm your website.
| Myth | Why it's dangerous |
| FFA links | Free for all links undergo no editorial review, therefore you will find yourself in very bad company, which reflects badly on you. |
| Link farms | This is essentially a "link conspiracy" where all members agree to cross-link to each. This is frowned upon by search engines since the recommendation is not genuine. |
| Search engine submission | This method of website discovery is completely outdated for modern search engines. Sites are added to the index automatically by a number of methods, but most commonly by finding a link to it somewhere on the web. Submission forms still exist, but don't provide any benefit. For the sites that claim to submit to thousands of search engines, ask yourself "how many search engines have I ever used in the past 2 years?" For most people, that will be only 3 or 4 (Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask). Most other search engines are actually powered by the big 4, or get little to no traffic. Don't waste your time with search engine submission - build back-links instead. |
| Hidden text | Don't be tempted to hide your text spam using simple browser tricks. Search engines are very skilled at discovering such attempts. |
| Link exchange clubs | Again this is a type of artificial link acquisition strategy that we strongly advise against. The quality of these links is so low; it is not worth the risk. |
| Purchasing links | This method of link building is absolutely forbidden by all search engines and eventually both sites are penalized. |
| Directories | Most directories are of very poor quality. We suggest submitting to DMOZ only. |
| Software | Practically all SEO software engages in some sort of automated query activity which is forbidden by search engines. |
| Meta tags | Meta tags have no influence on rankings. However, the meta description tag does show up in search engine results, so use it only to entice the searcher to click on your link. |
| Redirection | A form of bait and switch that is designed to mask the content indexed by the search engine and present another version to the user. Easily detected by search engines. |
For more information, see Google quality guidelines