Subscribe Feed (RSS)Getting your blog indexed in the search engines can seem impossible sometimes. It can often be so random! One blog gets indexed in a matter of minutes, while another one takes weeks. While the search engines don’t reveal their exact formula for indexing, there are some methods that have been proven to work for many bloggers out there.
Of course, many people decide that the first thing they should do to get their blog indexed is to submit it to the search engines by hand. There is actually a lot of disagreement on this point! Some people think the search engines look upon this favorably, and other people think that hand submission can hurt you.
The bottom line here is that it really doesn’t seem to hurt your rankings, but it’s best to keep in mind that the search engines “know it’s you” who is submitting the site. What they want are votes of confidence from other established sites out there. That’s why it’s better to concentrate on those.
If you already have a network of sites then you have a huge advantage. All it takes is a relevant contextual link on one of those sites and you’ll often get indexed very quickly. This is especially true If you have access to a site that gets indexed often.
Not everyone has established sites, however! The good thing is that there are sites out there that allow you to put your content on their site. Article directories are one example. If you write an article for a site like EzineArticles.com with a link back to your site in the author’s resource box, the chances are good that you will get indexed fairly quickly. You can also add your content and links to sites like HubPages.com, Squidoo.com, and others.
Another thing you can do is make sure you submit your RSS feed to directories. There are RSS directories out there that alert people (and spiders) that your content has been updated. This can increase your chances of getting indexed. Some examples of sites you can submit to include Feedagg.com and Feedage.com.
Yet another piece of the puzzle is writing great content and updating often. There is no exact formula for this, but we do know that Google likes content! If you can write a few posts right off the bat to show that you’re going to be a great, relevant site, there is a larger chance that your site will get indexed.
If you still haven’t made it into the search engines it is going to take a bit more effort. Usually a combination of a few of these will work well. Also, a little bit of patience goes a long way. It’s not unusual to wait a week or more for the magic to happen! Still, by following the suggestions above you’ll find that you get indexed fairly quickly and often.
