Search Engine Submission Non-service

Search engine submission is a service you can do without.

I’ve always wondered about SEO companies touting submission to search engines as part of their services. Um. There’s no need to submit to search engines. They are in the business of finding and indexing sites. All that is needed is a link from another site.

Picture a boardroom, back room or cafe near you. A group of people is intent on a piece of paper the loudest of the group is writing on. “Anything else we can offer? This list could really do with another bullet.” “Ahh… How about submission? That will give us seven services.”

Be particularly wary of anyone offering to submit your site to hundreds/thousands of search engines for $x. Not so much a service as a scam in those cases. There aren’t that many reputable search engines. Indeed, your ROI on that particular marketing expense might be negative if you end up associated with unsavoury corners of the web.

Why am I thinking about search engine submission?

Signed up with webmaster central today and found myself appalled to find this site — very much a work in progress and not safe for public consumption yet — well indexed by Google. It seems Yahoo! Search has about the half my unfinished pages indexed and MSN Live two pages.

Time to get serious about filling in the sizable gaps in my content!