How to get your site in Google
In the free submission area of Google, add only your top level domain name "http://www.yourcompany.com".
What is the amount of time the Google robot takes to index a URL once it is submitted? Depending on the timing of the submission and their crawl, the entire process can be anywhere from one to four weeks. For more info on Google that you would ever want, here's Google's "About Google" page.
To see Google's explanation for why your site may not be getting crawled or indexed by Google, read this.
Submit a google XML sitemap if you're really interested in getting the scoop on what Google sees at your website. Google will even let you know which pages is it having trouble crawling, sometimes with links to why. It will also include any link from any other site that Google found that is broken that leads to your page. We highly recommend having a Google sitemaps account. You get access to all the webmaster tools from within one.
At Google you can also buy "Adwords Select" -- another name for pay-per-clickthrough keywords. This means that you get a little text ad in a tiny box at the right of the search results for the keyword phrases you select. It might be worth it for you -- it is for many of my clients. Sign up and fill in the form at Google, and they'll tell you what it will cost you per month.
Bid only what you can afford -- and watch carefully the return on your investment!
Those with very expensive products or services with a lot of profit in them and low overhead (consultants, expensive software and so on) should do well with this Adwords Select service. If you're selling something small, common or inexpensive, or if you don't have a lot to spend on advertising, this pay-per-clickthrough service from Google probably will not work for you. I have one client who bids $7.00 per clickthrough -- and it is very worthwhile for him. Another client cannot afford to pay more than $0.15 per clickthrough. The minimum you can pay here is $.10 per clickthrough. They have recently raised this from 5, and we found that most of our low-budget clients are required to bid ten to twenty cents a keyword now, minimally. Be prepared to pay a LOT to rank high for any keyword that is competitive.
To get the most out of Google, get listed in the index AND pay for Adwords Select -- otherwise you are missing a good marketing opportunity.
Google also has a program called AdSense, where sites can sign up to display the AdWords ads on them. The sites get a piece of the money for being another display source. To see what kind of ads Google would put on your site if you were to sign up with them, visit here: About AdSense and fill in the form. Note: Google is somewhat selective about where they put their ads. If your site is easy to navigate and has a lot of traffic going to it, AdSense should allow you to join, become a publisher of the ads.
March 2004: One of my clients who has had great success with Google Ad Words Select has given me his "hat" write-up on How to get the most from Google Adwords, how to get your ad accepted and not "slowed", how to pay less at Google and still stay up toward the top of the sponsored listings, how to make your key word display in each of your advertisements that Google displays, and so on. This is great info!
This is a great interactive search engine relationships chart from Bruce Clay, one of the leading lights of the SEO world. You'll notice that it places Google smack in the middle. This chart used to be really complicated back in the late 1990's. With the ascendency of Google and the demise of other search engines, it has gotten really simple. There are really only three players right now: Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Every other search engine is way, way back in the pack.
Google Tools
Here is Google's advice to Webmasters and a form to report cloaked or spammy pages to Google. If you do a search at Google and it turns up a page that doesn't relate to your search phrase, you should report it. It means someone is manipulating them with cloaked pages, doorway pages, etc.
Back to Search Engines page.
