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Does regular submission to search engines keep me at the top?
Published: April 16, 2005
A popular myth
Short answer, no.
Long answer
This was a very common assumption years ago and one I still hear today. As soon as a search engine has found you, that's it, you never have to submit to them again. In fact, you never actually have to submit to a search engine at all.
Making the search engines come to you
Can you really make these internet monsters do as they're told? Sure, it's actually easier than it sounds. Search engines follow links so get your website linked to from a directory already in the major search engines and they'll find you next time they do a reindex.
This won't, of course, make you website appear high in the sky but it will get listed which is the very first step in the whole scheme of things.
Another myth dispelled
Search engines don't care whether your company is called Aardvark Clothing Co or ZeeBee Shirts, alphabetically, it makes no difference to where you appear. Some directories will rely on the alphabet to order the results but that's because they are simple creatures and don't have the mighty technology to hand to serve the results in a relevant way.
If you're wanting to make an impression and get your website ranked well then read my SEO article as it will get you set on the right path.
My META tags are wrong. Will changing them help?
Some sites have countless META keywords listed. I have yet to see any gain in rank with Google or Yahoo by amending, omitting or tuning META keywords. They won't hurt your website to put them in but don't expect results.
Can I pay to get listed higher in the search engines
Organic results, the natural ones that is, have no means of manipulation financially, in Google and Yahoo at least. You can use pay-per-click schemes and appear on the first page but this can be very expensive if you're in a competitive field. If you need instant results then this may be a solution but always follow a tried and tested marketing campaign and as soon as a keyphrase you're working on appears where you want it, pull the pay-per-click ad. Remember, paying for listings only subsidises the marketing until your rank is sufficient.