So now that your web site is built, it's time to tell the world that you're now on the Internet. Below we've listed the common ways companies solicit their site and the best ways you can get your listing on the popular search engines.

• Direct Contact: If you want your web site to appear on Yahoo!, MSN, Altavista, Google, or another popular search engine, you'll want to go to their site and find their web site submission links. This is the best method getting your site on theirs. Remember, there is not obligation from them to list your site, so the length of time can vary greatly once your submission has been sent to them. Sometimes it may take days; other times it may take months. (Of course, if you become notoriously famous, chances are your site will get listed sooner.)
• Meta-tags: When your web site meta-tag information is coded directly into your page(s), you can trigger information for these search engines to pick up while they're out there surfing the Internet. They all have some sort of "spider" which goes out and gathers information about the web sites they find on the Internet. You can have keywords, names, and even a description listed for the spiders to gather. They will in turn, take this newly found information and post it on their sites. Although this method is more in-direct, it is effective. You may have heard how companies have received a gazillion hits to their web site. It's not because of their content, but rather they've coded their meta tags with strong keywords (usually explicit) in their attempt to drive more traffic to their site.

If you are having a web site designed and built for your company, your developer should provide both of these search methods to your web site.