"Search engine submission" refers to the act of getting your web site listed with search engines. Another term for this is search engine registration. Getting listed does not mean that you will necessarily rank well for particular terms, however. It simply means that the search engine knows your pages exist. Think of it like a lottery. Search engine submission is akin to you purchasing a lottery ticket. Having a ticket doesn't mean that you will win, but you must have a ticket to have any chance at all.

"Search engine optimization" refers to the act of altering your site so that it may rank well for particular terms, especially with crawler-based search engines. Returning to the lottery model, let's assume there was a way to increase the odds of winning by picking your lottery numbers carefully. Search engine optimization is akin to this. It's making sure that the numbers you select are more likely to win than purchasing a set of numbers at random.

Terms such as "search engine placement," "search engine positioning" and "search engine ranking" refer to a site actually doing well for particular terms or for a range of terms at search engines. This is the ultimate goal for many people -- to get that "top ten" ranking for a particular keyword or search terms.

Search engine marketing & promotion refer to the overall process of marketing a site on search engines. This includes submission, optimization, managing paid listings and more. These terms also highlight the fact that doing well with search engines is not just about submitting right, optimizing well or getting a good rank for a particular term. It's about the overall job of improving how your site interacts with search engines, so that the audience you seek can find you.

Just as each search engine has its own submission rules and ranking criteria, they each take a different amount of time to index your pages. The process can take anywhere from approximately two weeks to several months. To find out if your pages have been indexed, return to each search engine's site and search for your URL or a unique piece of information from your page. While you wait to be listed, you can make good use of your time by seeking links and pursuing other avenues of promotion.

MetroVillageUSA will submit your site upon its completion to approximately 50 search engines, including Excite, Lycos, and Alta Vista. We do not submit to any paid submission search engines. We also cannot guarantee any placement in the listings; however, we do everything possible to optimize your ranking.