Getting Into The Search Engines

In order for your blog to come up in search engine results, the search engine must know it exists. Getting discovered, and indexed, by search engines is a critical first step to securing search engine traffic.
 

Contrary to the beliefs held by some, a search engine cannot simply “find” your blog on its own. It must be led to the blog in some fashion. There are two general ways by which this can happen. You can either tell the search engine about your blog, or you can devise a means by which it will find you.
 

At first glance, it seems like just telling the search engine would be the optimal solution. At one time, this strategy was the easiest way of getting indexed. However, it is no longer the best way to go about things.
You can directly submit your blog to Google, for instance. However, it may take the search engine months to get around to your request. At some point, in frustration, you might be led to submit the information again. 

There are fairly credible reports that frequent submission of a blog directly to the search engine may actually lead to a penalty. They would prefer to find you all by themselves. I have personally not noticed any problems with direct submission to MSN’s search engine. However, considering the variety of ways by which one can be found without utilizing direct submission, it does not seem necessary to tip off MSN in that manner.