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Are you new to the Internet and are trying to promote your work from home business website? Have you come across ads about search engine submission services that will dramatically increase your website traffic? Are you tempted to try this kind of service to see if this magic can happen to you? Read the following, understand the underlying principles of traffic creation, and then make an informed decision.

1. Methods of getting listed with search engines

Getting indexed by the search engines is the first step to getting traffic from search engines. Intuitively, if the search engines do not know your existence, as in the case of not being indexed by the search engines, there is no way they can tell their surfers that you have the answer to their searches.

One method to get listed with a search engine is by submitting a request to be listed by the particular search engine through an online form and then wait to be indexed. This process can take weeks, and the requesting site is completely at the mercy of the search engine's processing style. This is also the type of submission service advertised by the typical SEO companies.

The other method is by way of creating unique content with a link pointing back to your web site at either a high authority site or through blogging.

Creating unique content at a site with higher page rank would involve typically the following:

- submitting an original article to a well-reputed article directory

- commenting on a blog post of the higher ranked site in your niche with a link back to your own web site (make sure it is a dofollow blog so that your )

- posting in the forum, if applicable, of the higher ranked site with a link back to your web site in your signature (make sure it is not a private forum and not password protected; otherwise, your link in your signature will not be picked up by the search engines).

By indexing the new content of the higher authority site, the search engines will also pick up any links imbedded in the content and index the web pages associated with the imbedded links. As such, getting indexed in a matter of hours would simply mean to submit an article to Ezinearticles and get it approved.

Creating your own blog is another effective way to get your web site home page indexed quickly by the search engines. Search engines love blogs as blogs tend to be more original in content by nature. Frequently updated blogs can be picked by search engines in a matter of minutes. Any links placed in the new blog posts will also be indexed by the search engines at the same time.

Empircally, it is actually quicker to get listed with major search engines by way of creating content at high authority sites or simply with a blog. These methods also create better quality links as they involve unique content surrounding the links. Furthermore, both methods are completely free. Comparatively, search engine submission service pales in terms of cost efficiency and the overall effectiveness.

2. How many search engines are out there?

An Internet newbie may be dazzled by the claim that search engine submission can reach tens of thousands of search engines that are secret silos somewhere with an abundance of potential traffic. That list of tens of thousands of search engines is usually their trade secret whose claim can never be verified by the average customer. The truth is no one knows for sure how many search engines are out there. What is public knowledge is that close to 95% of the search traffic comes from the top three search engines (Google, Yahoo, and MSN). Additionally, many smaller search engines use the results of these prominent search engines anyway. This makes submission to smaller search engines less important.

3. Getting listed with search engines is not enough to bring in traffic

Most newbies do not understand that being listed by a search engine is not enough to generate traffic. You have to get your web site to the top of the search results with your chosen keywords to get any significant traffic. To get to the top, there is a whole, possibly long, process of keyword research, web site optimization, online or offline, and unique content creation through article marketing and/or blogging. This tireless content creation process will build quality backlinks, which in turn raise one's page rank as well as bringing in increasing organic traffic.

Content drives the traffic, not the search engine listing itself. It is hard to imagine that a web site will enjoy tons of traffic without any backlinks or unique content created in its network.

4. The merit of search engine submission service

Search engine submission still has merits. For those well established sites that are already enjoying good traffic from the prominent search engines, getting listed with more search engines means more exposure to web surfers, particularly, if those smaller search engines use the results of the top search engines anyway. For newbies, search engine submission is really not top priority in terms of web site promotion, let alone doing it at a cost.

Ironically, it is usually the newbies, who do not understand the principles underlying traffic creation who fall for the romantic vision of dramatic increase in web traffic. This is perhaps another reason why search engine submission service is in flourish.