Once you have created a Web site and placed it on a server, it is available for the world to see.  But just because it is available, doesn't mean the world is going to find it.  You can get the word out about your site with a two step process.

Step 1.  Include Meta Tags

If you want your page to be easier to find in the ever-growing Internet, you should include Meta tags in your pages.  Search engines look for Meta tags when they index pages to include in their vast databases.  If you don't include Meta tags, a search engine will make a best guess at indexing your page.  If you include keywords in meta tags, search engines will use your suggestions to index your page.  Thus a page like this one might have keywords such as:

Salisbury University,Meta Tags,Web Instruction

So, if this page were indexed on a search engine with the meta tag values as above, someone using the search engine could put in search terms such as "Salisbury University" and "Web Instruction", and have a fair chance of seeing this page.  In addition to keywords, some search engines allow you to include a short statement about your page.  This statement then appears next to the URL in a search engine query result.

Below are two ways to include these meta tags:

• Using FrontPage.  Open the homepage of your Web site in FrontPage as you would to edit it.  Go to File and then Properties.  From the pop-up menu, choose the Custom tab.  Under User Variables, click Add.  A new pop-up window will appear prompting you for a name and value.  Under name, enter: keywords.  Under value, enter the keywords that best summarize your page.  Separate each entry with a comma (as above).  Click OK and OK again.  Save your page.  
  
  
• Using Meta Builder.  Meta Builder is a JavaScript application I wrote that let's you simply enter the values and then creates the HTML Meta tags.  You can then cut and paste the code into your HTML source code.  Click here to use Meta Builder.

Step 2.  List your URL with Search Engines

Once you have the meta tags built into your page, you are ready to list your page with search engines.  Today their are hundreds of search engines out there and most of them will accept URL submissions.  You can visit these search engines yourself and list your page, or, to make it easier, I have created a page that lists some major search engines and directly links you to their New Submissions pages.  Go to the Search Engine Lister if you want to try it out.

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