Web visitors generally use search engines to find sites matching their search criteria. The visitor enters words or phrases in the search area, and the search engine produces a list of related sites. The search engine provides this information after conducting a more comprehensive search using indexing software agents, often called "robots" or "spiders". These robots and spiders are programmed to "crawl" the Internet in search of new or updated web sites. The search engine becomes aware of a new site to visit and index when that site is submitted. To be picked by these robots and spiders it is necessary to submit your site details to as many search engines as possible.

It is also vitally important to build links to to and from your site. Good links need to be to other sites relevant to the subject matter described in the original enquiry all in the best interest of the browser. These links need busy sites to be page ranked as high as possible and they need to reciprocate your link so that they too link to your site. This is a very very important aspect of search optimisation. If your site is informative, attractively designed and built to W3C web standards you are much more likely to persuade other sites to link back to you, indeed it should be in their interest to accept such an invitation.

Submitting your URL to a number of search engines increases the odds of potential customers finding your site through traditional online searches. You can further increase your chances of being found through a search by adding relevant keywords to your home page title and text. Search engines are one of the least expensive and most successful forms of online marketing. If you're serious about reaching new visitors, submitting your site to search engines is essential.