10 Easy Ways to Get Your Blog Into Google

Ok, there is a lot of writing out there on how to get your website into Google’s index.  If you’ve got a blog, it is actually really, really, easy, and really, really, free.  So, before you pony up some dough, or bother reading too much detail, here are the Top 10 Super Easy Ways to Get Your Blog Into Google.

1. Submit your blog to a link directory. Seriously.  Any link directory will do.  Google’s bot follows links from sites it already knows about.  Chances are, any link directory not built by a thirteen year old is already in Google.  Google will follow the link form there back to your blog.  Submit your blog to several so you don’t have to wait as long.
2. Submit your blog articles to Technorati, Buzznet and 43 Rockets.  Don’t know anything about Technorati? Buzznet? 43 Rockets?  Who cares?  You aren’t trying to get on the front page, you are trying to get in Google.  Google crawls these sites all the time.  If you are using WordPress, the default ping will send out to these guys and you will show up at least for a little while IF you tag your articles.  Get Windows Live Writer and click “Insert Tags”.  Put your keywords in for all three.  You’ll be indexed in no time.
3. Write comments on other blogs. When Google indexes there it will follow your comment back home.  There is a catch here.  Many blogs will “nofollow” their links.  That means Google’s bot won’t follow the link back to your site.  You need a blog that doesn’t do this.  How to tell?  The hard way is to do a “View Source” and find a comment that has already been written if you see: “rel=nofollow” in the HTML code that links to the commenter’s site, then no dice.  The easier way?  Download the SEOQuake plug-in for chrome.  Set it to show nofollows with a line through them.  Then, you can tell at a glance if the blog is worth a comment.  Also, there is no point in being the 432nd commenter.  Google isn’t that persistent.  Be in the top 10 or wait for a new post.  Hey!  Comment here!
4. No luck with the comment thing?  Then try a pingback to a big blog. Check the comment section of a big blog and look for pingbacks.  Then, write an article that includes a link to a recent post on that blog.  Your pingback will show up to.  Again, check the nofollow thing first.
5. Write an article and submit it with Article Marketer. Article Marketer takes your articles and then sends them out to thousands of sites that buy articles to stick on their sites instead of writing them on their own.  The key here is to write something pretty universal and basic.  That increases the chance of it being picked up in one or two places.  You get an “about” section in the article which will include a link to your blog and Google will follow it home.
6. Ask a question. Go to any big forum.   Try the WordPress forum if you can’t come up with any ideas.  Ask a question.  Put a link in your question back to your website.  Something like, “How do I format this page so it looks like…”  Try not to make it too dumb so you don’t get flamed.  Google will follow that link too.
7. Say thank you. Find a big forum with lots of posts that let’s you create a profile for yourself.  Create a profile with your website listed in the profile (make sure to use the right kind of tags if it isn’t straight HTML).  Then post, “Thanks” after every useful post you read.  Maybe 5 or 6 a day (don’t do more or you might set off some flags).  Sooner or later Google’s going to find that profile off of the “active” or “recent” list and guess who’s coming for dinner?
8. Submit a site map. Submitting your site to Google won’t get you anywhere.  I bet the queue is over a million long.  Instead, use a plug-in to generate a sitemap and submit it to Google with each post.
9. Claim your blog. Go to Google’s Webmaster tools and register your blog.  You’ll have to verify it.  Either verification method requires Google to come out to your site.  It technically isn’t the indexing bot that does this, but I’ve known plenty of sites to magically show up soon after being claimed in this way.  I can’t prove it, but I also think it makes the Google bot more likely to check out a few pages.
10. HAVE SOMETHING TO INDEX!!!!! I can’t tell you how many people have asked me how to get their 3 page (one home page, one contact page, and one map page) indexed.  There has to be something on your site for the Googlebot to sink its teeth into.  Post, post, post.  No junk posts.  Google is getting better by the day at sniffing out worthless stuff, so don’t write it.  But, you have plenty to write about.  Can’t think of anything?  Write about who you are, then write about why you are writing a blog, then write complaining about not getting indexed, then write about finding this Top 10 List about getting indexed, and so on.

The good news, is that once you are in the index, you are pretty much in to stay.  How often Google comes by, and how high you rank, are different stories.  But, you can’t worry about that until you are indexed, so use these Top 10 Tips.

Here is your bonus 11 Tip.  If you already have an indexed blog, use it to get your new blog indexed.  Write a quick post on your main page about how you are writing a new site.  Wait for your site to be re-indexed, and chances are that the Googlebot will find it’s way out to your new site.  Once it is in, you can delete the post if you want to.