Google: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

Chapter 8. Becoming a Search Result

If it isn’t in Google, it probably doesn’t exist.

That statement may strike you as an exaggeration, but a lot of people act as if it were true. They run a quick Google search, and if they don’t find what they’re after right away, they’re more likely to adjust their query than move on to another search engine. So if your site is listed on AltaVista, Yahoo, and every other search index on the planet, but Google doesn’t know about it, chances are good that millions of people are going to miss it, too.

So if you’ve got a site and you want people to find it, you gotta get in Google; this chapter tells you how to go about it. And if you want to add a Google search to your own site, you can learn how to do that here, too. (This chapter assumes, however, that you already know your way around the back end of your Web site.)

Note

If you need information on building a Web site, running a Web server, or constructing Web pages, consult a book on Webmastering, like Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual (www.oreilly.com/catalog/creatingwstmm/). For guidance on Web site design, you might take a gander at Learning Web Design (www.oreilly.com/catalog/learnWeb2/).

If you want to try your hand at writing Google-based applications, you also need to learn about the Google API (http://api.google.com/)—which stands for Application Programming Interface, the programmer’s way of talking to Google. For that, pick up a copy of Google Hacks (www.oreilly.com/catalog/googlehks/ ...