Court: Do NOT Submit Your Website To Google!

[djbaxter]

Court continues to push the issue of manual submission to Google as detrimental to indexing:

Do NOT Submit Your Website To Google!
by Court
February 28th, 2009

I have tested Google?s tool that allows you to submit your website several times and can tell you that using it is probably the worst thing you can do. The last time I tested it I had to wait six full weeks before Google including my site in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) and the site took more work than usual to rank.

...

My Theory For Why Google Does This
In my opinion, Google knows that they should be able to find legit sites by following links. If a truly great site is launched, someone will be linking to it from somewhere. If this doesn?t happen, Google probably assumes that the site is going to be of lesser quality. The best sites ALWAYS get linked to because people like them. If you don?t get linked to and have to rely on their submission service, I think that tells Google that your site is small time.

full article

Frankly, I enjoy reading Court's articles but in this instance I think the logic is flawed and the conclusion incorrect.

What are your thoughts?

See also http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5...m/15939-how-get-your-website-into-google.html

 

[Linda Buquet]

Ever since I used to do SEO for a living years ago I've preached the same thing and have said it numerous times here, plus most SEOs I know agree. Google likes you better and ranks things higher and faster when she finds them herself.

I "feed" her my new sites through the toolbar and a couple easy links. I hit the site with the Google toolbar, get a couple easy links. Click through to the new site via those links, using the Google toolbar and get ranked in days.

I've even had brand new virgin sites rank in 2 days that had no links and that no one on earth even knew about. In fact I was not even finished and didn't want the sites indexed yet. The only possible way G could have found them is via me working on them with the toolbar on.

 

[djbaxter]

Yes, but to say that Google doesn't need manual submission to find sites, or even that manual submission won't get you indexed any faster, is one thing. I've always thought of the Google manual site submission service as rather like the "Suggestion Box" in a coporation: It's there to placate the disgruntled and to make them believe that there's someone actually listening but it's really just for decorative purposes only.

On the other hand, to suggest that you'll be in a sense penalized for manual submission seems a bit of a stretch to me.

 

[Linda Buquet]

That's what I've always heard. But who knows if it's true.

I imagine only the almighty G knows for sure.

 

[Joseph Ratliff]

I have tested "submitting to G" vs. "linking to my site" with two niche Wordpress blogs with about the same level of content...

Submitting to G = 22 days before I could see my site by typing the domain.com in the search bar.

Linking my site = 4 days for the same result.

Now, I realize I am NO SEO expert, nor will I EVER be (too busy making money) ...but that test has to show something right?

 

[djbaxter]

I don't think anyone questions that spiders follow links and index the links that they find.

But to support Court's conclusion, you'd have to show that linking to the site PLUS submitting manually to Google resulted in slower indexing than linking alone. That is, you should see something like the following:

• Linking to site alone = 4 days before indexing
  
• Linking to site alone PLUS manuall submission to Google = 13 days before indexing
  
• Manual submission to Google with no links pointing to the page = 22 days before indexing

 

[Joseph Ratliff]

I don't think anyone questions that spiders follow links and index the links that they find.

But to support Court's conclusion, you'd have to show that linking to the site PLUS submitting manually to Google resulted in slower indexing than linking alone. That is, you should see something like the following:

• Linking to site alone = 4 days before indexing
  
• Linking to site alone PLUS manuall submission to Google = 13 days before indexing
  
• Manual submission to Google with no links pointing to the page = 22 days before indexing

Good enough. I will leave this topic to the experts (not me).