Manual submission only takes a few minutes, and is certainly worth the effort.

We pretty much manage to maintain a top spot on Google and Yahoo just by implementing a few tactics that even a novice can do without having to outsource to an SEO specialist. Here are my 2 cents...

1) Target your keywords. Make sure those keywords are in your coding several times (not just images of text). Where you have images make sure you use the "alt image" tag and use this as an opportunity to increase your keywords. We also make it a practice to name our image files relevant to our keywords -- i.e., instead of naming an image generically i.e.,-- "graphic1.jpg" -- use a keyword descriptive name -- "widget.jpg."

2) Keyword Meta tags are not really used by Google other than providing another instance of your targeted keywords in your coding, so it certainly does not hurt to have them. And perhaps some of the other search engines are still reading them.

3) Google in particular is looking at link reciprocity-- sites that are linking back to yours. One way to increase your linkbacks is by placing classified ads online. There are tons of freebies out there. Placing your url in these provides links back to your site.

Hope this was helpful!

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RooKaps
USB Replacement Caps
http://www.rookaps.com