As long as you don't spam the newsgroup by blatting it with adverts for your website, posting a message that complies with the Netiquette for newsgroups is a perfectly legitimate and very effective way of getting your business noticed. The best way is to look to see how you can make a positive contribution to the notes being posted. Look for questions which relate to your business which you can answer, post your contribution and add your signature which will include your URL.

Such information includes that sometimes used by search engine spiders when indexing web pages, such as keywords. However, many of the major search engines such as Google will ignore your meta-tags almost entirely. There is at least one exception, namely Yahoo. Because Yahoo is a very important search engine, you are advised to pay attention to your meta keywords and meta description. Make them different and targeted for every page.
There are other kinds of information that can be embedded in Meta Tags (such as redirection to another URL and forced refreshes). The WebPosition Gold product will help you optimize your meta tags.

There is a list of award scheme websites under the term Award. Trying to find an appropriate and reputable award to nominate yourself for may appear to be a daunting task, since there are so many awards to choose from. You need to check out the company who provide the award and make sure it is not some kind of ploy to tempt you to a website for an ulterior reason.
A reputable index of awards is Maestro Awards which also acts as a Web Ring