Search Engine Submissions
Getting your web site listed in the major search engines is
an absolute necessity. Why? Because 85% of all people on
the Internet use them when searching for information. When
they type the keyword or keyword phrase in a major search
engine, up pops your web site, or at least you hope so.
The easiest, fastest and free way to get listed in any of
the major search engines is getting links from other
related sites that point to your site. Once you get your
web site listed in one major search engine or directory,
your site will appear in the others.
Besides working on your link building strategies, you can
also submit your web site to the major search engines.
Here's how to submit to the major search engines, listed in
alphabetical order:
- AllTheWeb - owned by overture which also provides
results for Lycos.
http://www.alltheweb.com/add_url.php
Only submit your homepage. It takes about 6 weeks before
your pages appear. There is no guarantee to get listed.
- Altavista - owned by overture
http://www.altavista.com/addurl/new
This gives you a basic submission. You can add up to 5 URLS
to be considered for inclusion in 4-6 weeks. Submit your
homepage. There is no guarantee of inclusion.
- Google
http://www.google.com/addurl.html
Google is the top choice for searchers. It's search engine
results also appear in Yahoo and AOL.
It is free to submit but there is no guarantee of a
listing. Submit your homepage. It takes about a month for
your pages to appear.
The best way to get listed in Google is to find a lot of
related inbound links - links from other sites that point
to yours. This will vastly improve your search engine
rankings and your site will probably show up more quickly.
- Infospace
http://www.infospace.com/info/submit.htm
- Inktomi - it was recently purchased by Yahoo, so it may provide results for Yahoo in the future.
http://www.inktomi.com/products/web_search/submit.html
As with all other major search engines, building links to
your site is the best way to go if you want to get listed
for free.
- Teoma - provides results for the popular web site Ask
Jeeves
http://ask.ineedhits.com
Ask Jeeves owns the Teoma search engine. Teoma partners
include: Ask.com, Teoma.com, Metacrawler, Excite, iLor,
MySearch.com, MyWay.com, Ixquick, Mamma.com, Hotbot.com,
Search123.com.
Like the other major search engines, get links from other
web sites to point to yours and the search engines will
eventually find you though their linking structure.
Search engines should be only one of your marketing
strategies. One week you could be at the top of a search
engine, the next week your site may disappear. Therefore
don't just rely on traffic from the search engines, but use
other methods to drive traffic to your site.
Search Engine Directory Submissions
Submitting your web site to the search engine directories
will give you a great boost in traffic. A listing in a
large search engine directory like ODP (Open Directory
Project) enables your web site to get indexed for free by
the major search engines such as AskJeeves, AOLSearch,
Google, and Lycos. Directories will also help increase your
page ranking. However getting listed in the search
directories is more difficult than the major search
engines. Preparation and patience is needed.
So what's the difference between the major search engines and major search engine directories?
Search engines are often confused as being the same as
search directories.
A search engine is a web-based software tool that enables
the user to locate sites and pages on the web based on the
information they contain.
Search engine directories use people, so you are dependant
on these editors to put in a description of your website
that will cover the keyword phrases that you need.
Therefore, before submitting your site to a directory think
carefully about the description that you enter.
How to prepare your web site for search engine directory submissions.
-
Research the best keywords - use the overture suggestion
tool or wordtracker tool to find the keywords best suited
for your site. It's no point entering words in a directory
that don't relate to your site or are not often searched
for. Include these keywords in your page content and in each of your meta tags.
- Valuate your site - search directories are more
particular about allowing web sites to get listed than
search engines. Therefore make sure your site has no broken
links, includes relevant content-based pages, loads quickly
(within 10 seconds), is easy to navigate, and has cross
browser compatibility.
- Prepare your title - if you are a business enter your
business name ie iSiteBuild. If you don't have a business
name use the name of your site. Don't use a long title.
This may help you get listed in the search engines but not
in the directories.
- Write a description - remember that human beings are
looking at your description so don't create an ad. Create a
well written description of about 25 words, that clearlyexplains what your site has to offer.
- Submit your site - navigate through the directory to
find the best category for your web site. Don't just
include what you think is the most popular but the most
targeted category. An easy way to find out is to enter your
search terms in the directory.
- Be patient - it can take months or sometimes even years
to get listed. This is because there are thousands of sites
being submitted every day. If your site has not been listed
after 3 months, then resubmit.
- Guarantee - there is no guarantee to get listed as the
categories as they may already be filled. There may also be
a backlog of sites to be reviewed. Therefore concentrateyour efforts on other marketing methods.
Yahoo Submissions Yahoo uses Google (for now) in its Web
Search results, but not in its directory. (Although Yahoo!
has announced that it plans to drop Google from its results
until that happens, though, getting indexed by Google will
show your site in the Yahoo search engine as well).
Yahoo directory results are compiled by human editors. A
listing in the Yahoo Directory will get you listed in
Google, but not vice versa.
How to submit - Go to the "Suggest a Site" link at the
bottom of the category page, then fill out the submission
form. That's it!
Guarantee - no review time is guaranteed. If you want to
expedite getting listed for your commercial site, then
consider using the paid submission service.
Open Directory (ODP) Submissions
The Open Directory is a guide run by volunteers. If you get
placed here, your site will also appear in many of the
major search engines ie Google.
Find the category you want your site to be listed in. To
submit, locate the category you want your site to be listed
in. Then go to the "suggest URL" link that appears at the
top of the category page. Fill out and submit the form.
That's all there is to it!
Guarantee - If you are accepted, your site should appear
within three weeks, if it gets accepted. If not, then
resubmit.
To increase the amount of traffic you can receive, and to
learn more about submitting to ODP visit:
http://dmoz.org/add.html
Before submitting your site to the Major Search Engines and
Directories, first decide how much you want to spend on
paid submissions. Stick to a certain budget. If you don't
have the cash..yet, but have time, then work on getting
links from other web sites. Ideally you should implement
both marketing strategies to increase the number of
visitors and therefore gain potential buyers.
Now go and submit your UGC site to these major search
engines and search engines directories.