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Submitting Your Site to Search Engines Up until recently, submitting your web site to major search engines like Yahoo, Google and even AOL's search was free. All you had to do was go to the site and click on the link marked something like "Submit Your Site", answer a few questions, and within 3 to 4 weeks, you could pretty much count on being listed somewhere on the site. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. As more and more people are overcoming their fear of the Internet, and are taking advantage of the vast source of goods and services available online, search engines have siezed the day and are cashing in big time. Search Engine Ranking In addition to the cost, there are factors concerning your ranking within the search engine's index that have also changed. Your ranking simply means how far near the top of the listings will you be. Studies have shown that most search engine users rarely go past the first 3 pages of Search Results withing trying another search or another search engine. At 10 or 20 listings per page, you can see how helpful it would be to your business to be number 400 down on the list. The first thing you should know is that your web pages must contain certain components in order to have a shot at a good ranking. These are issues that should be addressed by a professional webmaster who can make sure that the pages on your site are optimized for high search engine ranking. Once this is done, you're ready to think about whether or not you need to pay money to a search engine for a listing. To Pay or Not to Pay
Before I continue, let me give you my most important Web Site Marketing Tip. I can't stress this enough;
Now, having said all that, where do search engines come in? Basically, if your target audience is restricted to your local surrounding area, don't spend a dime on search engine submission. Go with the free options listed below and launch a well-thought-out marketing campaign such as I've outlined above you won't be missing a thing in terms of attracting customers. If however, you seek a national or even global market, good ranking on some of the better known search engines is essential but it still won't replace the marketing you do OFF the Internet. The Top Search Engines (as of today anyway) Search Engine companies are constantly being swallowed up by bigger fish, but below is a current assessment of some of the big boys in today's market. Yahoo - 28.9% of searches Up until about a short time ago, the best way to get listed in Yahoo was by paying the annual $299 fee to be listed in their directory. However, at this time, Yahoo gets its results from the Google, so lets look at them next. Google - 29.5% of searches* Google has a submission form on their web site at www.google.com/addurl.html. Submitting your website this way does not guarantee that you'll be indexed. According to Google, most of the sites they index are found by their "web spiders", and not by submissions. These "web spiders" are robot software programs that read the words on web pages and interpret content in order to determine if they should be added to the Google database. Other sites linking to your site GREATLY increases your chances of being indexed by Google and by other search engines as well, so one of the best things you can do is to have a Links page on your site that lists other sites that might be of interest to your site visitors, AND to encourage the other sites to link back to you. Its as simple as sending an e-mail to the other site, asking if you can add them to your Links page and requesting that they do the same. You don't need hundreds of links, but 3-5 quality links at this stage will encourage Google to index your site. Google typically updates its full index once a month, so allow up to 4 weeks for your site to be added. If your site has not been indexed by Google within 6 weeks, beef up that "Trading Links" campaign. AOL - 18.4% of searches Basicaly there is no submission process for AOL as they currently use the results from Google, so obtaining a listing at Google is important if you wish to be shown in AOL. Netscape You guessed it, Netscape currently takes it's index from Google. The Open Directory The Open Directory (www.DMOZ.org) is a vast directory updated and maintained by thousands of volunteer editors. This is a very worthwhile sourse as there are several other search engines that take results from DMOZ. To get your website listed in the directory, simply find the most appropriate category for your website and click the "add url" link. Follow the instructions carefully. Pick 3-4 of your most important keywords and write a 20-30-word description that includes these terms. DMOZ editors are known for changing the descriptions submitted by website owners, so make sure yours is well written so that you reduce the chance of it being edited; it could be your keywords that are edited out. Remember, editors are unpaid at DMOZ, so don't expect to see your website listed after just a few days. It could take weeks or even months. You can read further instructions at the DMOZ site. Looksmart Looksmart used to ask for a simple $299 fee to have your site reviewed by editors and then listed in the directory. That is long gone, and now they use their own unique combination of paid-inclusion and editorial review. One option is to pay the $29 to have your site reviewed and listed in the Looksmart directory. Once listed, you will pay $0.15 per click for the first 5,000 visitors that Looksmart generates to your website. After that, your click-thru rate is adjusted depending on the type of business you operate (rates range from $0.23 to $0.75 per click). The good news is that you can set your monthly budget to ensure that you do not overspend (minimum spend is $15 a month). (Note that these are basic instructions for getting listed in Looksmart - you can view further information on their website). Inktomi Inktomi (www.inktomi.com is owned by Yahoo and provides results to Looksmart, MSN, Hotbot and Overture. Inktomi provides crawler results to many other search engines. The best way to get listed in Inktomi is to use one of the many paid-inclusion services. The cost is typically $39 a year for the first URL you submit and $25 for each URL thereafter. The subscription is for one year and usually ensures your site is listed within 48 hours. Two of the main providers of Inktomi paid-inclusion are: PositionTech and Network Solutions. In Closing Using the information above, you have an excellent chance of getting your web site indexed with a markatable ranking. If you are a TriceNet customer, all of the free options above will be taken care of as part of your site design. Remember, you can always return to this page for the links to some of the paying services if you decide you need them. For more information, or to arrange a consultation, send an e-mail message to info@tricenet.net or call
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