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Getting your web site
listed in the major search engines is an absolute necessity. Why? Because
80% of all people on the Internet use them when searching for information.
Finding the correct information on major search engines can be very
frustrating. Search engines keep changing their strategies. Some which were
free, are now charging high fees. Previous ones, have been bought out by
others.
This article will give you the most current information concerning the
major search engines since these have the most searches. Some of them are
still free, whereas others are fee-based. Pay per click search engines will
be addressed in future articles.
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Here are the major search engines, listed in alphabetical order.
1. AllTheWeb.com
(Fast Search) http://www.alltheweb.com/add_url.php
This is the largest index on the Web. Free - It takes 2 weeks for your site to be indexed. There is no
guarantee to get listed.
2. Altavista. http://www.altavista.com/addurl
Free - this gives you a basic submission. You can add up to 4 URLS and be
considered for inclusion in 4-6 weeks. There is no guarantee of inclusion.
Paid - AltaVista Express Inclusion. Guaranteed submission within 48
hours. Price $39.00 I URL for a 6 month subscription
3. Ask Jeeves.
This is powered by Ask.com and Teoma.com. It takes 7 days to be included.
Price. 1st URL $30.00 URLs 2 - 1000 $18.00 each
4. Google: http://www.google.com/addurl.html
Google is the top choice for searchers.
Free it is free to submit but there is no guarantee of a listing. The
more inbound links you have, the better your chance of fast inclusion and
higher ranking. Allow 1 month for your listing to appear.
5. Infospace. http://www.infospace.com/info/submit.htm
Free to submit, however you need to fill out a form to get listed.
6. Inktomi. http://www.positiontech.com/inktomi/enroll.cfm
Inktomi's search engine has an extensive network of Web search partners,
including AOL, iWon, MSN and HotBot. It refreshes your site every 48 hours,
to keep your content up to date in the index.
Price First URL costs $39.00/year. Each URL thereafter costs $25.00/year.
7. Looksmart. http://www.looksmart.com
The LookSmart Network consists of partner sites that use the content of
the LookSmart directory in their directory search results. Partners include
more than 370 ISPs and the following top portals: MSN, Altavista, Netscape,
Infospace, CNN.com, CNet. According to their web site, they reach 77% of all
Internet Users.
To submit your site, go to the bottom of the page, where it says
"submit a page". Price $49 Listing Set-Up Fee. $150 minimum refundable deposit for new
customers. LookSmart tracks the number of clicks your listing receives
across the LookSmart Network. Every click received by your listing results
in a $0.15 deduction from your account balance. It takes several days for your site to appear, longer for Looksmart's
partners.
Free Non-commercial sites can be submitted at no charge through Zeal.com.
Sites listed in Zeal will be distributed across the LookSmart Network.
8. Lycos. http://home.lycos.com/addasite.html
Free submission of one page of your site. Takes 4-6 weeks and is not
guaranteed. You need to fill out a form to sign up.
Paid - guaranteed submission within 48 hours Price - $18.00/year Cost per
URL - $12.00
9. Netscape. http://digitalwork.netscape.com/onlinead/registersite
Your site will be submitted each month to major search engines such as
Google (used by Yahoo), AOL, Excite, MSN and Hotbot. Price - $99.99/year
10. Northern
Light. http://www.northernlight.com/docs/regurl_help.html
Free. This one only has free submissions. Only submit one page from your
web site. Their spider will crawl through the rest of the pages.
11. The Open Directory Project http://dmoz.org/add.html
A directory is different to a search engine, because the submissions are
reviewed by real people, not machines. When submitting, search for the
appropriate category for your web site, then go to the top of the page where
it says, “add URL”.
Free This is great directory to get listed in because you will also be
listed with its partners which include: AOL Search, DirectHit, HotBot,
Google, Lycos, Netscape Search and others.
It takes 2 weeks to several months to get listed.
12. Yahoo. http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest
Yahoo is the most popular search engine service. It also uses actual
people to compile its listings. It partners with Google when search results
fail to find a match within Yahoo.
This directory has only fee-based inclusions for business sites, called
Yahoo Express. Your site will be reviewed within 7 business days. Keep in
mind that payment DOES NOT automatically guarantee inclusion in the
directory.
Price - $299.00 non-refundable, recurring annual fee per submission, for
initial consideration in the Directory.
Tips
1. If you want to get traffic to your site, make sure you get listed
in all or at least a few of these major players. Make sure your web site is
optimized before you do your submissions (read “How to Use Keywords to
Optimize Your Site for Search Engines - http://www.isitebuild.com/keywords.htm
This will vastly increase your chances of getting listed.
2. Getting massive amounts of traffic doesn’t guarantee sales. Your web
site copy must pull your visitors through the page for them to take action.
Get others to read your copy and ask for their opinions. (read “How to
Avoid Sloppy Web Site Copy” - http://www.isitebuild.com/copy
3. To achieve higher rankings (and therefore more traffic) in the search
engines, you need to continually refine your web site. Monitor your site
rankings by adjusting the keywords used in your meta tags and web site copy,
then submit again.
4. 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. Use other methods to drive traffic to your site, so you don’t
just rely on the search engines.
Now go and submit your site to these major search engines. When you
succeed in getting a top listing, as a result of taking action on this
article, drop me a thank you note I’ll be cheering for you!
About the Author
Herman Drost is a
Certified Web Site Designer, owner and author of iSiteBuild.com Affordable
Site Design, Hosting and Promotion Packages http://www.isitebuild.com
Subscribe to his “Marketing Tips” newsletter for more original
articles. Read more of his in-depth
articles at: www.isitebuild.com/articles.htm
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