Ask webmasters to describe their single
most frustrating task and you're likely to
get an earful about the search engine and
directory submission process. It can be
confusing, tedious, time-consuming, and
expensive.
We'll help you evaluate your options and
select the best submission method for your
site.
Manual - A MUST For
Directories
A directory is organized into categories
and subcategories. Human editors review
each directory submission and evaluate the
site's quality and relevance. Success only
comes when you submit a high quality site
to the proper category.
Because the directory submission process is
geared so specifically to each particular
directory, you MUST submit by hand. An
automated submission program can't
adequately submit to any directory because
it isn't able to study the directory's
structure and determine which category is
best.
Directories are very popular with Internet
users and Yahoo is the biggest, most
popular directory. 100Hot.com,
a Web site that tracks the most popular Web
sites in many different categories,
consistently ranks Yahoo as one of the most
visited sites on the Web. Yahoo is also
the most difficult directory to get into.
Make sure you follow their submission
guidelines exactly to increase
your chances.
Manual Submission Takes
Time
Search engines are also important: 85% of
Internet users report using them to locate
Web sites. All search engines allow you to
submit your site manually, generally
through an "Add URL" or "Suggest A Site"
link - if you can find it. Some webmasters
swear that search engines intentionally
make it hard to submit by hiding their "Add
URL" links.
The manual submission process works, but it
involves many steps and can take a long
time. Look at what's involved:
- Research search engines and
identify those you want to
submit to.
- Locate the "Add URL" link
on the first search engine.
- Enter the URL of your site,
your name, and other
information the search engine
requires.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for
each of the remaining sites.
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You're entering a lot of repetitive
information here, so be very careful about
typographical errors. If you plan to
submit manually to many search engines,
consider entering the relevant information
into a text file first, then using your
computer's cut and paste functions to copy
the entries into the search engines' forms.
It can take weeks or months before your
site ever actually appears in the search
engine's database. You may have to submit
to search engines several times before they
index your site.
Automated Submission
Avoid that endless repetition by using an
automated tool that remembers your site's
information. You just have to enter the
information once into the form and the tool
takes care of submitting to individual
search engines. These tools are also
useful if you need to resubmit often since
the information is stored and ready to send
out.
Avoid Spam
If you've spent much time on the Internet,
you've probably seen the ads that promise:
"We'll submit your site to the Top 1500
search engines for only $19.99!!!!"
What 1500 search engines? There
just aren't that many. Some of these
services are just scams: their main goal is
to mine your email address and send you
spam email in the hopes of selling you
another useless service.
Reputable automated submission providers
try to screen out the scam/spam sites, but
you may still get spam email after you
submit. Some of the smaller search engines
generate revenue by selling your email
address. Even the large search engines
sometimes contact you with special offers
and sales pitches. Avoid this problem by
using an alternate email address when you
use automated submission tools.
As you take steps to avoid spam in your
inbox, avoid spamming the search engines.
Some webmasters think they can get ahead by
submitting their site as often as several
times per day. Actually, this practice
just gets them kicked
out entirely. Until you're listed,
submit your site no more than once a week.
A Listing Is Only The First Step
Even if you've successfully gotten your
site listed in all the major search engines
and directories, you can't relax. Your
next step is to move your site to the
top of the rankings because the vast
majority of users don't look past the first
few pages of results.
Manual submission works, but a good
automated search engine submission tool
saves you time and lets you concentrate
your efforts on directory submissions and
search engine optimization.
