Top Ten Search Engines and Directories

The majority of people turn to the top ten search engines and directories to find what they are looking for on the internet. Traffic from these sources is important, so this is the first place to start promoting your site.

Before you submit

Before you start submitting your site to the top ten search engines and directories, you need to make sure that you are ready. Below are some steps to take before you ever submit.

Make sure that your site is 100% functional. You should have no broken links, missing images, or misspelled words.
Because search engine spiders crawl links, you want to make sure that your main sections are linked to from your home page. It is also a good idea to have all of your pages accessible within 3 clicks.
To prepare for submission, write a brief description of your site, being as precise as possible. Your description should include the most important keywords for your site and should be written so that searchers seeing your listing will want to visit your website.
Write three separate descriptions so that you can comply with the restrictions of the different search engines. It is handy to have a 25 word, 50 word, and 200 word description of your site on hand.
Write these descriptions in your word processing program so that you can use the spell check feature. This also allows you to save the descriptions so that you don't have to retype them for each submission. Having these saved descriptions will also come in handy when you exchange links with other site.

How to submit

Don't rely on submission services to handle such an important aspect of your website promotion. You want to hand-submit your site to the top ten search engines and directories yourself.

To begin the the process, choose the search engine or directory that you are interested in, go to their submission page, and read their guidelines. Most will require that you locate and submit to the most appropriate category for your site.

Take your time, submit to the right category, and include a good description of your website. It is a wise idea to only submit your home page. If you have set up your home page correctly, the search engine will then be able to index your whole site.

Submitting to the top ten search engines and directories

Don't be surprised if not all of the search engines and directories offer a submission form. This is okay because the major search engines will find your site by following links to your site from other sites. You can use the following search engine list to help you get started.

The search engines and directories listed below are ranked according to their importance in getting listed, not necessarily how much traffic they will bring in. Some are free search engines, and some require paying to get listed.

The Open Directory (dmoz.org)
Dmoz.org is a directory built by human editors. While you won't get a lot of traffic directly from dmoz.org, it is very important to get listed in their database because many search engines use Open Directory data to spider new websites. You can begin the submission process at http://www.dmoz.org. Be sure to follow their guidelines exactly.
Google.com
Google prefers to find new websites by following links on sites that are already indexed. If you want to increase your chances of being indexed by google, a link from the Open Directory is especially beneficial. You should also find some quality website or directories to link to your site. There is a submission form located on their home page, but submitting doesn't guarantee that you will be indexed. You can find the submission form at http://www.google.com/addurl/.
Yahoo.com
This is an important search engine to be listed in because many people use Yahoo as their homepage. Building links from other websites is the best way to get listed for free. You can also use their free URL submission form at http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html.
MSN
One of the best ways to ensure that MSN can find your website is to include valuable content that other sites will want to link to. However if your site is not indexed by MSN, you can submit your home page to http://beta.search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx.
AOL
AOL is used by millions of AOL subscribers. AOL uses the results from Google, so obtaining a listing at Google is important. You are also automatically submitted to AOL's directory when you are indexed by the Open Directory.
Ask.com
Ask.com doesn't have a free submission form, but rather uses the results from Teoma.com. Toema indexes website by using spiders to trace links from other sites. Therefore it is important to build incoming links, especially from the Open Directory. Your site can also appear in Ask.com via paid listings through Google Adwords.
Netscape Search
You are automatically submitted to the Netscape directory when you submit to the Open Directory and are listed in the Google search engine.
Looksmart Directory
Getting listed in the Looksmart directory will help your website appear in the results from Mamma.com and Dogpile. Although you have to pay to get listed, there is a way around this. By becoming an editor for Zeal, you can get your site listed in Looksmart. You need to register with Zeal.com before you can submit your site. You can find out more here: http://zeal.com/.
AltaVista.com
Even though AltaVista.com is not as popular as it once was, it can still provide decent traffic to your site. Search results on AltaVista are powered by Yahoo, so you will need to submit your site to Yahoo, at http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request. Since Yahoo also provides the sponsored matches on AltaVista, you can use their advertising options to increase your exposure. Yahoo! Sponsored Search lists your business on top sites like Yahoo!, AltaVista and CNN. Sign up and get a $25 credit.
Fast.com/All the Web
Fast.com has its results powered by AllTheWeb.com, and provides search results for many large portals and sites. You can submit to AllTheWeb.com at http://www.alltheweb.com/add_url.php

After you submit

Once you submit your website for inclusion in the top ten search engines and directories, it will be placed on a list for their editors or robots to review, so be patient. The search engines can take from 4 to 8 weeks to index a site. If your website doesn't show up after 4-8 weeks, you may need to resubmit your site for review.

It is important to realize that even though your site may not appear in the first few pages of search results, that does not mean it hasn't been indexed. Before your resubmit your website, you need to check to see whether it has been indexed already. A good service to use for this is Submit Corner.

As you have probably discovered, getting your website listed in the Open Directory is important to your success in being listed in many of the major search engines. In our next lesson, we will discuss submitting your site to the Open Directory.

Next: Submit to the Open Directory
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