SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSION

Now you are ready to begin submitting your site to the search engines and directories. What? You bought a nifty piece of software that does this for you? I hope you didn't pay a lot. No Internet Marketer will tell you to use that software to submit to the Top Ten. Why? Because you need to submit to each site individually and try to optimize to each one. That software won't do that. If it links to "thousands" of others, then by all means, the more the merrier.

Just remove the Top Ten from the list and go ahead and use the software! The second rule to site submissions is NEVER submit your site more than once every three weeks (I round off to a month, since it's easier to track). Otherwise, you run the risk of being considered a SPAMmer to the search engines and you (and your site) may become blocked altogether. Getting off that list is nearly impossible, so staying off it in the first place is best!

SUBMITTING TO SEARCH ENGINE DIRECTORIES

When manually submitting your web site to the directories, if you have a choice of multiple categories that apply to your web site, always choose a category that comes first alphabetically. Many directory's search results are sorted alphabetically by category, Yahoo included.

The Open Directory (www.dmoz.org) This is a completely human-driven database and directory and is the leading information house for the Google Engine. DMOZ is run completely by volunteers and is a very tried-and-proven system. Getting listed in the Open Directory will almost guarantee a listing in AOL (America Online), Netscape, Lycos, and other Google Engines.

Rules: Make the Open Directory editor's job as easy as possible. Submit your items in such a way that the editor will not feel the need to edit them (thereby possibly changing your keywords) before acceptance. Your site description should be a single sentence of not more than fifteen words.

It should convey what your site DOES (NOT things like "Come check us out!"), contain at least two key phrases, avoid any kind of hype (all caps, !!, etc.), use proper sentence structure (capitalize the first word and proper nouns ONLY), be written in the third person (i.e. "Offers." instead of "We offer."), and end with a period (not a ? or a !).

Now select the proper category for your site (usually by searching your keywords!). Once you have found a spot that matches (and the sites are similar to yours), then find the "Add URL" link at the top right. Some categories require that you further specify sub-categories before submission and will not list an "Add URL" link.

Keep moving through likely sub-categories until you find the right spot. Then fill in the blanks. Your official site name should match your TITLE tag and including your email address, though optional, is a good idea since the editor may wish to send you an email to explain why you were/weren't or whether you were/weren't listed.

Yahoo directory!(www.yahoo.com) Yahoo! And the Open Directory are very similar in function, though they aren't related otherwise. Yahoo! is the mother of all search engines and will gather you more traffic than any other search engine on the Web. Yahoo! Knows this, though, so expect to pay for the privilege of being listed there as a business. Currently, it is about $300 and carries no guarantee that you will be listed, only that you will be reviewed.

Rules: Read their instructions THOROUGHLY and their Help Index. (http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/url) and their How To page (http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest). They are very strict about their rules, so if you inadvertently break one of them, not only will you not get listed, you may be out your $300! Now make sure you are "providing unique content." Yahoo! is very adamant about this.

If your site is nothing but affiliate links and supplies no useful information for the user (this information is not one-liners, it should be at least three or four pages in total), then you will not get listed. You also need to list a physical address for your business (PO boxes don't count).

There are a million things you can do wrong and not get listed at Yahoo!--too many to list here. My suggestion is to either hire a professional and pay them to do it, or get listed in the other engines and wait for your site to pop up in Yahoo! on its own.

THE DIFFERENT WAYS TO SUBMIT YOUR WEB SITE TO SEARCH ENGINES:

1) Use of free web site submission service.

These services promise to submit your web site to between the top 8 and 10 search engines (sometimes as many as 500) for FREE!

Although this might sound like a pretty good deal, it’s not! Do not be taken in by the word “FREE”. If you use a free search engine submission service, you’ll pay! It will cost you traffic and sales that would have been yours! Be in no doubt, top ranking positions are NOT achieved using a free web site submission submission service.

What these companies don’t tell you is that every search engine is different. As discussed previously, each search engine deploys unique set of submission / listing criteria that must be met to achieve a top ranking position. Free submission services are useless because they submit the same info to every single engine. This is of no value to you whatsoever!

2) Use a low-cost automated submission service.

Generally speaking, these businesses will charge you a low fee (usually between £50 and £100) to submit your web site to 900 or so search engines and directories.

These services sounds too good to be true and you are right for thinking so!

Much like the free submission services, automated submission services automatically submits the same information to all of the search engines. Essentially, your web site is submitted to 900+ search engines without being optimised.

These services also promise to resubmit your web site to search engines periodically. Again, while this might sound good on the surface you need to critically analyse the offer.

What if you already have a top spot in a particular engine? Resubmitting your site may cause you to lose your place. Furthermore, because each search engine has different rules governing submission, you risk being accused of spamming and having your site banned!

3) Manually submitting your web site yourself, to individual search engine.

This is one of the best ways to submit your web site to the search engines. You visit each search engine separately, and manually submit the information for each web page you wish to have listed. Meeting specific requirements is a key step in the optimisation of your ranking.

There are however, a couple of disadvantages in submitting your web site this way:

1. It can be very time consuming and labour intensive. Researching and then meeting the individual requirements of each search engine can be a rigorous process because they’re all different.

2. There are no professionals available to look over your keywords and titles, verify your using the most up-to-date search engine tricks and techniques and then audit your choices and test their effectiveness.

The fact that search engines change their algorithms on almost daily basis, making gathering the “best” information about which techniques work, and which don’t a labour intensive process.

4) Use a professional search engine submission service.

The services of a professional search engine consultant don’t come cheap, however, they are very effective and should be considered if you can afford it.

Search engine consultants will educate you and work with you to maximise your ranking on search engines. They know all the latest tricks and techniques for securing a top spot and will either show you or do exactly what needs to be done to optimise your ranking.

Most companies will charge in the region of £400 to £3,000 for their services. They evaluate your web site, help design keywords and content, give tips and pointers, and design a search engine submission campaign.

If you can afford it, we recommend hiring a “top notch” search engine consultant to submit your site to the search engines.

5) Use submission software.

Many “self submission software” on the market submits the same information to the search engines, so your site is never optimised and your site is never optimised and you will never secure the top ranking you need.

Luckily, software called “SitePromoter” that has been developed by experts in search engine submission addresses and solves this critical problem, making submission software a cost-effective way to achieve top rankings in the major search engines. It gives you more value for your money when compared to your other options.

We use SitePromoter not just because it is a “cheap” alternative, but because it is a great tool and very easy to use and have key features, such as:

• Professional designed tutorial – guides you through the important process of choosing keywords and descriptions that will generate maximum traffic for your web site.

• Unlike free or automatic submission services, SitePromoter ensures that your keywords are chosen with the targeting logic of the top search engines in mind. This translates into top rankings and increased traffic.

• Takes the information that you input and prepares an individual submission form for each search engine. Each search engine will receive the exact information it requires and SitePromoter saves you the hassle of having to submit to each engine separately!

• Will automatically submit your web site to the top 150 search engines, indices and directories.

Internet marketing “gurus” to submit their clients’sites use SitePromoter. As the owner of an online business you now have access to top professional strength promotion for a fraction of the price.

If you are interested in downloading SitePromoter click here

SEARCH ENGINE LISTING

Search Engines/Spiders - Most of these are similar with only minor differences.

MSN/Looksmart (www.msn.com/www.looksmart.com ) - These two combined to become one engine and should be considered singular, though many still refer to them separately. The downside to Microsoft ownership? Money. They charge $150-$300 to list your site, depending on your chosen options.

Rules: If you really wish to be listed here, I suggest using the "Note sure. Let us help!" area at the bottom of the submission screen. Put in your URL (http://www.yoursite.com) and submit it there. Within two or three days (usually), someone will contact you via email or phone (depending on what you have listed on your site for contact).

This may seem pushy, since you'll have to talk to a salesperson, but it's worth it if you're going to spend the money to get listed. This person will set you up and even submit the site for you! All you have to do is cough up the money.

Google (www.google.com) - This is a good engine to submit to, since it is the base for many other search engines out there. The 'Googlebot' takes a couple of weeks to look for you, but will spider your site eventually.

Rules: It's pretty simple to get listed here. Put in your URL (including http://) and put your keywords (no commas) OR your description (either is good) under "Description.

AOL (http://search.aol.com) - If you get listed in the Open Directory, you will not need to submit to AOL. Submitting here submits to the Open Directory rather than to AOL!

Lycos(www.lycos.com) - This is a simple submission, though some what tedious. They usually spider within a month.

Rules: There aren't really any rules to this engine. Put in your URL and you're finished. If you want to create search terms for EVERY page on your site and enter each page individually (Lycos allows this), then you should do so. This becomes tedious, but may pay off when their spider comes to your site.

AltaVista (www.altavista.com) - As of this writing, AltaVista is having financial trouble and has reportedly not updated their database in over six months. So if you do submit your site, don't expect it to be listed very soon.

Rules: Although they give a lot of options, I wouldn't go beyond "basic" at this point. You can ad the others later (they all cost something). Other than that, there aren't any specifics to know when submitting here.

Netscape(www.netscape.com) - The same as AOL, this engine gets its listings from the Open Directory. "Ad a Site" is only a link to their professional search engine submission service.

Excite(www.excite.com) - Interestingly, Excite has partnered with Looksmart (aka Microsoft) and is now charging for submissions (same as above). The search engine itself still lists itself separately from the other two, however. If you plan to spend the money, I would use the Looksmart submission instead. It's a little more helpful.

Obviously you need to get listed in the search engines to get noticed significantly online. The down-side to this is that, unlike the early days of the World Wide Web, getting listed in the popular search engines is time-consuming, becoming expensive, and takes FOREVER.

There are few "free" alternatives for the little guy anymore. If you are in a hurry to get listed and have the budget, then by all means use the paid services. If you aren't, make sure that you're listed in the Open Directory (at the very least) and you'll show up elsewhere as time goes on.

Now that you have submitted your web pages to the search engines, your job is half done! Now you have to monitor your ranking, monitor the ranking of your competitors and take action to stay in front.

Go To Monitoring Your Ranking

Linking strategies
Newsletter
Viral marketing
Using classified ads to reach customers
Public relations / press releases
Creating profitable alliances with joint ventures
Affiliate programs
Testing surveying and tracking
Competitive intelligence