Should I Submit Our Site To 1,000 Search Engines?
Everyone
has received an email stating that your web site could be listed
in 1,000 search engines for only $49.95. The email usual starts
of with, "I saw your awesome site and noticed . . . blah blah
blah" and ends with, "Give us money and we will submit
you to 1 gigatrillion-zillion-million sites." We have all wondered
whether paying to submit our awesome web site to these search engines
will result in more web traffic and more clients.
Our
advice: Don't waste you money.
If
you want your web site to gain more traffic you need to correctly
optimize your web site and not just submit it. Submitting your web
site to 1,000 different search engines, or even 1 gigatrillion,
will not do anything because of three reasons.
Reason
No. 1
Submitting your site does not mean you will be ranked well. If you
are submitted to Google, all that it means is you are included in
the search engine database. At recent count Google has more than
3 Billion web pages in its database. You could be No. 1000, No.
40, No. 67 or No. 2,000,000 for your keyword phrases. Asking a client
or customer to find your web site through this method is like asking
that client to meet you in a bar . . . somewhere on the Eastern
Seaboard.
What
you really need is for your web site to be optimized correctly.
Optimization is an intricate process whereby the content and organization
of your web site is revamped. You can view our previous newsletters
on the topic. Optimizing your web site and THEN submitting your
web site will ensure that you are ranked in the top-ten for your
keyword phrases.
Reason
No. 2
The second reason to not buy these submission services is the fact
that there are not 1,000 search engines on the Internet that are
useful - and there are many that are actually harmful to you.
Sure,
there are a quite a few major search engines that you want to be
included in, such as Lycos, Hotbot, Excite, MetaCrawler, Netscape,
WiseNut, AOL, Fast, AlltheWeb, Yahoo!, Inktomi, Go.com, Looksmart,
AltaVista, iWon, MSN, Ask Jeeves (aka Ask.com), Teoma, and Google.
However, through mergers, buyouts, and syndication agreements, nearly
all major search engines and portals receive their search results
from a few providers of data. In fact, some of the top web properties,
such as MSN, Yahoo!, AOL and others receive syndicated content and
search results.
If
a company offers to submit you to 1,000 search engines or more then
that company is submitting you to countless SPAM directories and/or
irrelevant search engines. Their sole purpose is to obtain your
email address and SPAM you. If you like receiving offers for enlarging
various body parts, then cool, sign up for these SPAM directories.
If not, then directly submit your site to the top search engines
through each search engines web page.
Reason
No. 3
Most likely your web site is already listed in the major search
engines for free - isn’t that nifty? Search engines are in
the business of having the most complete resource of web sites on
the Internet. Each major search engine is constantly crawling the
Internet looking for new web sites to be included in their directory.
Sure, some of these “crawling bots” are slow, but they
eventually index your web site. If you need a speedy process, then
most web sites have a paid program.
Of
course, if your web site has been on the Internet for more than
a year, then there is a good chance that it has already been included.
And if you web designer knows anything other than how to create
a scrolling logo that flashes orange and blue, then they would have
already submitted your web site upon completion of their project.
In any event, if your web site is not listed in a search engine
for some reason, then you can submit your own web site for free
by visiting each major search engine.
So Where Should I Submit?
You only need to be submitted to a few search engines and database
providers. Google and the Open Directory Project offer free submissions.
Simply go to their web site and fill out the necessary forms and
you will be listed within four to six weeks. Altavista, Teoma, Fast,
and Inktomi also offer free submit programs, but they try to push
their $20-$50 paid inclusion program heavily. We would recommend
the paid inclusion programs if you are not listed in each database
within eight weeks of the free submission OR if you are in need
of being listed quickly. Overture and Looksmart are paid programs
whereby you setup a pay-per-click ADVERTISING program. This is great
if you do not have time to properly optimize your web site or you
cannot achieve a top-ten ranking. Of course, it will cost you anywhere
from .15 cents a click to $2 per click.
Free
Inclusion Web Sites (Just a Few)
- GOOGLE
Content Syndication: Google, Netscape, AOL, Yahoo!, iWon, Ask
Jeeves (aka Ask.com) and more.
- OPEN
DIRECTORY PROJECT (DMOZ)
Syndication: dmoz.org, Hotbot, Google, AlltheWeb, Lycos, AOL,
Teoma, Netscape and more.
- ALL
THE WEB (Free)
Syndication: Lycos, AlltheWeb
- ALTAVISTA
(Free)
Syndication: AltaVista
Paid
Inclusion Web Sites
- ALTAVISTA
EXPRESS INCLUSION (Paid)
Syndication: AltaVista
- TEOMA
/ ASK JEEVES SITE SUBMIT (Paid)
Syndication: Ask Jeeves (aka Ask.com) and Teoma
- FAST
- LYCOS INSELECT (Paid)
Syndication: Lycos, AlltheWeb, Excite, Infospace, Webcrawler,
Hotbot, and more.
- INKTOMI
SEARCH SUBMIT (Paid)
Syndication: Overture, Excite, Looksmart, MSN, AOL, Hotbot, and
Looksmart.
Pay-per-Click Web Sites
- OVERTURE
Syndication: Hotbot, Go.com, AltaVista, iWon, MSN, AlltheWeb,
Excite, Yahoo!, Lycos and more.
- LOOKSMART
Syndication: MSN, AltaVista, Excite and more.
- GOOGLE
ADWORDS
Syndication: Google, AOL, Ask Jeeves (aka Ask.com), Earthlink
and more.
About The Author
Peter Boyd, Esq. at PaperStreet Web Design. Located in Miami, Fl, PaperStreet Web Design has extensive experience developing, redesigning and optimizing law-related web sites. Our expertise can save you time and money while increasing your firm's business traffic. Why have a web site if no one can
find it? We also are adept at creating and executing entire Internet Marketing campaigns that include various
advertising options and individualized newsletters. If you have any questions about search engine placement or need your web site optimized for search engines, feel free to contact Peter Boyd at PaperStreet Web Design, peteboyd@paperst.com
or 305.804.2218.
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ILW.COM.
Copyright © 1999-2002 American Immigration LLC, ILW.COM
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