| Let's assume for the moment that your site offers advice on successfully growing asparagus. Well, every time a user types "asparagus gardening" in Google, you want him to find a link to your site. In fact, every time any user types "asparagus gardening" on any search engine, you want them to find your site. (Oh, and if your site really does offer advice on growing asparagus, my mom has some questions for you.) Your first step is to submit your site to the search engines in question. You've gotta be in it to win it, as they say. All search engines have simple submission forms that request your site name, URL, and perhaps a description, so they can locate and index your site. Once submitted to a search engine, your site will be automatically added to (or "crawled into") its database whenever it's next updated. Be warned, however, that this may take months; search engines aren't always as current as they could be. If you're in a hurry, and have cash to burn, some search engines offer an expediting service, which guarantees your site will be crawled and its listings updated regularly. getting listed in directories Directories, such as Yahoo! or About.com, also have a simple submission process. But they use a slower and more subjective system to evaluate sites. Since these directories are hand-assembled, simply submitting a site doesn't guarantee inclusion. Your site must first be deemed relevant by one of the site's category editors: an evaluation process that can take months. Again, if you're willing to pay, there's a faster way. Most directories will evaluate your site more quickly if you pay an expediting fee. Keep in mind that the expediting fee doesn't guarantee placement, only a timely evaluation. Comforting, it is not. To give yourself the best possible chance carefully choose the category under which your site belongs. Sites must be submitted directly to the category editors. Spend some time choosing the appropriate category and be specific. Don't choose "gardening," if the sub-category "container gardening" is more accurate. getting listed search engine dos & don'ts Submit your site to each search engines individually. Submit the URL for an index page that links to all others. Don't submit an unfinished site with an "under construction" sign. Don't submit an unreliable site. If it's "down" when the crawler visits, you could miss your opportunity. Don't submit a site without page titles and meta tags. Don't submit the same site over and over.
directory dos & don'ts Submit your site to each directory individually. Carefully choose the category to which you submit your site. Use important keywords in the site description. Don't use over-hyped language or slogans in your site description. Don't pretend to be something you're not. Don't submit a site that doesn't work.
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On the web Search Engine Watch http://www.searchenginewatch.com Searchengines.com http://www.searchengines.com Search optimization tutorial http://www.webmonkey.com/01/23/index1a.html Rankwrite http://www.rankwrite.com Submit-it http://www.submit-it.com/subopt.htm
lesson from the trenches: getting into Yahoo!  "We work on the assumption that everything is important to someone." Srinija Srinivasan For many small sites, a listing in Yahoo! is like an admission ticket to the world of web legitimacy: The first step toward becoming a site of significance. But how do you clear that bar? The first thing Yahoo! Editor-in-Chief Srinija Srinivasan wants you to know is that the editors don't pass judgment on the sites they review. "We're not trying to make fine-tuned editorial judgments on how a site stacks up against every other site or how important it is in the world." "Given our breadth and diversity of audience, we have to work on the assumption that everything is important to someone," she says. "And it's amazing how much that turns out to be true." So if your site works, and it's important to someone (besides you), it will get listed. That is, if anyone ever looks at it. Sheer volume is the biggest challenge Yahoo! editors face. "There are always more sites submitted than there are eyeballs to look at them," she says. For this reason, many sites choose to use Yahoo!'s express service, which costs around $200 and guarantees an evaluation within seven business days. If you're a commerce site (listed under Business to Business or Shopping and Services), you must go this route. Keep in mind, however, that the express service doesn't guarantee that you'll be included only that your site will be evaluated promptly. To improve your chances of getting in: Pay the fee to guarantee evaluation. "This doesn't increase or decrease your likelihood of getting listed. But it guarantees that you'll be looked at." Don't pretend to be something you're not. It's the Yahoo staff's biggest pet peeve: sites that pretend to be more than they are claiming, for example, to have thousands of real estate listings across the country, when they only have a few for their own city. "This is the biggest mistake that site owners make," Srinivasan says. "One of the key phrases we use nearly every day talking to small businesses and larger clients is that we can't list them for anything that doesn't actually exist on their site." Make sure your site works. "These brass-tacks functionality issues are important. The site has to be up and running, and has to work in different browsers." Make sure your site makes sense. "It shouldn't be unreadable or incomprehensible." Make sure your site is relevant to someone, somewhere, other than yourself. Make sure your site has some shelf life. "We avoid sites that are here today, gone tomorrow."
And take heart: "We're not capricious," Srinivasan says. "It's pretty darn likely that if you think your site should be listed and your friends agree then we will too." |
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