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Submitting Your Site to the Search
Engines, Directories and PPC Sponsor Links
I
could easily write a page or more on each of the search engines listed
below. Instead, I'll just give you a brief overview and point
you to other research links for you to follow up on. You need to
learn as much about these engines as possible to make informed
decisions and run a profitable SEM campaign. A quick word of
warning though, there is a lot of outdated and mis-information out there.
Be mindful of scams and fraud. In other words, do your research.
A quick word on SEO Forums. They can be a wealth of information
but they are also a leading source of misinformation for the
novice search engine optimizer. Much of the information there
is speculative at best. The bottom line is do not take all
the information you read there as fact.
I will point you to legitimate reliable resources in the links
section. I will also make my recommendations
after each listing.
Note: We try to keep this page updated to reflect the ever changing
Search Engine Market. However, we cannot guarantee it to be
accurate 100 % of the time as this industry changes very quickly.
Top Directories
We'll start with the Directories. All Directories have
one thing in common, you must submit your site to the proper
category in the directory. Be sure you have your worksheet
ready and follow that specific directories instruction to
the letter. Remember, directories have Human editors that
will look at your listing very carefully. I cannot stress
the importance of a submitting a good concise description
of your site. Promotional blather will not fly. Also, Your
site must be complete (no under construction pages) and have
correct contact information on your Contact Us page. Each
directory has specific instructions.
Name |
Business.com |
Free
Inclusion |
NO |
Paid
Inclusion |
YES - 199.00 per year for
basic listing |
Paid
Placement |
YES - Featured listing push
your listing to the top of the page. Clicks
are CPC (cost per click) basis. CPC is
by rate card rather than bidding process. Rates
start at 0.40 cents per click. |
Pros |
Leading B2B directory. Also
powers listings in Business Week, Financial
Times, Fast Company, CNET, and more. You
can always reach an account exec. by phone or
email! |
Cons |
High inclusion price. Does
not pass PageRank. |
Recommendations |
We recommend this directory
only for sites that would benefit from the distribution
of its results ( Business Week, Financial Times,
Fast Company) |
URL |
www.business.com
|
|
Name |
DMOZ
- Open Directory Project |
Free
Inclusion |
YES |
Paid
Inclusion |
NO |
Paid
Placement |
NO |
Pros |
ODP is important because
it does still cary some weight with the search
engines if you are included. |
Cons |
Strictly volunteer based
directory editors. Many categories have
no volunteers so your site can potentially be
in the queue for many months or years. |
Recommendations |
Despite many issues we
have with this directory, we highly still recommend
it. |
URL |
www.dmoz.org |
|
Name |
Looksmart |
Free
Inclusion |
No |
Paid
Inclusion |
YES. Setup fee is $29.00
per site with a minimum of $50.00 in your account. Minimum
spend is $15.00 per month. CPC (cost per
click) is a flat 0.15 cents per click. |
Paid
Placement |
YES |
Pros |
Honestly. Can't think of
any |
Cons |
Limited email support,
No phone support. Low distribution. Hanging
on by a thread. |
Recommendations |
Currently we do not recommend
looksmart. It is no longer a directory. PPC
Distribution is low and traffic stats seem inflated. |
URL |
http://www.looksmart.com
|
|
Name |
Yahoo
Directory |
| |
$299.00 per year ( Do not
confuse this with regular Web results!) |
Free
Inclusion |
YES - conditional. For
non-profit sites only. No Guarantee. |
Paid
Inclusion |
YES - Business express inclusion
is 299.00 per year for a listing in their directory.
(Inclusion is not guaranteed) |
Paid
Placement |
NO - Sponsor results powered
by Yahoo |
Pros |
Oldest and most credible
directory on the web. Listing helps with overall
page ranking and web site credibility in other
search engines, including Google. A top search
portal/destination. Listings pass PageRank. |
Cons |
Yahoo directory listing
results are not shown by default when performing
a search. Users must select "directory"
to return directory results. Default results
are currently provided by Yahoo Web Search.
Inclusion is NOT guaranteed. If you
submit a site that isn't ready for prime time
or doesn't meet their guidelines, you could
potentially lose $299.00. There is an
appeal process. |
Submission
tip |
You must register before
you can submit your site. If you already
have an existing Yahoo.com email address, you
are already registered and can use that information
but be sure it is correct. Next, you must
find the correct category for your product or
service. A quick way to do this is to do
a search for similar products or services. Once
your have found the correct category, click
on the "Add a Site" link at the bottom
of the page. |
Recommendations |
We highly recommend this
directory. |
URL |
http://www.yahoo.com |
|
Top Search Engines
All of the engines listed below offer a free submission
option but many will actually find your site with their indexing
robots with no action on your part. (as long as you have good
linkage from other sites) If you submit, we recommend submitting
your XML Sitemap that you created earlier. Use the Meta Tag
option for authentication. These are the top four search engine.
They will drive virtually all search engine traffic to your
site.
Name |
Yahoo Web Search |
Free Inclusion |
YES - Add your URL to
the interface provided. You will need to authenticate
your site with some code that Yahoo provides.
You will need to copy and paste the code (meta
tag) into your sitebuilder site.
1) In Sitebuilder edit mode go to Settings/Advanced
HTML, paste you the meta code in the text
field that is provided. Select OK.
2) Go back to your Yahoo and click the authenticate
button.
3) Next, Add your XML Sitemap feed through
Yahoo Site Explorer.
https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/
|
Paid Inclusion |
Search Submit Pro:
YES -http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srchsb/ssp.php
This gets a little confusing so I'll explain
it in a little more detail.
Paid inclusion gets you included in the Yahoo
Web database which includes. Yahoo! Web results,
Alta Vista and AlltheWeb. You
are guaranteed inclusion into the database,
not guaranteed position! See
How
Yahoo Search Submit Pro works.
Cost: No Annual Fee 1st URL included in
49.00 fee 2-10 URLs 29.00 each 11-999 URLs
10.00 each. Cost per click (cpc) charges
also apply. It is 15-30 per click from the
search results. See the
CPC Schedule.
|
Paid Placement |
Yes - Sponsor results
powered by Yahoo Sponsor Links
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/index.php
|
Pros |
Fast inclusion into the database when using paid inclusion. Spider revisits every weekday to update any changes. Listings enhancements such as country indices, Logos, Icons and taglines are available at an additional cost. |
Cons |
Cost per click makes this
unattractive. |
Recommendations |
We currently do not use
the "Yahoo Search Submit Pro" service. The
cost per click fees make it unattractive. I
recommend Free submit through Yahoo Site Explorer.
You can achieve very good results without using
"Search Submit Pro" |
|
Name |
Ask
|
Free Inclusion |
YES. Use Ping method
to submit your xml sitemap. In your browser
address field, type the following (use your
url of course)
http://submissions.ask.com/ping?sitemap=SitemapUrl
(where SitemapUrl = the path to your sitemap.
Example: http://submissions.ask.com/ping?sitemap=www.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
|
Paid Inclusion |
NO - Discontinued in 2005. |
Paid Placement |
NO - Sponsor results powered Google AdWords. |
Pros |
Potential to compete with the top search engines but not there yet. |
Cons |
Low traffic and distribution. |
Recommendations |
Yes |
|
Name |
Google
|
Free
Inclusion |
YES - Submit your XML
Sitemap at Google
Webmaster Tools Must have Google
Account. |
Paid
Inclusion |
NO |
Paid
Placement |
Yes. Google AdWords appear
on the right side of the search results page
and in some cases, at the top of the page. There
is a $5.00 setup fee and a .05 cent minimum
bid. It is not a true bid for position
system. Price per click plus the amount of clicks
your ad generates determine it's position in
the sponsor links section. Your link can
also be syndicated on relative Web sites ( Ad
Sense) for extensive reach. |
Pros |
The leading search engine. Also
powers Web results for AOL, Netscape,
EarthLink + ads are syndicated on sites
all over the web (optional).
Cons: It takes a long time for your site to
be indexed. Spiders don't come around
regularly until your site is proven to be
a relevant, high traffic site. Getting
good placement here is typically a laborious
process due to Googles PageRank™
system and complex algorithms to determine
your sites relevancy. You must do more
than just optimize and submit to get good
positioning.
A link building/directory inclusion program
is essential to ensure good positioning at
Google! |
Cons |
NONE |
Recommendations |
We highly recommend this
search engine. |
|
Name |
MSN
Search - Live |
Free
Inclusion |
YES - http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx |
Sitemap
Submit |
There is currently no
interface to submit your XML sitemap to MSN/Live.
However, It will pick it up from your Robots
Text file when formatted properly. An example
format follows:
User-agent: *
Sitemap: http://www.awsp.com/sitemap.xml
Disallow:/secure/
For more on robots text files please see
http://www.seoconsultants.com/robots-text-file/
|
Paid
Inclusion |
YES |
Paid
Placement |
YES - Sponsor links through
MSN/Live
|
Pros |
Currently has Inexpensive
sponsor links. |
Cons |
Low market share. |
Recommendations |
We recommend this search
engine. |
|
Sponsor Links and Pay Per Click
Setting up sponsor links in Yahoo and Google is an essential part of a marketing campaign. Having sponsor links setup will drive traffic to your site almost immediately while the organic search engine optimization can take months or years to achieve a respectable positioning.
Name |
Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture): |
Information |
Yahoo/Overture sponsor links are listed on Yahoo and syndicated on AltaVista, MSN, CNN, InfoSpace.
Yahoo! offers a variety of options:
- Sponsor Search
- Local Advertising
- Search Submit
- Product Submit
- Travel Submit
- Directory Submit (mentioned above)
Select the options that fit your business needs.
Yahoo! Sponsored Search. |
Recommendations |
Highly recommended |
|
Name |
Google AdWords: |
Information |
Google AdWords are listed
on Google and syndicated AOL, Ask, Earthlink
and many web site if you choose that syndication
option.
Google also offers targeted options such as local, national or world exposure.
Sign Up for Google AdWords |
Recommendations |
Highly recommended |
|
Small Directory Inclusion
A VERY important part of any S.E. Marketing plan is submitting to the smaller directories that pass PageRank. This is an excellent source of one way inbound links. (no reciprocal link required)
Remember, proper linkage is absolutely vital to your campaign.
There are thousands of directories but this list comprises
some of good small directoriesand will get you started in
the right direction. Don't forget to submit to vertical
directories and industry specific portals.
All Directory inclusion prices are subject to change without
notice.
This concludes the Sitebuilder search engine optimization
tutorial.
Advanced Web Site Publishing offers professional search engine
marketing services. For more information on our services,
please see
http://www.awsp.com/promotion.html . Our
packages start at $350 per month based on a year agreement.
For more information or a formal proposal, please contact
us.
Tutorial by Keith Hickman
Director of Marketing, AWSP.com
Author Bio at SEO
Consultants.
Please help us improve this tutorial by giving us some feedback.
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