Search Engines and Directories

Submitting Your Site

Finally! And you thought I'd never get here, didn't you? Well, we're now ready to tell the world. You've got your web page all fixed up, the welcome mat is out, and now it's time to invite some spiders. And, like so many other things in this world, there's several ways to do this. So, like the rest of my rambling discussions, I'm going to give you all of the possible options.

Pay Somebody Else to Submit

What, you think that I'm crazy? Well, it's true - there are a bunch of folks out there who earn their living submitting other people's sites. If you don't believe me, go do a search for the phrase "search engine positioning" on any search engine, and read some of the pages. These services cost anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of dollars a month. However, I don't think that anybody who has read this far is going to be interested, so I'll say no more on this subject.

Well, ok, one more thing: If you see an ad that says something like "Submit your Web site to 3,428 Search Engines! Only $29.95!!", don't walk away: run! Some (well, most) of these submissions services have irritated the search engines so much that the search engines will ban any site these guys submit.

There aren't that many public general topic search engines anyway. Maybe 250, and not all of those speak English. There are quite a few specialized search engines, but they will not appreciate your submitting a site that doesn't fall into their topic. It won't do you any good, anyway, since their customers won't be looking for your type of site.

However, if you do know of a specialized search engine that matches the topic of your site, then definitely go register with them. Do it now. You lucky dog.

Free Submission Services

Now that's more like it! Get somebody else to do it for free! Well, it's a good deal, but it's not that good of a deal. Some search engines have banned these guys as well. Most of the sites that they submit to are too small to bother with anyway.

Submission Software

There are programs that you can get to do the work for you. However, I wouldn't advise buying software that you are going to use once. This may be worthwhile if you plan to start a business optimizing other people's websites. If that is the case, what are you doing reading a beginner's guide anyway?

Do It Yourself

Just as with web page design, there are no automated tools that will do as good a job as you can do by hand. I've provided a list of search engines for you. Where I know it, I've also provided a direct link to the submission page.

Unfortunately, these guys change their site navigation about as often as Microsoft changes theirs, so my links may not always work. If this is the case, you can always go to the search engine's front page and look around. Look for something that says "Suggest a Site", "Submit URL", or something of the sort. It's often buried down at the bottom of the page along with the copyright notice. Some sites don't have one; I'll tell you how to get around that in a minute.

Why Bother?

Yes, that's right. If you followed the instructions that I gave you for exchanging links, the spiders will find you anyway. Even if you didn't, if you have registered a domain name for your site the spiders will find it from your registrar. If you are on a free site (like RootsWeb), just submit your site to their listings and everyone else will find you from there. In fact, it's just about impossible to stay hidden even if you want to. I have had newly registered sites spidered by Google within five days after putting the server up, and long before there was any meaningful information up there. I've taken to blocking the spiders until the site is nearly ready to be seen. Trust me, you'll have to beat 'em off with a stick. Metaphorically.

You will still need to submit to the directories, since these don't find their own pages.

Search Engines

If you do want to submit your site to the search engines, it's pretty easy. Search engines normally want only your site's URL, and maybe your name and email address. Their spider will search your site and build its own keyword database from what you've given it. It usually pays to read the instructions on the submittal page. There will be a test on this later.

Oh, the ones that don't have a submissions page? They're using somebody else's search database. Or, in the case of the Meta search sites, several other sites' databases. I've indicated most of these in my search engine tables. These search engines will automatically pick up your site when you register with the site whose database they are using, so ignore them and move on.

As of the time that I'm writing this, Google and Yahoo! (the search part, that is) are the only ones that most people need to bother with. Excepting the specialty search engines that might help you in a few special cases, these two will give you 98% of your search referrals. If you really want to, and you have lots of spare time, feel free to submit to anybody that you wish for that last 2%.

Directories

Directories usually require you to give them a title, description, and sometimes a list of keywords as well. You've already written these, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Only a few directories have a single submittal page. Most want you to find the right category in their list, then click on a submit link from there. This is actually a good idea: look for sites that are similar to yours, then submit from that category. Some allow you to submit for multiple categories if you need to. I've provided a link to the submissions page when there is one, and to an instructions page when one is provided. For the rest, start at the search page and go digging through their categories. When you find the right one, look for a link that says "Add a Site" or something similar.

The problem with directories is that most of them are compiled by humans, and are therefore slow and hard to get into. Check back in a month or so; if you're still not listed, submit again. Yahoo! usually takes at least three tries to get listed. DMOZ normally takes three to six months, sometimes longer if there is currently no editor for your category. Don't resubmit to DMOZ; go to their forum and post a question. Be polite. And remember that persistence is the rule for all directories.

If you want to submit your own site, or you just want to know how many search engines are out there, check out my search engine list. Note: Sorry, but this part of the site is a bit out of date. OK, it's really out of date. I'll try to fix it up a bit as soon as I can. No promises.

For automated submission services, software, and other tools, see the other resources page.

Otherwise,

That's All Folks!