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How do search engines work? How do you get listed at the top of a search engines results? How do I register my site with a search engine? Links to submission/registration pages.
* Note: If you can get listed on Google and Yahoo, you're well covered.
Multiple Submission Sites How much will it cost? Many of the Search Engines are part of the LookSmart Network and/or the Open Directory Project and it you submit to one member you site should eventually be registered with its other members.
Registration Services for a Fee
There are also services that will register your site with 200-300 search engines for a small fee and it is a good way to make sure you're covered. Business directories are more likely to charge a fee.
How long before my site is listed? How do I know which search engines list my site? Should I register more than once? Is there one best search engine? What is a business directory? As I surf the web, if I come across any site that works as a directory, search engine, or a general listing pertaining to my business, I look for a link that will list my site. To learn more about search engines, you may want to visit Search Engine Optimization, Yahoo's Searching the Web or Search Engine Watch
There's no simple answer. Each search engine has its own method of producing search results and the methods frequently change. If you go to a search engine's web site and start digging into their own pages, you may find the basic criteria they use to produce results. Some engines use the page's title (text you do not see on the site), or the first paragraph or first 100 words, or they analyze or "crawl" the entire site, or they use meta tags. Meta tags are a series of keywords or phrases describing your site. The tag does not show on the web site, but if you want to see if your site has meta tags and what keywords/phrases are used, do a "View Page Source" and it should be near the top. Also check your site's title this way - it should be 5-12 words in length and as descriptive as possible. Last but not least, the amount paid for the listing will also be a part of the criteria.
The order of a search's results may be based on how the search engines works (see above paragraph), how the search criteria was entered by the user, in alphabetical order, by date registered, by site's importance which is determined by the number of other sites linked to yours, etc. In other words, like above, there's no easy answer. I would hesitate to pay a fee to someone that guarantees you will appear at the top of a search engine's list. Below are sites discussing Search Engine Placement
Usually on a search engine's home page there will be a link to "Add a Site" which may require only the url (web address) or url and e-mail address and/or a brief description. However in the past few years many have begun charging a fee - see below.
There are several "all in one" sites that will register you in many additional search engines, but may require the same information from you for each search engine. This could be a time consuming task you may want to give your teenager or secretary.
In the past most search engines provided a basic or standard listing for no charge, however that has changed. Some will charge a fee for a "special" listing which is suppose to bring more traffic. Because listings are no longer free, I do not provide this service for my clients; I suggest that they decide handle this based on their budget. This means I have not kept up with the current costs, but I believe it is somewhere between $200-$300 per year.
It's anyone's guess - from hours to months to never. Sad, but true.
There are search engines that search other search engines. Here are a few of them.
Yes - register as often as time and money permits. It may help keep you at near the top.
There is no "one best" search engine. Most of them have indexed less than 20% of the web sites however Google has become the most popular. The links below compare search engines and give insight into their workings.
It is similar to a phone book's yellow pages, listing sites by location or type of business.
traffic to your site. For other ways, see ....
Tips to Increase Web Site Traffic
Page designed and information compiled by Dianne Parkerson, Business Internet Pages
Revised December 2006