Over the last two issues I explained how to set up your Meta Tags
so that they can be indexed and categorized by the various search
engines. Many search engine use a small program called a Spider to
search and categorize as many web pages as possible. If you do
nothing else you may find that people start linking to your site after
being found on a search engine simply because you set up your meta
tags correctly. If you do nothing else however, you will be missing
out since many search engines will not send a spider to your site
until you register while some search engines do not use spiders at
all.
Optimizing your site for visiting spiders is a topic in itself that I will
talk about in more detail next week. This week I will explain some
of the things you should do to register your site with the search
engines.
I am sure many of you have seen ads to register your site with over
several hundred search engines. These programs can be very useful
when dealing with a large number of specialty indexes. Many of
these indexes will generate little traffic to your site but some can be
very productive and well worth the effort if the submission process
is automated by a program. The major search engines however, are a
different story. These are too important to be left to a submission
program and should be handled individually.
There are at least 5 major search that you should know something
about to optimize your submission.
AltaVista. Register at:
http://www.altavista.com/av/content/addurl.htm
This is the largest search engine on the net and is easy to get
registered with if your meta tags are set up correctly. Submit your
main page and 1 other page every two weeks. Let their spider crawl
the rest of your site for best results.
HotBot Register at:
http://www.hotbot.com/addurl.asp
This is another very large search engine. Submit your two most
important pages every two weeks.
Goto Register at:
https://www.goto.com/linead/getlisted.cgi
You can get any ranking you like on this engine provided you pay
for it. Keywords are auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Excite Register at
http://www.excite.com/info/add_url
Submit your site every two weeks
Lycos Register at:
http://www.lycos.com/addasite.html
You need at least 75 words on your home page to be properly index
by the Lycos spider.
Infoseek Register at:
http://infoseek.go.com/AddUrl?pg=SubmitUrl.html
Infoseek rarely spiders web sites so it is important to submit as
many relevant pages as possible.
Yahoo Register at:
http://howto.yahoo.com/chapters/10/1.html
Yahoo is the most popular search engine on the net but getting
listed can be difficult. Estimates are that only 1 in 10 submissions
get listed and even then it can take up to 15 weeks. Yahoo has
recently introduced a fast-track registration process that cost $199.
This will get your site reviewed within 7 days but will not guarantee
that it is listed. They review your site individually and will list it if
they feel that it offers something of value to their customers.
"IMS Web Tips" is a weekly news letter for all web site managers regardless of experience who are looking for detailed information on
creating, maintaining and promoting their web sites.
