Search engine submission involves two main types of search engines: spider engines and directories.
- Spider engines (eg Google, MSN, Altavista, Yahoo Search) automatically crawl through the web from link to link, using algorithms to evaluate sites and their rankings.For a great introduction to search engines, go to SearchEngineWatch
There are many automated search engine submission tools available, both paid and free, to submit to search engines, and also classifieds and FFAs. Most search engine "gurus" and forums advise you to stay away from these and just manually submit to the big engines, and let yourself be crawled into the others.
However there are reputable companies providing search engine submission software, such as:
These search engine software packages generally maintain an up-to-date list of quality search engines and directories (not classifieds/FFAs), and manage the submission of your website for you. You can enter your website title, description, keywords, contact details once, and either automatically or manually, submit your site to these quality sources.
Many of these search engines and directories will send an email requesting confirmation before adding you. You may wish to setup a separate email address for this, but will still need to click on the email to confirm submission.
Basically it can't hurt to try and get an incoming link from these search engines and directories. And WebCEO and IBP will produce a nice report of sites you've submitted to to give to your clients.
Other useful tool sites are:
SpiderHunter - track progress of spiders, and moreIn theory, if you have added your site to directories, and have some decent incoming links to your site, you don't need to submit to the crawler engines - they should find you. But you wouldn't really want to take the chance... so submit.
Google is considered the most important crawler engine of all. The best way to get onto Google is by having lots of links to your site. Adding your site through their Add URL screen will at least put your site on the list of those to be considered. Useful advanced Google commands are:
Yahoo has had its own crawler since 2004 in addition to its directory. You may submit for free here, but the best way to get in for free is through incoming links from other sites.
MSN has it's own crawler to produce search results. You can add for free, or be spidered.
Inktomi is now owned by Yahoo and uses Yahoo and Overture results.
AllTheWeb - Formerly known as Fast. Now owned by Overture - which is owned by Yahoo. No more direct submissions - they use Yahoo and Overture results.
AltaVista Also now rely on Yahoo and Overture.
Teoma uses an impressive subject relevancy algorithm to determine results. You can read about it here, how it measures the relevancy of the incoming link. There is no Add URL page - you have to get spidered.
Yahoo is the most well-known directory engine. Yahoo organises sites by category. To get into the main Yahoo directory, first study the categories to determine where your site will fit best. To add your site, select Suggest A Site. Standard non-commercial site submission is free, but it may take several weeks to get your site reviewed and added. You can pay extra to get your site reviewed quickly. Then carefully add your site description, title and keywords.
DMOZ, the Open Directory, involves being assessed by real live volunteer people. DMOZ also contributes to other engines like AOL. Don't miss this one. But allow a long time for those pesky humans to get around to reviewing your site.
Jayde - Add to directory under chosen category. Quick human reviews.
JoeAnt Unless you want to pay, you have to become an editor to get to add your site.
GoGuides similarly either wants you to pay, or become an editor to add your site.
To get ahead of others in the search game, you need to look for directories related to your site. For example, go to Google and seach for "cat directories" if your site is about cats, and submit manually to those. Or search a forum such as WebProWorld for a list of major directories.
The Sandbox is an unofficial term derived by webmasters around the world, annoyed at the delay in getting a good ranking at Google. While you may get indexed relatively quickly after submitting your site to Google, the majority of sites seem to have to wait around 9 months to start getting a decent ranking, or position. Google seems to want sites to prove themselves in an ageing process, before rewarding them with a good ranking.
This has led many webmasters to quickly purchase their domain name, implement a few content-rich placeholder pages, submit them to Google with a few incoming links, and leave them there while they develop the real site at leisure. Then when it is ready, the real site won't have to wait so long for a good ranking.