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Search engine submission
Site submission to search engines and directories is often done incorrectly. I cover this topic, in detail, in Part 4 of Search Engine Visibility. Below are some general guidelines to follow regarding search engine submission:
Treat spider-based search engine submissions and human-based search engine submissions differently.Most people incorrectly believe that crawler-based search engines and human-based search engines are the same. A crawler-based search engine uses a program that searches documents (i.e. web pages, which are mostly HTML documents) for specified keywords and returns the list of documents. You do not have to submit your site to the spider-based search engines. They will generally find your site on their own. A human-based search engine (such as Yahoo, commonly mistaken for a crawler-based search engine) depends on people for listings. A directory will not list your web page if you do not register it with them. Directories are usually divided into categories and you must submit your URL under the most appropriate categories. Directories often have partnerships with spider-based search engines for supplemental or fall-through results. For example, Yahoo currently has a partnership with Google. MSN Search currently has a partnership with LookSmart (a pay-per-click directory) and Inktomi (a crawler-based search engine). Because search engines and directories are so different, it is best to have different submission strategies.
Crawler-based search engine submission.To get optimal listings in the crawler-based search engines, keywords and key concepts must be placed strategically throughout your web pages. To summarize, you need these words in phrases in:
Other factors that affect search engine rankings are HTML layout, keyword density, keyword prominence, and keyword placement. Details about keyword placement are available in Part 2 of Search Engine Visibility.
Submit individual web pages to the crawler-based search engines. Submit your home page to the human-based search engines.In general, I use Position Pro to submit pages in a non-spam manner to the major crawler-based search engines, especially if we are submitting a large site. Since Position Pro has partnerships with the major search engines, I know that the firm is very careful about submitting in a non-spam manner. For smaller sites, I submit by hand. Additionally, I do not recommend that you submit the same web pages to the search engines within a short time period (even if you made changes on them). I recommend that you first submit your home page/main URL (yourcompanyname.com) accepted into the major human-based search engines before submitting to the crawler-based search engines. It's one of the quickest ways to get web site popularity. Before you try to get more targeted pages listed in the human-based search engines, make sure your home page is accepted first. You will stand a better chance of getting multiple pages listed in a directory if your overall site has been accepted first. The time between site submission and addition to the search engine or directory database is called the lead time. You will not see results in your traffic logs until the lead time has passed.
Monitor results on site reporting software.We are firm believers in using quality site statistics software. In fact, we do not believe that anyone can have a successful online business without it. My two favorites are WebTrends and HitBox. You will be able to see the results of your search engine optimization and link development strategies in your site statistics software. You can measure the keywords used, the URLs giving you the most referrals, the type of browsers used to view your site, the time of day your site is accessed, and so forth. All of this data will give you a clearer profile of your site's visitors. Then, based on this data, you can tweak the HTML, graphics, and content to best suit your customers.
Submit and resubmit web pages only when necessary.An online business that uses search engine optimization as a marketing strategy will use this submission, monitoring, and tweaking practice. Site submission is a neverending, ongoing process because search engines constantly change their relevancy algorithms. We recommend that you resubmit a web page to a search engine only when there is a significant change to web page or if a page has dropped from the index. (Changing a meta-tag description does not constitute a significant change.) To see if your web pages have been added or deleted from a search engine, go to each of the search engines listed below and type in the string listed below the search engine name. Replace "companyname.com" with your URL (web site address).
If your web site has been accepted into a directory, you can then submit specialized pages within your web site to other directory categories. Once your site has been added to a directory, you should not have to resubmit it unless your business has significantly changed and you belong in a different category.
If you would like to ask me a question that you feel would be appropriate for the Ask the SEO Expert section, please fill out our contact form. For more information about our search engine marketing, training, and search engine advertising services, please fill out our contact form or call us at 847-426-8978.
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