This article may be freely published so long as the
author's bylines and author's resource box remain
intact.
Title:Search Engine Overview
Author:Sandra Lawton
Contact:sandra@sandradesign.co.uk
Copyright:©2002 by Sandra Lawton
All rights reserved.
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More about Search Engines
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Don't forget search engines are only one way to
promote your site. Ezines are an excellent source of
visitors. More about this topic at:
http://www.ezine-info.co.uk
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So Search Engines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The page on our web site,
http://www.lawtoninfo.co.uk/se.htm, covers an over
view of search engines, so this page is very much
about giving you relevant links and prices, so you can
make your own decisions.
This information is accurate as we find it, but
changes happen daily on the internet, so we make no
guarantees.
Before you begin any submissions you must submit your
site to the Open Directory,
http://dmoz.org/add.html
Read submission policy first, but you won't get in
AOL, MSN, Netscape etc. if you're not in here.
It's FREE!
If your site is non commercial also submit to Zeal at,
http://www.zeal.com/users/becomeazealot.jhtml
Free Submission
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Automated submission services submit to several
hundred engines at a time, either by software that you
can purchase and download or if you just want to
submit one site you can use a service such as World
Submitter.
Go to: http://www.worldsubmitter.com
For more control over free submission, visit our site
and use the links to the two services provided.
http://www.lawtoninfo.co.uk/freewebpages.htm
See below for free submission to Crawlers.
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Paid Submission - Read submission policies first!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yahoo
~~~~~
If your site is non commercial you can submit to
yahoo, through their suggest a site, free of charge.
Go to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest
Yahoo is still the biggest in the business, but they
also charge $199 just to look at your site. There is
no guarantee they will index you, and I know some guys
who are pretty expert on search engines and they have
had sites rejected by Yahoo.
If you want to give it a shot, here's the link:
http://add.yahoo.com/fast/add?+Business
Good Luck!!
Ask Jeeves/Teoma
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both of these are powered by Teoma. Ask Jeeves is
built to 'answer questions' and sites that feel they
fit this criteria can attempt to submit free, but it
is not easy.
Paid subscription covers both services and is for a 12
month period. For $30 for the first URL and $18
dollars thereafter. You get:
>Your site indexed within 7 days.
>Your page refreshed every 7 days.
>Your page remains in the index for 12 months.
For more information about this service visit,
http://www.ineedhits.com
Lycos Insite Select
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Several pricing policies available to suit your size
of business.
Guaranteed 48 hour inclusion for one year with 48 hour
refresh. You have to pay an annual membership fee of
$18 and $12 per URL.
http://searchservices.lycos.com/searchservices
On to Crawlers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crawlers are so named as they literally crawl the web
looking for links to sites. Therefore the more links
you have coming into your site, the more likely you
are to get picked up! Persuade people to link to you.
Also pick up from the major directories, Open
directory, Yahoo and Looksmart.
Crawlers include: Google, AltaVista, Excite,
FAST,Inktomi. Teoma also crawls the web.
Google
~~~~~~
Probably the most well known and you can submit free.
Google results are also used by yahoo and netscape. To
submit to Google go to:
http://www.google.com/addurl.html
It can take about a month to be indexed and there are
no guarantees. You only submit your main page. With
some of the other crawlers it is a good idea to submit
several pages from your site.
FAST
~~~~
Free submission only, although promise of paid
inclusion to come. Also powers some of Lycos and has
it's own search engine, AlltheWeb.
Visit: http://www.alltheweb.com/addurl.php
Excite
~~~~~~
Rumour suggests this is a dying service, but as yet it
is still alive and well. Again no paid inclusion,
only free submissions.
Visit: http://www.excite/com/info/addurlform
AltaVista
~~~~~~~~~
Paid only.
$39 for 6 months for first page
$29 for additional pages/url's.
Weekly refresh.
Visit: http://www.infospider.com/av/app
Inktomi
~~~~~~~
Powers HOTBOT, MSN, AOL, IWON
Sold by link partners who you can find by visiting:
http://www.inktomi.com/products/search/submit.html
$39 for first URL
$25 therafter.
Guaranteed inclusion within 48 hours, with 48 hour
refresh.
Pay per Click
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Basically it's exactly as it says. You put a bid for
your keyword/s and the highest bid, gets the highest
listing when someone searches using that keyword.
You can set a monthly budget, so you know what you're
spending.
Looksmart
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Visit: http://listings.looksmart.com
Visit: http://www.overture.com
So that's about it really. This only touches the
surface, but it's a good place to start.
Don't totally dismiss free submissions. They dowork.
If you are providing a service to a small geographical
location then it is probably a good start.
Have a great time!
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Sandra Lawton - MSc
Experienced Web Designer who has helped many small business' in the UK get online for the first time.
You may contact Sandra via e-mail at:
mailto:sandra@sandradesign.co.uk or visit her at
http://www.sandradesign.co.uk
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About the Author
Sandra Lawton MSc is an experienced Web Designer who has helped many small business get started online, in the UK.