"Search engine submission" refers to the act of getting your web site listed with search engines. Another term for this is search engine registration.

Getting listed does not mean that you will necessarily rank well for particular terms, however. It simply means that the search engine knows your pages exist.

Think of it like a lottery. Search engine submission is akin to you purchasing a lottery ticket. Having a ticket doesn't mean that you will win, but you must have a ticket to have any chance at all.

"Search engine optimization" refers to the act of altering your site so that it may rank well for particular terms, especially with crawler-based search engines.

Returning to the lottery model, let's assume there was a way to increase the odds of winning by picking your lottery numbers carefully. Search engine optimization is akin to this. It's making sure that the numbers you select are more likely to win than purchasing a set of numbers at random.

Terms such as "search engine marketing" or "search engine promotion" refer to the overall process of marketing a site on search engines. This includes submission, optimization, managing paid listings and more.

These terms also highlight the fact that doing well with search engines is not just about submitting right, optimizing well or getting a good rank for a particular term. It's about the overall job of improving how your site interacts with search engines, so that the audience you seek can find you.

Do a search on Yahoo, and the main results that come back generally will be "powered" by Google. Despite this, Yahoo maintains its own independent "directory" of web sites, which are compiled by its human editors

Yahoo has two submission options: "Standard," which is free, and "Yahoo Express," which involves a submission fee.

Anyone can use Standard submission to submit for free to a non-commercial category. You'll know the category is non-commercial if the "reverse bar" containing the category name at the top of the category page is blue. You'll also know because if you try to submit to a non-commercial category, the Standard submission option will be offered in addition to the Yahoo Express paid option, discussed further below.

Why might you choose to pay when the free search engine submission option is available? Simply for a fast turnaround time. If you use the free submit choice, there's no guarantee that your submission will be reviewed quickly or at all.

Your submission to a non-commercial category is more likely to be accepted if your content is not overtly commercial. For example, submitting the home page of a site that sells running shoes is likely to be seen a commercial and not accepted. However, if you have a page within that web site that discusses in depth how to select the right type of shoes for different running races, then that page might be deemed helpful, non-commercial information and accepted.

As for commercial categories, Yahoo requires that sites pay a Yahoo Express submission fee of $300 (well, $299) per year. This fee doesn't guarantee that you will be listed, only that you'll get a yes or no answer about being accepted within seven business days. However, the vast majority of most decent sites are accepted.

If accepted, you'll be reevaluated after a year and charged the submission fee again, if you want to stay in Yahoo's commercial area. You should review the traffic you received from Yahoo over the past year, to decide if it is worth paying the fee again. If not, you can decline to be listed, and you will not be charged.

But what about Google? If you originally signed up with Yahoo hoping to influence Google, won't dropping your Yahoo listing cause you to be dropped by Google? Not necessarily. Google will keep listing your site on its own. Whether it will rank it well is a separate question. However, after a year of existence, your web site may have other important links pointing at it. This means that losing your link from Yahoo may not have much of an impact on your ranking. If money is tight, you could try dropping the Yahoo listing and only submit again if you find it does have an impact with how you rank in Google's results.

The annual fee only applies to commercial categories. If you submit to a non-commercial category using Yahoo Express and get accepted into that area, the fee is charged only once, not on an annual basis. You might get the opposite impression, because you'll keep seeing references to "recurring annual fee." However, in the terms and conditions for Yahoo Express, the annual fee is only for sites in the Yahoo Commercial Directory.

You'll know you are submitting to a commercial category if the "reverse bar" containing the category name at the top of the category page is yellow. You'll also know because if you try to submit to a commercial category, only the Yahoo Express submission option is offered.

How do you submit? If you are submitting for free to a non-commercial category, click on the "Suggest a Site" link that appears at the bottom of category page. That will bring up a submission form. Fill it out, and you're done.

If you are paying to submit, you needn't pick a category. Instead, just go to the URL below:

Yahoo Express Submission Form
http://add.yahoo.com/fast/add?+Business

From there, Yahoo editors will choose a category for you. All you need to do is fill out the form that's presented.

The above tips are the bare essentials to getting listed with Yahoo. If you are in a hurry, you can follow them, and you'll probably get listed and receive some traffic from the service. However, you may want to do even more preparation before submitting to this important service.

Alternatively, you might consider working with a search engine optimization company which has experience in submitting to Yahoo. You'll have to pay for their services, but the price may be worth it in relation to the additional traffic you'll receive from a carefully conducted submission to Yahoo.

Finally, even if you choose not to submit to the Yahoo Directory, you may still appear in some the results at Yahoo that come from Google.

Another important directory is LookSmart. This is because LookSmart provides the main listings used by the popular MSN Search service. LookSmart's listings are also distributed to other search engines. As with Yahoo, getting listed with LookSmart is essential for any site owner.

As with Yahoo, LookSmart has a free submit option for its non-commercial categories and a paid option for its commercial ones.

To submit for free, you must go to Zeal.com, which uses volunteer editors to catalog the web. LookSmart owns Zeal and incorporates the non-commercial listings from Zeal into its own directory.

Also as with Yahoo, your submission to the non-commercial categories at Zeal must be for content that is truly non-commercial in nature. If you attempt to submit something that is actually commercial, it will be rejected.

How do you submit? You'll need to sign-up as a Zeal member, via the URL below:

Zeal Sign-Up Form
http://www.zeal.com/users/become_a_zealot.jhtml

Once you've done that and passed the subsequent member test, you can then submit your site to the non-commercial category you've selected by using the "Manage" option near the top of the category page and the using "Add a Site Profile" link near the top of where sites are listed.

The Open Directory is a volunteer-built guide to the web. It is provided as an option at many major search engines, including Google. Given this, being listed with the Open Directory is essential to any site owner.

The good news is that submission is absolutely free. The bad news is that this means there's no guaranteed turnaround time to getting a yes or no answer about whether you've been accepted.

To submit, locate the category you want to be listed in. Then use the "add URL" link that appears at the top of the category page. Fill out the form, and that's it -- you've submitted.

If you are accepted, you should see your site appear within about three weeks. If this doesn't happen, then you should resubmit.

As with Yahoo, it's highly recommended that you take the time to learn more about the Open Directory before submitting, in order to maximize the amount of traffic you may receive.

CRAWLER BASED ENGINES

Crawler-based search engines automatically visit web pages to compile their listings. This means that, unlike directories, you are likely to have several if not many pages listed with them. This also means that by taking care in how you build your pages, you might rank well in crawler-produced results.

Arguably the most important crawler-based search engine is Google, as several major search engines such as Yahoo and AOL Search have their main results "powered" by Google.

The absolutely best way to get listed with Google is to build links to your web site. Indeed, this is the best way to get listed for free with all the major crawlers listed on this page. Crawlers follow links, so if you have good links pointing at your web site, the crawlers are more likely to find and include your pages.

Here's the good news: if you submitted your site to the major directories and got listed with one or more of them, then Google and other crawlers will almost certainly pick up the URL that was listed. This means you may not need to do additional work to get listed with crawlers.

Aside from link building, Google provides an Add URL page that lets you submit a URL directly to its crawler. There's no guarantee that Google will actually include a URL submitted to it this way, however. Despite this, it makes sense to submit your home page and perhaps one or two other URLs from "inside" your web site via the Add URL page.

You really don't need to submit more than this. The only reason for submitting some of your inside pages is in case there is a problem reaching your home page. This gives Google an alternate route into your site. From whatever page it visits, it will look for links to other pages that you have and perhaps include those. This is true for other crawlers, as well.

If you have a brand new web site, it will probably take about a month before Google lists your web pages. Because of this, you might consider making use of its paid placement program, which is covered in the next part of this guide.

Inktomi is an important crawler-based search engine because it provides "backup" results to the popular MSN Search. It was also recently purchased by Yahoo and so may be providing results to Yahoo in the near future.

As covered with Google, building links is the best way to get listed for free. Unlike Google, Inktomi has no free Add URL page. This doesn't mean that you can't get listed, however. Inktomi crawls the web, so if you have links pointing at your web site, you may get included naturally.

What if you aren't picked up for free? Inktomi has a "paid inclusion" program that will guarantee to add the pages you submit within two days and keep revisiting it on a regular basis for a year. Because of this, for a brand new site, it's well recommended to use the program. You can quickly get yourself represented in Inktomi for a modest amount.

You'll want to use the Search Submit program to get at least your home page listed, for a $39 fee (prices may vary among Inktomi's Search Submit partners, but this is typical). This also means the page will be revisited regularly, for up to a year. After this time period, if you don't renew, your page might possibly be dropped by Inktomi. However, if you've built some links, this is highly unlikely. Home pages are deemed as very important by all crawlers, and it would be unusual for these crawler-based search engines not to include them for free. Paying the fee is really only speeding up the process of getting the home page listed, for a brand-new site.

You can also choose to submit many more of your pages through the program, and the fees are less than for your first page. In addition, there's an Index Connect program for those who have thousands of pages they wish to pay to include.

AllTheWeb is an important crawler-based search engine primarily because it powers the primary results for the popular Lycos service. The search engine was also recently purchased by paid listing provider Overture, so its listings could potentially be used by some Overture partners, in the future. (AllTheWeb was previously owned by a company called FAST, which is why you'll sometimes see past references to AllTheWeb as also being called "FAST").
As with the other crawlers covered so far, building links is the best way to get listed for free. However, AllTheWeb also accepts submissions via its Add URL page. As with the other crawlers with Add URL pages, you need only submit your home page and one or two inside pages. Expect a delay of up to six weeks until your pages show up, assuming they are indeed accepted. This is not guaranteed to those using the Add URL page.

Like Inktomi, AllTheWeb will guarantee to include your pages if you use its paid inclusion program. It will get your new pages listed within 2 days. As with Inktomi, it's recommended that new sites use the program to get their home pages quickly listed.

The cost is $35 and means that the page will be revisited every two days, for up to a year. As with Inktomi, it's possible that your page could be dropped, if you don't renew. However, again as with Inktomi, this is highly unlikely to happen to a home page.

AllTheWeb doesn't sell paid inclusion directly to the public. Instead, inclusion is sold by AllTheWeb resellers. Currently, the best way to sign up is via the Lycos Insite Select program.

As with Inktomi, you can also choose to submit many more of your pages through the program, and the fees are less than for your first page. In addition, there's a Lycos Insite Enterprise program for those who have thousands of pages they wish to pay to include.

Teoma is an important crawler-based search engine because it powers the main of the results that appear at the popular Ask Jeeves web site. In fact, Ask Jeeves owns Teoma.
As with Inktomi, Teoma has no free Add URL page -- but also as with Inktomi, Teoma crawls the web, so if you have links pointing at your web site, you may get included naturally.

Like Inktomi, Teoma will guarantee to include your pages if you use its Ask Jeeves Site Submit paid inclusion program. It will get your new pages listed in a week. As with Inktomi, it's recommended that new sites use the program to get their home pages quickly listed. The cost is $30 and means that the page will be revisited each week, for up to a year. As with Inktomi, it's possible that your page could be dropped, if you don't renew. However, again as with Inktomi, this is highly unlikely to happen to a home page.

AltaVista is an important crawler-based search engine because, while its popularity has dropped over the past year, significant numbers of people still use it to search the web. It also being purchased by Overture, with the acquisition expected to complete by the end of April 2003.
As with the other crawlers covered so far, building links is the best way to get listed for free. However, AltaVista does take submission via the AltaVista Add URL page.

As with the other crawlers with Add URL pages, you need only submit your home page and one or two inside pages. Expect a delay of one month or longer until your pages show up, assuming they are indeed accepted. This is not guaranteed to those using the Add URL page.

Like Inktomi, AltaVista will guarantee to include your pages if you use its AltaVista Express Inclusion paid inclusion program. It will get your new pages listed in about a week to two weeks. As with Inktomi, it's recommended that new sites use the program to get their home pages quickly listed.

The cost is $39 and means that the page will be revisited regularly, for up to six months. As with Inktomi, it's possible that your page could be dropped, if you don't renew. However, again as with Inktomi, this is highly unlikely to happen to a home page.

Overture (GoTo)

Overture, formerly known as GoTo (as of mid-Oct 2001), allows sites to "bid" on the terms they wish to appear for. You agree to pay a certain amount each time someone clicks on your listing. This is why it is sometimes called a "pay-per-click search engine."

For instance, let's say you wanted to appear in the top listings for "running shoes." You might agree to pay 25 cents per click. If no one agrees to pay more than this, then you would be in the number one spot. If someone else later decides to pay 26 cents, then you slip into the number two position. You could then bid 27 cents and move back on top, if you wanted to.

While some people go directly to the Overture web site to search, most people encounter Overture's paid listings via other search engines. For example, the very top listings for "running shoes" at Overture would also appear in the "Sponsored Links" section at the top of AOL Search's results.

If your goal is to build visibility on search engines quickly, then Overture is an essential option for you to explore. No other route can put you in the top results of many major search engines in such a short period of time.

I think it is well worth it for anyone to open an Overture account and experiment with how paid listings may help them. An account requires a $50 minimum deposit, and you must spend at least $20 per month. By carefully selecting targeted terms, you can stretch that money out for one or two months and get quality traffic.

When your initial deposit has expired, you may find that the editorial listings generated by your submissions to directories and crawlers have kicked in. This may mean that you can eliminate your ad spend with Overture entirely. On the other hand, you may find that you want to continue spending and perhaps even increase your budget, to target terms where you don't receive good editorial placement.

You can sign-up for Overture's paid listings via the URL below:

Overture (GoTo) Sign-Up Form
http://www.overture.com/d/about/advertisers/

Google AdWords

Google sells paid listings that appear above its editorial results called "Premium Sponsorships" and those that appear to the side of its regular results called "AdWords." Since it may take time for a new site to appear within Google, these advertising opportunities offer a fast way to get listed with the service. Also, as with Overture, they may be a continuing option you may wish to explore.

Google's self-service AdWords program charges a per click fee, similar to Overture. AdWords charges a $5 activation fee. In either case, $25 ought to last you at least one month, if you've carefully selected your terms. You can sign-up for Google's AdWords program via the URL below:

Google AdWords
https://adwords.google.com/select

Google's Premium Sponsorships are for larger advertisers willing to pay for being listed on a CPM or cost-per-impression basis. They also have a $10,000 minimum spend over a 3-month period. You can learn more here:

Google Premium Sponsorships
http://www.google.com/ads/overview.html

FindWhat

FindWhat is a pay-per-click search engine similar to Overture. It lacks the distribution that Overture has, however. This isn't necessarily bad. You may find that the smaller distribution base still brings in quality traffic and perhaps at less expense than with Overture.

The main reason to consider FindWhat in terms of the major search engines is that its listings appear on Excite's search results page. Because of this, if you want quick visibility at Excite, paid listings with FindWhat are the easiest way to do this.

FindWhat requires an initial deposit of $25. However, there is no monthly minimum spend, so you may be able to stretch this money out for several months, if you carefully target your terms.

You can sign-up for FindWhat's paid listings via the URL below:

FindWhat Sign-Up Form
https://secure.findwhat.com/signup/signup.asp

LookSmart Paid Listings

LookSmart is different than the services described above. It sells paid listings to commercial web sites, but there is no guarantee that sites in LookSmart's paid listings program for small businesses will rank well for particular terms.

Given this, why would you bother with LookSmart? While it is not guaranteed that you will rank well for anything, you probably will gain significant traffic by having a LookSmart listing, especially given that LookSmart provides the main information used by the popular MSN Search service.

The small business program, LookListings Small Business, lets you get one URL per web site listed with LookSmart. You pay a one-time $49 review fee, which gets you a yes or no answer about being accepted within five days.

Assuming you are accepted, there are more costs. You'll be charged $0.15 for each click that you receive from your LookSmart listing at LookSmart or at any of its partners that carry its listings.

In addition, there is a $15 per month minimum billing charge, which is equal to 100 clicks. Your account must either generate at least that much for LookSmart in clickthrough fees in a given month or they'll simply charge you the full $15 anyway. This means that for your first year with LookSmart, you'll spend $230, which includes the initial review fee and $15 per month, for the minimum 100 clicks per month requirement.

It is probably is worth it for anyone with commercial content to try the program for a year at the minimum amount described above, in order to evaluate the traffic. It may be that you find LookSmart a cheaper alternative to some of the other paid listing programs described earlier on this page. If not, you can always drop out of the program, though you won't get your initial $49 review fee back.

More information about enrolling in LookListings Small Business can be found here:

LookListings Small Business|
http://listings.looksmart.com

For larger businesses, the "regular" LookListings program allows you to have many URLs deeply categorized within LookSmart. This is likely to bring you much more traffic than having only one URL listed. However, it comes at a price. You'll be charged a per click rate, which ranges from $0.15 to over $1, depending on the topics you target. You also must generate $2,500 per month in clickthrough fees for LookSmart. LookListings also allows guaranteed placement for an additional cost at the top of LookSmart's results, though this won't happen with all LookSmart's partners, such as MSN Search.

More information about the LookListings program can be found here:

LookListings
http://www.looklistings.com/

Finally, even if you don't choose to get listed in LookSmart's commercial listings, you may still appear for free in some of the results that LookSmart licenses from Inktomi. The same is true for LookSmart's major partner, MSN Search, which also uses Inktomi results.