Yahoo
Search Engine Directory!
http://www.Yahoo.com/
Getting
your site submitted in Yahoo Search Engine Directory will
cost you a little especially if you want to list in the
"Shopping and Services" or "Business to
Business" areas of Yahoo Search Engine! Please refer
the site for current charges. However, if your site is
of non-commercial nature like hobby etc. or has educational
content or in regional commercial areas you can still
submit for free.
You
can find more info on the paid service here:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/faq.html
For
instructions on how to submit
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/suggest.html
Being in Yahoo! directory can get you quality traffic
plus you will be ranked well in many search engines. Being
in Yahoo Search Engine Directory also improves link popularity
too.
Do
not try free listing if your site does not deserve this
category. You may not get listed. Please read "Yahoo
Search Engine Directory Submission Advice" before
you submit.
Yahoo
Search Engine Directory Submission Advice:
Before
submitting check your site thoroughly. Make sure your
site is in top shape. It should contain enough pages to
impress Yahoo editors. 15-20 good informative pages will
do. No under-construction pages. No dead links. No missing
graphics. A well-constructed easy-to-navigate website
is an added advantage.
If
your site is that of commercial nature you are required
to mention the phone number, email address and physical
location of your business. You can mention this in your
Home Page or in a separate "Contact Us" page.
While
submitting Yahoo will ask for the Title and Description
of your Website. The Title has to be the official name
of your site. For example if your site is "ABC.com"
your Title has to be "ABC". But if your business
is registered under the name "ABC Inc." and
your website is "ABC.com" or even "know-about-ABC.com"
then the Title of your site should be "ABC Inc.".
What
if somebody searches for ABC? You guessed it right your
site will be displayed at no.1. That means if the Title
of your site is a popular keyword or a part of a popular
keyword you are in luck. You can understand why. If not,
there is nothing you can do about it.
Let's
discuss how to write the description of your site. It
should be a single sentence that describes what your site
is all about. All words in small letters; even the first
word. Try to push 2-3 very popular keywords in it. Your
description should be 10-15 words with no grammatical
errors or spelling mistakes. End it with a period.
Some
examples:
A
description like "Welcome to the best Internet business
site" is sure to be edited by the Yahoo Search Engine
editors and who knows your keyword "Internet Business"
is removed. Instead you can write, "an Internet business
site offering home based business to make money."
Note that this description has three very popular keywords
- "Internet business", "home based business"
and "make money". Also note that it is much
more attractive than the one written earlier and hence
will get more clicks. By the way if you read these two
descriptions for two sites, on which one would you click?
Write an attractive description that wins clicks.
Avoid
using hypes of any sort. For example, "this is the
best site for very cheap Computers and Notepads."
Instead write, "offers quality but cheap Computers
and Notepads."
Do
not force upon the reader your popular keyword. For example,
"offers DELL, IBM COMPUTERS and NOTEPADS at CHEAP
PRICE." It won't help and the Yahoo editors will
edit it anyway. Only the first letter of proper nouns
can be in capital letter. So the above example should
be written as, "offers Dell, IBM Computers and Notepads
at cheap price."
Always
submit you site to the right category in the Yahoo Search
Engine Directory. For that you will have to do a little
bit of research. Type your most popular keyword and search.
Yahoo will display results and also certain categories.
Visit the sites in these categories. Find the category
that has website resembling your site's concept. This
is the category where you have to submit your website.
If
yours is a commercial site you have no option but to submit
it to Business and Economy > Shopping and Services
or Business and Economy > Business to Business category.
Submitting in this category is not free. As written earlier
you have to pay $299 to Yahoo.
Open
Directory
http://dmoz.org/
You
know what's the advantage of submitting your site to Open
Directory? Google Search Engine gives a lot of importance
to sites listed in Open Directory. AOL and Netscape take
their results from Google Search Engine so you can understand
the importance of your site being listed in Open Directory.
If you want to know all the search engines that use Open
Directory's database, you can find it here:
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Searching/Directories/
Open_Directory_Project/Sites_Using_ODP_Data/
Note
that some update every month or two, whilst others are
using data from several years ago.
Another
advantage of submitting to the Open Directory is that
it's free. And you know what's the disadvantage? Open
Directory recruits voluntary professionals as Editors.
Since these editors have other priorities in life they
edit at their will and time. No one is authorized to check
the absence or presence of editors. The Result - the process
is very slow. Sometimes the editors do not edit for years.
Nevertheless, some editors edit quite frequently. You
never know exactly when your site is accepted. Anyway,
still submitting to Open Directory is recommended. After
all you don't pay a damn and secondly the traffic will
be decent, but less than what you drive through the free
and paid engines. And submitting does help with a link
popularity score.
Before
submitting have a look at your site. It should be in good
shape with no under-construction pages. Enough and unique
content is definitely an advantage. It should be in the
same condition as it should be before you submit to Yahoo.
Read "Yahoo Submission Advice" written above
for more details.
You
will find Open Directory Submission Guidelines at:
http://www.dmoz.org/add.html
Here's
a trick:
Since Open Directory is slow and unpredictable and accepts
volunteer editors, try yourself to be its editor. If you
are trying, it's better that you select a lower or regional
category and apply to be its editor. You will find it
easier to become an editor of a small category than a
big one. Once accepted you can apply to be the editor
of the category in which you have submitted your Website.
Open Directory usually recommends a new category to an
old editor. Once that's done you know what to do!
Open
Directory Editorial Guidelines can be found at:
http://dmoz.org/guidelines/
LookSmart
http://express.looksmart.com/
To
be evaluated you must pay $299 for the express package
if you want your site to be reviewed within 48 hours.
If you are not in hurry go for normal package which costs
$149. Your site will be evaluated within 8 weeks. For
the Express package, you can submit 5 URLs.
LookSmart
is gaining in popularity slowly. We recommend that you
first try Yahoo, Open Directory, and then LookSmart.
LookSmart
has special provisions for medium to large businesses.
Subscribers select and purchase certain keywords and LookSmart
displays these search results first in response to specific
search queries under the "Featured Listings".
It's expensive and therefore not really a good option
for small business. For more information visit: http://submit.looksmart.com/list.jhtml.
Small business entrepreneurs can go for a more affordable
option that is known as "Site Promote". For
more details visit: http://listings.looksmart.com/promote/.
Ever
since Overture has successfully implemented paid listings
for their search results others have followed suit.
AltaVista
has a paid inclusion service. For subscription visit:
https://www.infospider.com/av/app/signup
Google
offers AdWords program. You can buy certain keywords.
Your site will be displayed at the top of search results
for the keywords you buy. For more information visit:
http://www.google.com/ads/
Fast
has introduced a crawler-based paid inclusion program
called "Fast PartnerSite". It allows subscribers
to track and measure their results. For details visit:
http://www.fastsearch.com/partners/index.asp
You
can also mail them and contact the FAST Partner Program
at:
partners@fastsearch.com.
Lycos
also has a paid inclusion program. For more details visit:
http://searchservices.lycos.com/searchservices/
We are highly experienced in SEO/SEM/Pay Per Click Management.
Please contact us regarding
any query you may have.
