1. Yahoo
2. Inktomi (database feeds over 300 engines including AOL,
MSN, NBCi, iWon, LookSmart, About, HotBot, Overture non-paid listings, CNET, and ICQ).
3. Google
4. AltaVista
5. ODP (Open Directory Project)
6. Fast (database feeds results to Lycos)
These 6 major search engines are used by approximately 95 percent of all people searching on the web. So, even if you submit to no other engines and just concentrate on these major search engines and directories, your website will be successful--assuming of course, you have a topic, product or service that people are interested in, and are searching for on a regular basis.
Anyway, following is the submission order that is recommended by several top experts:
1. Inktomi - use the paid entry program.
Inktomi is the first engine you should submit to because it
feeds some major portals such as AOL, MSN, NBCi, iWon,
LookSmart, About, HotBot, Overture, CNET, and ICQ.
It also supplies results to over 300 other smaller portals
run by ISP's. Inktomi's paid inclusion service - accessed
through http://www.positiontech.com is the quickest way to get the most visibility possible, supposedly within 48 Hours.
2. AltaVista
Once you've received confirmation from PositionTech that your site's been indexed, submit to AltaVista. But don't use the Express Inclusion. Instead, use the free add URL service instead at:
http://addurl.altavista.com/sites/addurl/newurl.
NOTE: AltaVista takes about 4 to 6 weeks, to include
your site in their index.
3. Yahoo!
Warning: Yahoo can be a difficult and frustrating
directory to get listed in. But it's worth the frustration. A good listing in Yahoo can provide your site with a significant amount of traffic. However, before submitting to Yahoo, read Robert Woodhead's excellent Yahoo tutorial here:
http://www.selfpromotion.com/yahootips.t
4. ODP - The Open Directory Project
ODP is a directory of volunteer editors. Supposedly, it's easier to get into ODP after you've been accepted by Yahoo. I guess their reasoning is, if your site's good enough for Yahoo, it's good enough for ODP. You can submit your site for free at:
http://dmoz.org/add.html.
5. Fast - All the Web (powers Lycos)
You can submit your page at:
http://www.alltheweb.com/add_url.php
6. Google
Since Google assigns more relevancy to pages
with link and click popularity, it's important to already have
your other submissions in place, before submitting to Google.
Therefore, concentrate on the other engines and directories in the order listed above before submitting to Google. You can find Google's free submission page at:
http://www.google.com/addurl.html
Anyway, that's the correct way to submit to the search engines. And while there are no guarantees in life, your chances of getting listed in the major search engines will be greatly increased, if you just follow the advice in this article.
Til next time...