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Submitting Your Site to Human Directory
Search Engines
Yahoo
Yahoo is by far the most popular search engine
on the Internet, and thus the most important Search
Engine for your site to be listed with. If your
site is not listed here, it is probably only reaching
about 20% of all potential visitors. Yahoo is
a Human Directory Search Engine, and perhaps the
most difficult Search Engine to get listed on,
taking anywhere from a couple of weeks to a several
months. Yahoo is extremely strict concerning the
quality of sites they accept, and the final decision
on whether or not your site passes rests with
the reviewer of the site. The first thing you
must prepare when submitting your site to search
engines is a brief site description.
Guidelines for Site Descriptions
Your description should be no longer than 25
words. In this description, there should be no
words in all capital letters, and the first letter
of each word should not be capitalized. Also do
not include HTML tags in your descriptionDo not
use commercial language or catchy slogans. Do
not use words like "the best", etc.
Anything that could be seen as marketing language
should be avoided in your site description.•Do
not include the title of your site in your site
description.•Descriptions should not contain only
keywords.•Descriptions should not include numbers
or brand names.
Choosing Site Categories
•All listings are limited to a maximum of two
categories. If you request more than two categories,
your site may be rejected.• Commercial sites may
not be listed in non-commercial areas•If a site
listing is only relevant to a specific region,
it will only be listed under the appropriate "Regional"
sub-category. If you attempt to list a regional
site in an additional non-regional category, your
site may be rejected.
Important Submission Tips
•Make certain that your web site can be viewed
with both Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers.
If your site can not be viewed with both browsers,
your submission will be ignored.•Carefully select
your site categories. Select the category that
fits the purpose of your site as best as possible,
because if you choose the wrong category, your
potential viewers will not be able to find your
site.
Once you have made sure your site meets the above
criteria, you are ready to submit your site to
Yahoo. To submit your site to Yahoo, select the
category you wish to be listed under, and then
click the "Suggest a Site" link located
at the bottom of the category page. Once you have
entered the "Submit a Site" page, click
the "Proceed to Step 1" button, and
then choose between a Standard Submission, and
a Business Express Submission.
If you have submitted your site to Yahoo several
times, and can not seem to get it listed, you
may choose to use Yahoo's Business Express Submission
services, which guarantee site review within 7
days, for a fee of US$199.00. This fee is non-refundable,
even if your site is rejected, and you are only
granted one appeal to site rejection, so it is
important to review your site thoroughly prior
to submission.
DMOZ
DMOZ is another popular human directory, which
is rapidly gaining popularity among users. Currently,
a number of Robotic search engines including Excite
and Lycos are using DMOZ's listings in addition
to their own search results, and AOL now uses
DMOZ for their main search engine. DMOZ is much
easier to get listed in that Yahoo, as the site
has literally hundreds of thousands of editors
reviewing sites. DMOZ's unique system uses the
general populous as category editors, making it
very likely that your site will be listed within
a couple weeks at the most. DMOZ also uses a very
similar process for submission as Yahoo. Simply
find the correct category and then click ADD URL
at the top of that category's page.
AOL Search Engine
The AOL search engine uses DMOZ as its main search
tool, and all new submissions must go through
DMOZ.org.
Looksmart
This Human Directory is becoming increasingly
important, as many other websites and search engines
are beginning to use Looksmart in their search
results. At present MSN, Alta Vista, Excite, and
Iwon.com use Looksmart's results as part or all
of their results, and this trend is bound to continue
well into the future. Basic site submission to
Looksmart costs $99.99, with a response time of
aproximately 8 weeks. Looksmart also offers express
service that costs $199, and offers response time
of just 2 business days. Submission is free for
non-profit organizations.
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