Choosing a Search Engine Submission Service
Tips on what to look for when shopping for a web submission service
Using a search engine submission service is by far the easiest way to get your web site “on the map,” so to speak. If you want people to visit your site, then failing to submit to search engines is simply not an option. The chances of someone randomly typing in your URL are about the same as being struck by lightning. Luckily, by using a web submission service, you won’t have to submit to the hundreds of search engines manually. The decision to use a program is simple. The question is this: what should you look for in a search engine submission service?
For starters, you’ll want to find out exactly how many search engines a potential web submission service will be submitting your site to. You’ll notice that most search engine submission services will send your site to several thousand sites (including search engines and web indexes) at the very least. A search engine submission service may claim to submit to more than 700,000. Of course, keep in mind that the quality of these submissions goes down significantly after you get past the top 15, and any service promising more than 150 may be submitting to what’s known as link farms. We’ll spare you the details, but these are not necessarily where you want your sites to be submitted.
This brings us to our next point: when it comes to a web submission service, make sure to be very careful when submitting to the largest search engines. Since sites like Google, Yahoo, and MSN are definitely where most of the traffic occurs, you will want to make certain that your site is listed in their rankings. Although this seems obvious, beware. It’s not uncommon for a search engine submission service to submit to thousands of engines but not to some of the most prevalent. This is likely due to the fact that many of the well-known engines no longer accept software-generated submissions. Also, when it comes to these giants of the search engine world, you will probably prefer to take the time to submit to these three by hand. This way you will have full control over the information you submit, and your website will have a better chance of being accepted on these ultra-important sites.
Another piece to consider is the program’s review process. A reputable web submission service will give you some guidance on optimizing your content for search engine inclusion. Some will simply offer some standard tips while others (usually for a fee) will actually review your content to make sure it is optimized.
One last thing to look at is your budget. There are search engine submission service providers who will actually submit your website manually to these numerous sites. However, you will, of course, pay some big bucks for this level of data entry. A much more economical means of getting this done is to turn to a virtual web submission service in the form of a download or a boxed software product. Once you take care of the three or four major search engines by hand, you can set your computer to “churn and burn” through the monotonous task of submitting to the rest of the search engines and indexes. What’s not to like with this search engine submission service method? It’s the best kind of multitasking: saving time and getting the word out about your website -- all at once.
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