Search Engines
How Search Engines Work
There are two types of search engines, and understanding the difference helps you target your submission efforts correctly:
- Crawler-Based Search Engines
- These use automated programs called spiders or crawlers to continuously browse the web, index page content, and update their databases. Google, AltaVista, and HotBot are examples. Your meta tags, page content, and inbound links all influence how you rank.
- Human-Edited Directories
- These are curated by human editors who review and categorize submissions. Yahoo Directory and DMOZ (Open Directory Project) are the most prominent examples. Getting listed requires a quality site and sometimes a waiting period, but a listing carries significant weight.
Major Search Engines to Target
Being well-ranked on the top engines is far more valuable than being listed on hundreds of minor ones. Focus your optimization and submission efforts on these:
- Google — the dominant engine; a top Google ranking drives more traffic than everything else combined
- Yahoo — both a crawler index and a human-edited directory
- MSN — large audience through Windows and Internet Explorer defaults
- Lycos — one of the web's oldest engines with a loyal user base
- AltaVista — powerful index with advanced search features
- Excite — broad general audience
- AOL Search — reaches millions of AOL subscribers
- Netscape Search — integrated with the Netscape browser
- HotBot — technology-savvy audience
- WebCrawler — one of the original search engines, still active
Submission Methods
Free Submission
Most major search engines offer a free "Add URL" or "Submit Site" form. Results can take weeks or months to appear, and there is no guarantee. Free submission is worth doing, but should not be your only strategy.
Guaranteed Submission Service
A.S. Radin & Associates offers a guaranteed 48-hour submission service that covers all major engines and re-indexes your site every 24–48 hours. This ensures you are found quickly and stay listed consistently.
How Often to Resubmit
Search engines periodically purge their indexes and require re-listing. Sites that submit once and forget often find themselves dropped from results weeks later. Monthly resubmission is the recommended practice to maintain consistent listings across all major engines.
Automated resubmission services handle this for you, ensuring your site is never dropped due to an expired listing.
Directory Submissions
Two directories carry disproportionate weight in search engine rankings:
- DMOZ (Open Directory Project) — the largest human-edited web directory. A DMOZ listing is highly trusted by crawler-based engines and can significantly boost your rankings. Submission requires editor review and patience, but is worth pursuing.
- Yahoo Directory — a paid directory listing ($299/year for commercial sites) that delivers strong trust signals to search engines and direct referral traffic from Yahoo users.
Key insight: Being listed in 200+ search engines matters far less than being well-ranked in the top 10. Invest your energy in depth of ranking on major engines, not breadth of submission to obscure ones.