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Search Engine and Directory Submissions 143
If your page is found and you’re happy with the results, you need
not submit or resubmit. In fact, if you do resubmit, you could end up
worse off because you never know when a search engine is going to
change its method of determining what pages receive a high ranking—
for instance, they might consider your resubmission spam, and penalize
your ranking. Only resubmit a Web page if a major change has taken
place, where much of the content on the page has changed.
If you were once listed, but have been dropped from the listings,
wait a few days to see if your Web site is reindexed. If your original
submission is rejected by the search engines then take matters into your
own hands and contact the search engine to find out why, so that you
can make the necessary changes to be included.
Because search engines change so often, there will probably be a
time when resubmitting your Web site to a particular search engine will
be necessary.
The Link Popularity Issue
Link popularity is becoming more and more important among the major
search engines, including the mighty Google and Yahoo! search providers.
Perform a search using your most important keywords on Google
to see who is appearing at the top of the results. Chances are the sites
near the top contain the most incoming links. Look at the links leading
to your competitors because they’re likely to be appropriate links for
you as well. If so, ask for a link, ask for a reciprocal link, or, if the page
allows it, add yourself to their links to build up your link popularity.
This is a time-consuming task, but it will benefit you in the end. Keep in
mind that link popularity is good, but link popularity from quality sites
is better. Details on finding pertinent link sites, requesting links, and
having your link stand out are all covered in Chapter 16.
Submitting to the Directories
When you submit to a directory, you have to take the time to find the
best category for your site. Submitting your site to the wrong category
could mean a minimal increase in traffic if no one thinks to look for you
in the category you submitted to. Also, your site might not be added if
you select an inappropriate category.
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When choosing categories you want to pick one (or two if the directory
permits you to do so) that consistently gets listed near the top of
results for popular searches and that accurately represents your Web
site. Use the keyword phrases you have gathered to help you identify
good categories. If local traffic is important to your business you should
look at submitting to the regional categories found on most directories.
You can also look at where your competitors are listed in the directory
for an indication on where you should be focusing your efforts.
LookSmart’s Travel category contains subcategories including Activities,
Destinations, Lodging, Transportation, and so on. These categories
are then often broken down further into other categories within
the subcategories. The deeper you go, the more specific the category
becomes.
Your site’s ranking in a directory depends on the information you
provide the directory in the submission form. As such, it is critical that
you review each directory’s submission procedure and tips. Compared
to a search engine, you will be asked for much more information when
submitting to a directory. The title, description, and any other information
you give them during submission are what is used to rank your site.
Figure 7.2 illustrates Open Directory’s submission form.
The keyword research you performed for optimizing your Web site
is every bit as important when it comes to directories. You must use
your important keyword phrases when filling out the directory submission
forms. Again, for best results be sure to review each directory’s
submission guidelines!
Preparing your Directory Submission
When submitting to the search engines and directories, take the time up
front to develop the submission material carefully. Organize the information
in a logical order in a text file. Then, when you go to submit,
you can copy and paste the content to the appropriate fields on the
submission form.
This approach gives you a starting point and will save you time
when submitting your Web site. You still need to adjust your information
for each directory submission, though, because they all have unique
submission requirements. You need to be careful to follow them to
the letter to reduce the risk that a directory editor might change your
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Search Engine and Directory Submissions 145
submission entry. You want your listing to appear in your words, with
no editing!
Be sure to spell-check, check, and recheck everything before you
start. Spell-checkers won’t pick up misspelled “works” if that word is
also in the dictionary.
The information prepared for each page on the site to be indexed
should include:
• URL
• Page title
• 7-word, 10-word, 20-word, 25-word, 50-word, and 100-word
descriptions for the page (different engines allow different lengths
of description)
• List of keywords for each page (based on the master keyword
list you generated in the last chapter)
Figure 7.2. Open Directory’s submission form.
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146 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
• Description of the ideal audience for the site
• Category and subcategory you should be listed under for the
different directories you plan to submit to
• Contact information:
– Company name
– Contact name
– E-mail address
– Company address
– Telephone and fax numbers.
Pay Careful Attention to Titles and Descriptions
Pay careful attention to your titles and descriptions. When it comes to
supplying a page title, a directory typically wants you to restrict it to
your company name. In some cases, they will provide you with additional
direction on supplying a descriptive tagline, however, your company
name will be required to accurately represent your company or
organization. Proper punctuation and capitalization is a must.
It is a good idea to create a number of different descriptions of varying
lengths because the different directories allow different description
sizes. Start off by creating descriptions consisting of 7, 10, 20, 25, 50,
and 100 words. Make sure that you use the right length for each directory,
because you won’t want it to be altered when it is displayed in
search results. Editors are notorious for editing descriptions if your submission
does not meet the directory’s guidelines or even a particular
editor’s style. When submitting to a specific directory it does not hurt to
read the other entries in your category to look for a common theme in
the descriptions and then modify yours to follow suit.
Your description should be compelling. When you get your site to
appear in the first page or two results of a search, the description is
what differentiates your site from the rest. It is the description that entices
a prospective visitor to click and visit—or pass by and go to a more
exciting site.
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Search Engine and Directory Submissions 147
Always use keywords in your description. Apply the most important
keywords first because keywords used farther along in the description
are generally given less weight by the major search engines. If
possible, use keywords in combination with other keywords, but make
sure your description flows naturally. Round off your description with
a call to action. It is amazing how many people do what they are told.
Pay Careful Attention to All Fields on the Submission Form
When submitting forms to directories, be careful to fill in every field on
the form. Some of the directories reject your registration automatically
if you have not filled in all the blanks. When you have to choose categories,
select them carefully. It would be a shame to have a great product,
great price, and a great site, but be listed in a place where your potential
customer would never think about looking for you. I cannot emphasize
this enough: read the FAQs or instructions first to ensure that you understand
exactly what information is being requested.
Proofread your submission at least twice before you hit the Submit
button. It isn’t quick or easy to change listings if you make a mistake.
Your listing might be wrong for quite a while before it gets corrected.
To change a listing you typically either have to contact a category editor
directly or fill out a change request form.
More Directory Submission Tips
It generally takes longer to be indexed in a directory because you have
human administrators who review every page submitted before adding
it to the database. Make sure your page contains quality content,
is easy to use, is visually appealing, is free of errors and is free of
performance issues such as a poor load time. It is the administrators
who decide if your page is worthwhile before they include it. Pages
that do not meet the requirements of the administrator will not be
added to the directory—whether or not you abide by best practices in
Web site development can make or break you when it comes to getting
listed in directories.
Consider Yahoo!’s directory. Yahoo! won’t add you if you have Under
Construction signs on your site. Yahoo! likes sites that are complete,
contain good, pertinent information, are aesthetically pleasing, and are
easy to use. Before you submit, be sure to check if you’re already in
their directory. You may not want or need to submit your site if you’re
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already where you want to be. If you are in their directory, but want to
change the information displayed, then you can fill out a form located
at http://add.yahoo.com/fast/change that is specifically used for changing
information already listed in the directory.
The following are some other tips to remember when submitting
your site to Yahoo!:
• Remember, your submission counts for almost everything here,
so do it right. Yahoo! is a directory, not a search engine. Designing
your site to be search engine friendly means very little here.
• Make sure that what you submit is actually what your site is
about. Yahoo!’s administrators will review your site, and if they
feel the description you provided does not match your site, you
will not be added to their directory.
• Keep your description to 150 characters or less, and use descriptive
keywords that fit naturally within the description. Yahoo!
reserves the right to modify your description if they see fit.
You’re the only one who knows what information is important
to have included in your description, so you probably do not
want Yahoo!’s administrators to modify your description, because
you might lose an important part of your description, resulting
in less traffic. Keep in mind that Yahoo! does not like
submissions that sound like an advertisement—they like concise,
pertinent information.
• Submit a short, relevant title, not something such as “The Best
Gardening Site on the Web.” Be sure to use descriptive keywords
in your title as well. That way, when searches are performed,
your page title will be referenced.
• When submitting, develop your page title and descriptions to
use keywords in combination with others as this can also give
you a boost. Check out your competitors to see who’s on the
top and what they’re doing right.
• If you’re looking for local traffic, then submitting to a regional
category might be a good approach for you.
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Search Engine and Directory Submissions 149
• Don’t fill out the submission form using ALL CAPITALS—they
hate that. Use proper grammar and spelling. Before you submit,
be sure to check and recheck your submission.
• If your domain name contains keywords, you can benefit here.
Keywords can help your page stand out when a user performs a
search on a keyword that is in your domain name.
• Don’t forget to fill out Yahoo!’s submission form exactly as requested!
Read the help documentation and FAQs, beginning with
“How to Suggest Your Site,” which can be found at http://docs.
yahoo.com/info/suggest. Figure 7.3 shows Yahoo!’s directory
submission form.
Keep a Record of your Submissions
Keep a record of the directories and search engines to which you have
submitted. The information recorded should include the following:
Figure

150 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
1. Date of the submission
2. URL of the page submitted
3. Name of the search engine or directory
4. Description used
5. Keywords used
6. Password used
7. Notes section for any other relevant information, such as the
contact person for the search engine or directory
8. Date listed.
This list can come in handy when checking the status of your submissions
or if you encounter any problems in the future where you need
to contact the search provider or resubmit.
Effective Use of Submission Tools and Services
There are many search engine submission services available on the Net
that will submit your site to varying numbers of indexes, directories,
and search engines. They will register your URL, description, and keywords.
Use these services only after you have manually submitted to the
most important search engines and directories. Check them to see how
comprehensive they are before using these services. Here are a couple of
sites for you to look at:
Web Position
http://www.webposition.com/
Search engine submission and evaluation software that tells you where
your site is positioned in search results of the most popular search engines
and directories. Builds traffic by tracking your search engine positions
and helping you to improve your rankings.