Submitting your site to search engines and directories

By Pandia Guest Writer Kalena Jordan

(April 2005) Many years ago, when I was first learning about optimization and search engine and directory submission, I looked everywhere on the Web for an easy tutorial that explained step-by-step how to submit a website to search engines and directories.

I couldn't find one and so I had to piece together the most successful process to use via trial and error.

Now there is such a huge amount of misinformation on the Web about search engine submission, I thought it was high time I wrote a basic tutorial to help webmasters sort fact from fiction.

Submitting to search engines

Before You Begin

Before you can start to submit your site to search engines, you need to make sure it is ready for indexing.

Use the following checklist to be absolutely sure your site is submission-ready:

• Are all pages complete? (No “under construction” pages)
• Are all links valid? (No broken or dead links)
• Are all pages optimized?
• Are all pages search engine compatible?
• Have you used Robots.txt or Robots META Tag to prevent pages you want hidden (e.g. shopping cart) from being indexed?
• If your site is an e-commerce site, is your ordering process or shopping cart functional and tested for bugs?
• Are you prepared to handle a sudden influx of traffic and/or sales?
• Have you tested your site for usability? (Google “web site usability” for more information)

Prepare a spreadsheet

To make your job of submitting easier, you also need to prepare a text file or spreadsheet listing the following:

1. Your site's main URL
2. The URLs for other pages on your site that you will be submitting
3. Your site's Title (the name of your site you want listed in engines. This is usually your company name e.g. Atlanta City Tours or Acme Widgets)
4. A short description of your page/site content (10-20 words)
5. A long description of your page/site content (30-50 words)
6. A list of target keywords for your page/site
7. Name of submitter
8. Email address of submitter (we suggest using a real account you check regularly, but one where you have strict controls over incoming spam email -- you will receive some spam as a result of your submissions!)
9. Address and contact details of your company (some directories ask for this)

(You will not need all this information when you submit your site to the search engines. They need often no more than a URL. However, you might as well include all this information right away, as you will need it when you submit to the directories.)

It is particularly important to keep track of the email address you use when submitting your site, because some directories, like the Yahoo directory for example, require you to cite this address if you want to make changes to your listing later on.

I like to use a text file created in Notepad for the above, but some people prefer to use a Word doc or a spreadsheet. It's up to you.

Remember to utilize your target search keywords as much as possible when creating your site descriptions. Or you can use parts of your optimized Title and META tags, as long as you don't go overboard stuffing keywords and making your site description spam-like.

Submission info

The site submission information I might prepare for a fictional Miami florist would look something like this:

1. www.funkyflorists.com (fictional URL for demonstration purposes only)
    
2. www.funkyflorists.com/page1.htm, www.funkyflorists.com/page2.htm etc
    
3. Funky Florists of Miami
    
4. Florists in Miami, Florida creating wedding bouquets, floral arrangements, tributes and displays for gifts and special occasions. Online ordering available.
    
5. Funky Florists Miami create beautiful wedding bouquets, floral arrangements, tributes and displays for all occasions, including weddings, Valentines Day, parties and corporate events. We arrange florist deliveries throughout Miami and right across Florida. We are one of very few florists in Florida to offer a personal floral service, delivered anywhere, anytime.
    
6. Florists Miami, florists Florida, wedding bouquets, wedding flowers, wedding roses, Valentine's Day roses, sympathy gifts, Mother's Day gifts, funeral wreaths, flower deliveries, floral arrangements, birthday gifts, wedding decorations.
    
7. Kalena Jordan
    
8. webmaster@funkyflorists.com
    
9. 12 Street Name
   Town, Miami FL USA
   Phone: (00) 555 55555

You should also create a spreadsheet or Word doc listing all the search engines you plan to submit your site to, their URLs, a comments field (for chosen categories etc) and a date column. Then as you submit to each site, you can check it off on your list, writing down the date submitted.

You could even create another date column for when your site appears in the search engine so you can gauge how long the submission took to become active.

It's important that you keep track of this information so that you don't accidentally resubmit to a search engine or directory that you've already covered. If you are submitting to a search engine using a paid submission option, always make note of your receipt number in case you need to follow it up.

How to Submit Your Site to Directories

Unlike submitting to search engines, submitting your site to directories and niche portals usually involves a lot more than simply typing in your URL.

Choose the right category

You often have to start by researching the various topic categories to find the most appropriate area to submit to. Then you generally have to provide some detailed information about your site, its' content, your company and your contact details.

When selecting the most appropriate Directory category to submit your site to, conduct a search for your main keyword phrase and view the various related categories.

Study the sites listed within these categories and choose the category that is the most relevant to or closely related to your site content. Some directories like ODP have specific Category Descriptions you should read before submitting, to ensure you have chosen the most relevant topic for your site.

Another way to choose your category is to search for sites belonging to your direct competitors. It is likely that the category they are listed in will be the most relevant to your site.

Regional categories

If your site targets or discusses a specific regional market, you will need to submit to a regional category. For example, if my site was about rental cars for hire in Sydney, Australia, I would need to submit it to the regional Yahoo category:

Regional/Countries/Australia/States_and_Territories/
New_South_Wales/Cities_and_Regions/
Sydney/Business_and_Shopping/
Shopping_and_Services/Automotive/Rentals/

and not the general Yahoo rental car category:

Business_and_Economy/
Shopping_and_Services/Automotive/Rentals/

Variations of descriptions

I find it useful to submit a slightly different description of my client's sites for each directory submission. That way, I can gauge which descriptions are more effective in terms of encouraging people to click and also which directories are providing my clients with the most traffic.

Many directories feed their database results to other engines and directories, so if I have a description unique to each directory and I see that description pop up on other search sites, I know it is the result of that original directory submission and immediately recognize the value of that original submission.

Remember that directory editors don't care about your site's ranking in their search results. If they are reviewing a site submission that contains an obviously keyword stuffed title and description, they are unlikely to find it appealing or beneficial for inclusion in their database!

Always make sure your submission details are relevant, interesting and accurate. Try to highlight your site's benefits for the visitor and unique content that makes it stand out from others in the same category. If your site sounds just like a cookie-cutter version of others of the same topic, there is no incentive for the editor to include it.

Submitting to the Yahoo! Directory

There are a couple of sites where you want to take extreme care and do advance research when submitting your site. One of these is the Yahoo! Directory.

The way you submit your site to Yahoo! can make or break your site's ultimate ranking in the Directory and if you're not careful, could also cost you USD 299 for nothing.

With Yahoo!'s huge market share and popularity worldwide, I believe it's vital that your site is listed in Yahoo!'s Directory. The best way to get listed quickly is by paying the fee for Express Submission.

Yahoo! Express is an expedited fee-based site suggestion service for web sites submitted to the Yahoo! directory. A member of Yahoo!'s editorial staff will look at your site, consider your suggestion and respond to you within 7 business days.

Important: Payment does not guarantee inclusion in the directory, site placement, or site commentary. It only guarantees that Yahoo! will respond to your suggestion within seven business days, by either adding or denying the site.

The secret to obtaining excellent results via your Yahoo! submission is to choose the most appropriate category and include a carefully-crafted description that contains your main keyword phrase/s without being too verbose.

For those of you offering a Yahoo! submission service to clients, be sure to charge a generous admin fee for your expertise in researching the category and writing the description for your client – a successful Yahoo submission can pay dividends for your client for years.

Example of a successful site description for Yahoo!:

ABC VIP Adventures - offers tailored adventure travel and vacation packages to
New Zealand including day tours, exotic corporate trips, luxury travel packages,
kite surfing, and extreme sports.

Example of an unsuccessful site description for Yahoo!:

ABC Travel -- we are the best! We are the only company to contact for your vacation. Call now!

The latter does not use the actual company name, plus it contains lots of hype but no keywords and few clues as to what the site is about.

In this case, the Yahoo! editor would have to visit the site submitted and come up with their own description and it's doubtful the edited description will be something the submitter would be happy with.

Submitting to Open Directory

Another Directory where submission is critical is the Open Directory. DMOZ is run entirely by volunteers and your site submission must be hand-reviewed by one of these volunteers before it can be considered for inclusion. DMOZ is extremely under-staffed (I know this because I'm a DMOZ editor!) and it can take 6 or more months before your submission is reviewed -- you must be patient.

Note that DMOZ is used by a large number of portals and sites, which means that your entry can be found not only on the Open Directory site, but also in directories like Pandia Plus and the Google Directory.

When submitting to DMOZ, make sure you follow the directory submission guidelines above and prepare to wait, wait and wait some more.

Procedure to follow for a successful DMOZ Submission:

1) Submit site

2) wait for 3 months

3) follow up email to category editor

4) wait for 3 months

5) escalation email to category editor above your category

6) wait for 3 months

7) ask for assistance in the Open Directory Public Forum

8) wait for 1 month

9) escalation email to DMOZ senior staff & post to various forums seeking help

Rules of Submission

Do it once: Despite the hype, there is NEVER a need to resubmit to a search engine or directory unless your site is dropped entirely (which is a very rare occurrence).

2) Do it properly: Be very thorough when submitting, especially to directories. Take the time to research and locate the most appropriate category for your site.

3) Be brief: Don't waffle on about your site in the description field. Get to the point and describe your site in a short sentence or two.

4) Be accurate: Don't try to trick potential visitors by using vague or misleading descriptions about your products or services. 

5) Be relevant: There is a fine line to tread between relevance and keyword optimization when creating your site descriptions for submissions. Try not to cross it by using descriptions over-stuffed with keywords.

6) Be humble: “Best Web Site in the World!!!!” is not going to convince anyone and may earn you the wrath of search engine editors.

7) Be patient: Search engines and directories can take up to 6 months to index and list your site. Re-submitting won't help things and could result in your site being shoved to the bottom of the review pile.

So that wraps up the directory submission process. It can be time consuming, but taking a little bit of time and care with your submissions can pay dividends for your site for years to come.

Copyright © 2005 by Kalena Jordan. All rights reserved under U.S. and international law.

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