Getting Listed in Search Engines

• Reviewing the different portals and their search engines
• Analyzing search engine results
• Getting listed at the top of search engine results
• Announcing your online business on Internet

Every little bit counts!

Once you have published your Web site, it's time to begin the marketing process. Your first step will be to get listed with the large portals, or search engines, like Yahoo!, Excite and Lycos. You also will want to get listed with many of the lesser known directories that can steer more traffic, or prospects, to your Web site. Before you begin this process, make sure that your Web site is very close to being final and that you have created some good written descriptions for your online business. Backtracking from this point can be very time consuming.

Like registering your domain name (www.yourbiz.com), getting listed with the portals and directories can be a completely automated process. You simply type, or cut and paste, the keywords and description for your online business in the appropriate boxes, and the registration service will take care of the rest. In addition to getting your Web site listed across the Internet,	Get your site listed on the Web's most influential search sites. Inktomi Search/Submit is a subscription service that will ensure your Web pages (URLs) are included in and stay in the Inktomi search index. This index powers the premier search sites on the Web including AOL, MSN, iWon and Looksmart-to name just a few. Click here to get started with Inktomi Search/Submit
many of the registration services will also analyze your site for loading speed, browser compatibility, and its ability to distinguish itself from the "crowd."

Getting listed with portals, search engines and directories is the beginning of your promotional campaign. By having your site properly indexed in these search engines, you stand a good chance of getting some visitors to your site. However, don't expect to have the world knocking at your door just because you have gotten your site listed in all of the major search engines. As you can imagine, the competition to be listed in the top spots is fierce, and the search engines are struggling to keep up with the thousands of new sites that are coming online almost daily.

Finally, you should be aware that even after you submit your freshly minted site to the various portals, there will be a time lag before your site is indexed. This lag results because your site will either have to be reviewed by human eyes or be visited by a software spider to see that it actually exists. With some search engines this process can take as long as eight weeks!