i-Search Engines

Search engines and directories share a common goal in providing the searcher with relevant, meaningful results, however, there are many differences in their functionality.

A search engine might also have restrictions on the number of pages you can submit in a single day, perhaps only 5 or 10 pages are allowed to be submitted.

The ranking criteria can differ to determine who gets top placement so even though two search engines might use the same database they can provide different search results.

A small concentrated guide through the search engine and directory submissions process. The search engines (Google, Yahoo! Search, Teoma, and soon the new MSN/Microsoft Search Engine) allow you to simply "Add your URL." When you add your URL, it is put in a queue and when it is your turn the search engine's spider or crawler visits your site and includes it in its database. For the directories, you generally have to complete a detailed form filling in all the blanks of required information. On the other hand, to submit to directories such as the Yahoo!

There are numerous SEO companies that promise to get you ranked high with Google and other major search engines. They may make good on their promise and get you ranked in the top ten. But then what? Don't forget that every other web site owner is going to be trying the same strategy and the competition does not stop once you've positioned yourself on the first page.

In order to stay at the top, you will need to keep your web site continuously updated, employ innovative new methods to keep attracting visitors to your site, and try to keep getting a steady flow of one way links.

A number of articles and white papers have been written on this topic. Before the days of Google and Web 2.0 there was little attention paid to the topic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In the early days of the Internet Era you could get a site listed on Yahoo! or Altavista by merely submitting it. As long as it wasn't too complicated for search engines to understand you could get your site listed within 2 to 3 days. But Yahoo!