|
|
 |
Search Engines
What are Search Engines?
The World Wide Web contains millions of websites. Search Engines are tools that let people filter through all those sites, usually by either domain name or keywords, and find websites that fit what they are looking for.
What are the different types of Search Engines?
Search Engines work on several different types of principles, roughly broken down into crawl, category, and direct. Most Search Engines today use a combination of one or all of these methods.
- Crawl searches utilize keywords to match website descriptions to those you entered.
- Category searches separate websites according to category types, often sub-dividing broad categories many times to more and more specific ones.
- Direct searches require you to enter at least part of the domain name you are looking for, resulting in websites containing parts of the name you entered, or similar names.
How can I get my site listed on Search Engines?
Most Search Engines have an "add" option to allow you to manually add your site. The process often involves entering relevant information, keywords, and placing your site in a category. It usually takes between two and eight weeks for a site to be added. Other Search Engines will periodically scour the web for new websites, listing them via the information contained in the meta tags. Meta tags are descriptive text hidden in the html code of websites.
What are Directories?
Directories, like Yahoo! or any industry/organizational directory, requires direct communication with the site administrators. Follow the instructions on their site to add your site.
What about those companies that offer to get my site listed on hundreds of search engines?
Often these companies charge sizeable fees to list your website. However, while there may be hundreds of search engines on the Internet, the majority of people will only use the top few sites. So, listing your site on an obscure search engine is of limited value. More important than how many search engines you are listed on is where you fall in any engine's listing. If you're not on the first page or two, odds are very few people will see your site.
How can I keep my site listed high?
Some Search Engines will place your site within the first two pages of their listings, or prominently display it, for a fee. If you are not willing to pay to have your site on the first page of a search engine, the only other way to keep it listed highly is to have it become very popular.
|
|
|
|
