Newsletter Archive

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Four years ago, most people weren't aware of neither the power of search engines nor the necessity of getting their site listed in them. Naively, most people aware of search engines seemed to assume that these search engines would somehow find their site on their own. Anyone with a web site knows this is not the case.

Three years ago, people seemed more cognizant of the power of being listed in a search engine. Most understood that this was a necessary step of their site's development. As more and more sites came online, simply being listed wasn't enough. Now, web site owners sought a "good" listing, that is, their web site would be displayed on the first page of returns when a search is conducted for their key words. Thus, a brand new industry was created. Companies sprang up offering to put your web page in the top ten. Programmers developed new ways to fool the search engines (like repeating the same word over and over in the Meta tag). Needless to say, the search engines resented this manipulation and changed their systems to prevent it (like disqualifying a page for having the same word over and over again in the Meta tag).

Two years ago, it was flat-out hard just to get a listing. Submitting a web site to a search engine once did not mean that it would ever actually appear. The process required persistent follow up and even then could take as long as 3 months before the desired result was achieved.

One year ago, the proliferation of web sites requesting listings in the search engines has become so high, that most search engines either cannot or do not attempt to keep up with demand. It's not hard to see how we got here. First, there are an ever-increasing number of web sites going online each day. The owners of these sites understand the value of being listed in the search engines and make sure their site is submitted. In addition, savvy web site owners are submitting EVERY page of their site to each search engine for maximum effectiveness. Web developers create multiple copies of their home page, each with a different key word list, hoping to get maximum exposure. And, let's not forget the thousands and thousands who are resubmitting those same URL's on regular a monthly basis. With all these URL's being submitted for free listings every day, is it any wonder that service as slipped to something barely recognizable as such?

Now, it appears the free listing in a search engine has fallen along the wayside. Yahoo no longer accepts requests for "free" listings from commercial web sites. Instead, Yahoo offers a "Business Express" service for your web site's consideration for $199. This service is non-refundable and only guarantees that your site will be REVIEWED within 7 days. It does not guarantee that your site will APPEAR at all. In my one experience using this service, the URL did not appear for 6 weeks. AltaVista, Go.com & Excite also offer similar Express Submit services, at similar rates. They guarantee a REVIEW of your site within two-seven days for $199. Excite still offers a "basic submission" but it is no longer free. For $99 they will review your site "in approximately 8 weeks". AltaVista and Go.com still allow you to submit your site for free, but they do not guarantee your site will be added to the index. The key thing to remember is, this fee only guarantees a review, not inclusion and certainly not a "good" listing. Goto.com and FindWhat.com do not allow you to list for free either. Their services require you to place a bid on specific key words. They then charge you that amount for each click of your URL. The more you bid, the higher your URL appears on the results page.

Time has changed everything. Four years ago, the search engines needed your URL. Who would use a search engine that didn't list any web sites? Search engines displayed their "ADD URL" buttons prominently on their first page, answered customers' emails and genuinely tried to improve the content of their directories. Now, search engines are "full". I can't think of anything you could search for that wouldn't yield several web pages on the subject. In other words, the search engines don't need to list your site as much as they used to. Considering the listings provided are free, there is even less incentive in making sure you get the quality listing you crave. In other words, processing free listings has become an awful lot of work, with very little reward.

The bottom line! If you are just now developing a web site for your business and are counting on droves of traffic generated by the free listings you acquire in the major search engines, you are in for a HUGE let-down. Simply getting your web site included in a Yahoo, Excite or Lycos is a painstaking enterprise. Even after your site is listed, it will have to compete with all the other sites that are already listed and share the same key word(s).

Next week, I'll discuss some alternatives as well as some sharks to watch out for on your journey.

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