Search Engine Registrations
If you've already registered at the directories listed here then continue on and register at the search engines below. If not, go back and register at the directories.
We really don't recommend submiting to search engines unless you've already got an XML sitemap.
According to ComScore's most recent market share report done for Search Engine Watch (August 2006) the largest search engines and the percentage of searches done there are (including other sites that use the same results):
- Google/AOL 49.6%
- Yahoo 28.8%
- Windows Live/MSN Search 12.8%
- Ask 5.4%
Which leaves 3.4% for anything else. Also, this data has changed very little since August of 2005's report.
So you can see that if you take care of the big ones listed above, you've covered the great majority of online searches being done. Registrations done on the smaller search engines and directories produce minimal returns compared to these bigger players. I expect as time goes by, that will only become more true.
You can send me an email with your comments, feedback and any corrections or additions you think should be made to: seinfo@wordsinarow.com.
If you want my chatter about these search engines, background info and more advice, click on the "MORE ADVICE" links down the page.
MORE ADVICE: How to use this page.
MORE ADVICE: Should you optimize your website before submitting it?
Search Engine Submission Pages
Search Google
Submit your URL (It's Free!)
Pay for "AdWords Select"
MORE ADVICE: About Google
MORE ADVICE: About Sitemaps and Google
MORE ADVICE: About Google Adwords
Of course we recommend submitting to Google. 50% of search traffic happens on Google.
In addition, pay for "Adwords Select" if you can afford to pay at least five cents per clickthrough to your site (see Hard Costs). Information on that is on our pay-per-click marketing advice page.
If you sell items through a storefront (shopping cart) on your site, you may also want to set up a Froogle feed. However, this requires constant upkeep by the person in charge of your store to work properly and stay listed. Being in Froogle will also get your items listed in Google base.
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Search Yahoo! | Paid Yahoo! Search Submission | Free Yahoo! Search Submission
MORE ADVICE: Your Options at Yahoo!
MORE ADVICE: About submitting a sitemap to Yahoo!
You have a free or paid option here. Our more advice link above covers which one you might want to choose and why.
We recommend using the newly added sitemap upload capability. It is under the "free" option as "submit site feed". Here is how to submit a sitemap to Yahoo!.
We do not recommend signing up and paying to be in the "Yahoo Search" results. However, to be certain that your site is listed in their Yahoo! Search results, you can sign up here: Yahoo! Search Marketing, previously called Overture Site Match. Note well that you will thereafter pay up to $0.30 per click to your site from Yahoo search listings after that (not ads, search listings). Click here for more info about Yahoo! Search Marketing.
Instead, we do recommend you get in for free at Yahoo! Search by using this link: Free Submit Your URL to Yahoo Search Page after logging in to or creating a Yahoo! account. You need to enter your index page URL into the LOWER of the two entry boxes.
It can take several weeks for them to crawl your site, and there are no guarantees that your site will be crawled or included in the search results. However, we are seeing the Yahoo Search bot come through our client sites about every two weeks, whether we have submitted them or not. They do an excellent job of actually crawling the web via existing links.
Search MSN/Windows Live | Submit to MSN/Windows Live
MSN launched its search engine in November 2004. Late in 2006, they changed to Microsoft Windows Live. Either way, submission is free using the above submission link. They seem to do a good job of actually getting out and following links so if you're linked to at all, they will probably get to your site anyway - whether you register or not.
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Search AskPay AJInteractive to advertise on Ask.com.
MORE ADVICE: About Ask.com (Previously known as Ask Jeeves or Teoma).
The Ask Search network used to include Ask.com, Mamma.com, search123, Excite and others. Lately, they've changed their stated intention, and want to change their market -- more on that elsewhere.
The Ask network hed NO submit function of any kind for years. However, as of Spring 2007, you can now submit your existing XML sitemap. Please see our instructions on how to make an XML sitemap. You can also pay AJInteractive to advertise in their Keyword Network (which is a pay-per-clickthrough advertising system for display beside Ask.com search results).
Here is a handy form for pinging Ask (AKA submitting your sitemap URL). Make sure to include the full URL, not just the domain.Enter XML sitemap URL (for example, ours is http://www.wordsinarow.com/sitemap.xml):
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Second Tier Search Engines
Now that you've handled Google (Google & AOL search), Yahoo, Windows Live (MSN) and Ask.com (Ask Jeeves) you have covered all but a small fraction of the search market.
The rest of this list exists mostly to fill in weak spots. These second-tier search engines (meaning they have a small fraction of the market compared with the giants above) are often a good source of quality visitors. We recommended that you submit to them if you can.
Search InfoSpaceIt costs a minimum of $49.95 (see Hard Costs) to sign up here at InfoSpace, with an option to pay another $24.98 to get into Excite while you are at it. Signing up here gets you into InfoSpace, WebCrawler, Dogpile, MetaCrawler, Verizon, NBC, etc. It's a good deal. Do it, but only do it ONCE for all of them. They have their form set up to look different for each entryway into it - but it just gets your site into their central database one time. In other words, don't pay separately at WebCrawler, Dogpile, MetaCrawler, and so on. One payment is all you need to make.
For more info on the InfoSpace Network, click here.
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Submit Your URL
Excite is now a meta search engine, pulling results from Google, Ask, About, LookSmart, MIVA (previously FindWhat) and Overture. Most of the results seem to come from Google. Do well at Google and you should do fine here at Excite. (Two years ago they were only showing results from Overture.)
Note: When you pay to sign up at InfoSpace you can also sign up here for inclusion in Excite for another $24.98 (see Hard Costs). I recommend doing so.
You can also pay to advertise on Excite here. I do not have any clients currently advertising on Excite so I don't know whether it is effective.
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Search maMMa
Add URL - PAID
Add URL - Free
MaMMa.com no longer has a way to submit your site directly to them. However, the link above takes you to something called EntireWeb, which says it includes Mamma.com. It is either free or costs $24.00 a year and up to submit to EntireWeb.
MaMMa offers a pay-per-clickthrough ad program called "maMMa Classifieds".
MORE ADVICE: About maMMa.com
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Search the Search Hippo
Add your URL
This is another small search engine that feeds info to Dogpile. You have to sign up, then they send you an email with a link you must click in order to make the registration effective. It's free.
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Search InfoTiger
Submit Your URL
This is a smaller search engine based in Germany, but written in the English language. It is generally worth taking the time to go through their registration process.
If their "Add URL" form doesn't work, you can send an email to them listing all the URLs you want to enter, here.
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Search ScrubTheWeb
Submit Your URL to ScrubTheWeb
Submit your URL here, with a limit of one per day, to "Scrubby", the ScrubTheWeb spider. You will need to confirm your URL submission by clicking on a link they send you in an email. Note: This site has some interesting tools, which you can get if you pay a one-time membership fee of about $30.00. They also have a free meta tag analyzer.
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Search ExactSeek
Add Your URL to ExactSeek
Fill in the form, and you'll receive an email with a link that you must click in order to add your site.
Or, when you sign up at TowerSearch you can click one extra button to complete the ExactSeek sign-up at the same time without the form.
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Meta-Search Engines
This is a fancy word for a search engine that searches other search engine's results for you. As such, you usually can't add a listing directly to a meta search engine.
Search HotBot
(Can't Add URL)
HotBot used to be part of the Lycos network and is now a meta-search engine, pulling search results from Google or Ask. So if you can get your site listed at either of those, you are covered at HotBot. There is no way to directly submit here.
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Dogpile is part of the InfoSpace group. This is also a "meta" search engine that goes out and obtains results from many other search engines.
It is cheap ($49.95) to pay to get into DogPile as part of the InfoSpace group. Paying InfoSpace will also get you into MetaCrawler, Dogpile, WebCrawler, Verizon, NBC, and (for another $24.98) into Excite.
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Search Clusty
(Can't Add URL)
Clusty is a site that is growing in popularity. It was previously called Vivisimo - a popular metasearch. As a meta-search engine, you cannot add to it. To get into Clusty, get yourself indexed at the major search engines.
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Search WebCrawlerNote that WebCrawler is part of the "Infospace" group. If you pay to register your site in one of these InfoSpace sites, you effectively get your site into all of them.
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Search MetaCrawlerThis is another InfoSpace website.
Sign up and pay $49.95 to get into MetaCrawler. I recommend signing up with them. When you do, they guarantee you will get into Dogpile, MetaCrawler, WebCrawler, Verizon, NBC, and Excite (for another $29.95). This is a good deal for the money.
You only need to sign up in ONE of the "InfoSpace sites to get into them all.
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Search Engines Not to Submit To
Click here to SKIP TO THE NEXT STEP..
The below are shown because – while you don't have to submit there as long as you've handled the above – you might be wondering why we left them out. AltaVista & AOL are examples.
Search AOLAOL does not use its own search database. AOL search is actually Google with additional bells and whistles. So, submit to Google to get into AOL.
There has been some industry talk over the years that AOL may switch to using MSN / Windows Live search results, although this is nothing more than speculation. Cover your bases by ensuring that you also submit to Windows Live/MSN.
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Search AllTheWeb
AllTheWeb was previously known as "FastSearch", then "Fast", then they were two sites, same index. Fast is gone now, but AllTheWeb is still there. Yahoo owns this search engine, and the contents of its results pages are actually Yahoo! search results.
Submit to Yahoo to get listed at AllTheWeb.
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Search AltaVistaAltaVista is now part of Yahoo!
AltaVista merged with AllTheWeb and Yahoo!, eventually becoming just another website with Yahoo! Search. Submit to Yahoo! to cover AltaVista.
It's a shame, as AltaVista was once one of the best search engines in its own right.
MORE ADVICE: About AltaVista - mostly historical.
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Inktomi is no longer an independent search entity. Inktomi has been absorbed into Yahoo! and become part of the technology running the new Yahoo! search engine.
MORE ADVICE: About Inktomi - mostly historical.
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Lycos no longer gathers its own search engine results, natural search results come from Ask.com.
If Lycos is important to you to be in, but you aren't ranked at Ask.com, you can pay for placement here as a featured Lycos Partner through their paid advertising program. Lycos also uses Google AdWords for their sponsored listings, so if you're paying Google AdWords, then advertising at Lycos is covered.
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Subjex had a better back end than many other search engines, but begun to focus on site-specific and area specific search -- as in corporate intranets -- so no longer had much value to those of us in the public search market.
The technology behind it was great. You asked it questions in normal language. Each following question built on the previous until you had just what you wanted. The first result was usually exactly what you were looking for. Sometimes it was just uncanny. As Jere's daughter asked, "How does it know what you are thinking?" Result relevancy declined, however. The parent company's purpose shifted away from public search around the time Google went huge. Then a few years ago their submit form broke and that was that.
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TEOMA was once very popular, and a great search engine. It stopped accepting submissions in 2004. It became the technology behind Ask.com's search engine and is now referred to as "Expert Rank". The Ask/TEOMA network used to include Mamma.com, search123, Excite and others. It may still have a relationship there, but Teoma is no longer a publicly available search engine.
MORE ADVICE: About Teoma - mostly historical.
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Vivisimo was rebranded and is called Clusty now. It was once one of the more popular Meta search engines.
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Search WiseNut
Sign up for LookSmart LookListings
Wisenut used to be prety popular, when many different search engines were competing for market share (earlier this decade) but was bought in April of 2002 by LookSmart for about US $9.2 Million, and began to display results provided by Looksmart (which now uses Ask.com results). In May of 2004, they added results coming from Excite. So, handle Ask.com and Excite and you should have covered Wisenut.
From the search page of WiseNut, and after any search is completed, you'll see a link to "submit a site" at the top right of the page. This is actually a link to Advertise in LookSmart Looklistings, which gets you into Wisenut. There is also still a link to submit to the now defunct Zeal directory - which used to get you into Wisenut, too.
If you feel that paying for a listing at Looksmart is a good idea, it will get you listed with WiseNut as well. Or pay to be listed in Excite, which may also still get you into Wisenut.
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You're Done with the Search Engines!
Continue to next page: Search Engine Pay Per Clickthrough Providers.
Alternately, you can registering at Product-Specific Shopping Search Engines before moving on to the PPCs. (Only applicable to those with online shopping carts and an interest in product-specific marketing.)
