The #1 question that I'm asked when talking about submitting a web site to search engines is... Is It FREE?
I'm very happy to say it is totally free to submit your site to search engines. While it is easy enough to submit your sites, getting ranked at a good level (top 50) can be quite the process. There are many different variables to getting good rankings on search engines.

Below is a list of what I believe to be the top 10 ways to better your rankings with search engines.

1. You must have good content in your pages. (If your pages are not worth visiting the live directories will not send anyone to your web site.)
2. Make sure that your meta tags are in order. meta tags
3. Your title must be not only descriptive but, it must contain keywords or better yet, key phrases that people would be searching for when looking for your product or web site. <TITLE></TITLE> tag
4. Your key phrases must also be as close to the beginning of your page as possible. (In the first heading if possible, the Name of your web site.) Then try and repeat them towards the end. (All search engines rank differently.)
5. You must try not to repeat your key phrases to often or you may be penalized for spamming. (About 3 or 4 times on your page should do it.)
6. If your key phrases on your page are headings (<h2>) (NOT IMAGES), it will better your rankings with some search engines.
7. It makes a difference if you include alt tags on your images. (Some people don't have, or choose not to view images.)
8. With the new search engine criteria, it seems to make a difference if your pages are linked to good pages. (pages that get visitors)
9. Pick key phrases that are not obscure, and not over used. (You have to find a happy medium.) Remember that people often mispell words. (Think of any possible spelling errors that may help people find you.) ex...websites----------web sites.
10. You must continue to submit about every 5 or 6 weeks, or you'll get lost in the crowd.

If at first you don't succeed....you're not alone.

Submitting your web site to the top 10 search engines.

While there are a few different ways to submit your web sites to the search engines, I recommend submitting directly to the search engines individually as opposed to an automated submit program. The reason being is, unless you spend a little bit of money on a good program, you'll find that you'll be wasting your time. Most of the free automated submission programs submit your site in only one fashion, and each search engine seems to have it's own requirements as to how you have to submit. An example is...while one search engine may ask for your URL and E-mail, another may want the name of your site as well, or your keywords. There are good programs out there that will determine the criteria needed for each individual search engine and adjust to thier specifications. Click here for the #1 selling program of it's kind.

The first thing that you should have is Notepad ready to copy and paste at these sites. Make sure that you have....

• the title of your web site written in Notepad.
• The description of your site. (Take the time to really make it good.)
• Your key phrases (No more than 5 or 6 key phrases.)
• The URL adress of your site in this format....http://www.yoursite.com

The rest of the questions will vary depending on the search engine.

• SNAP.com... I suggest SNAP first because they seem to be right on top of things. SNAP will index your site within hours as opposed to some of the other search engines. SNAP is run by humans not spiders, or robots. When you submit to SNAP, submit to the live directory, then you must go to the site and find the correct area or catagory that is appropriate for your site, then look for list your site. Your title should be descriptive of your site. It should also contain the keywords that you think people will be searching for.
  
  
• Yahoo... Keep in mind that yahoo is run by humans not spiders, or robots. When you submit to yahoo, you must go to the site and find the correct area or catagory that is appropriate for your site, then look for suggest a site. They don't care about meta tags there, but your title should definetely be descriptive of your site. It should also contain the keywords that you think people will be searching for.
  
  
• AOL netfind... Aol works the same way as yahoo.
  
  
• Netscape...is a human driven search engine type. (works like yahoo and AOL netfind.)
  
  
• Altavista... is a robot driven search engine.
  
  
• Lycos....is a robot driven search engine.
  
  
• Hotbot...is a robot driven site.
  
  
• Excite...is a robot driven search engine.
  
  
• Infoseek...is a robot driven site.
  
  
• Northern Light...is a robot driven search engine. (We highly recommend that you check this page out to learn more on robots)
  
  
  
  

It will sometimes take up to 8 weeks to actually get listed with some of these search engines, so be patient. After you get listed it is important to keep resubmitting your sites every 4 weeks or so, or you will get out dated. Also make sure that you find out how you are ranking on these search engines. Change your keywords, title, meta tags, or keywords in the body if necessary, to try and rank higher.