Reach over 1,000
search engines ?!

Just who are they kidding, anyway? If there are only a couple of dozen or so important search engines ... and if the number drops as they buy each other out ... and if they cover all but the tiniest percentage of Web visitors anyway ... then what on Earth is this all about?!

You've seen the ads. One company out there charges some $80 to submit your site to a "thousand" search engines and directories. The claim is somewhat akin to pulling a piece of taffy to the consistency of monofilament fishing line, but there is still something of a thread, here.

Another one offers service at $25/month but you have to subscribe for at least three months, and you get "500,000+ search engines and portals." Under what rock did they find 500,000?!

(Note: They also offer a year's service at $399, which comes to $33 per month. So their best deal is even more expensive than their monthly subscription... go figure!)

Then there are the search engines themselves getting into the act. One submits your site to a dozen or so other sites for free, and if you pay an under-$50 membership fee then you'll get 50 or 60 of them.

How do you select from such a mish-mash? The real laugh is that you can count the critical search engines on your fingers and toes ... and you don't even need all of them. Throw in the rest of the decent sites that make sense for most domains' purposes, and you're still at only around half a hundred.

So how can these people possibly reach such astounding numbers? Well, they aren't telling you the whole story. They are including sites which are not really search engines. What makes a search engine is not always visible to you as a Web visitor. Some are directories. (The difference is that an SE sends out a Web spider to prowl the Web, while a directory has people manually reviewing submissions.)

Some engines use to great extent the downloads they can obtain from certain directories. Historically, for example, one of these has been the Open Directory Project. Others utilize other engine resources; historically, one has been Inktomi. Since the difference is not visible to you, it's easy to consider both SEs and directories as "engines." That's precisely how some "optimizers" get away with the claim.

Meanwhile, if your optimizer can get you listed in one special resource, a few weeks later you'll start to pop up in many others, as well. So far, so good. That's still fair, because the optimization company is simply using leverage to accomplish the goal. What's unfair, in our view, is when they count in their numbers claim all of the sites -- to which they didn't submit -- which use a certain resource. Also, that doesn't necessarily mean you've been picked up, just that your listing is available. Would you like some names to play with? Sure! See next column.

One problem, as mentioned, is that not all that are on this list are search engines. Also, the list includes those which will not accept automated submissions. Second, not all may even be in the country that you really want to target -- what good is it to be in an Antarctic-oriented search engine if you deliver pizzas in Missouri?

Third, these are primarily generic in nature, and you may want/need to reach a specialty marketplace. So, add to the above ... depending upon your product line ... financial Web sites, government, legal, medical, science, shopping, travel and other specialties, not to mention country-specific ones, too. These are often used as corporate portals. These are often included in large "engine" claims. Many, if not most, will be directories rather than strictly search engines. That often means manual submission required for acceptance. Again, guarantees are usually for submission, not type of submission or acceptance.

But add them all together, and you still haven't reached a thousand. Where does the difference lay? It's primarily in two similar areas ... FFA, free-for-all sites and link farms. Because they are considered as spam by attentive search engines, they are ignored for ranking purposes, and can actually be penalized, thus hurting your position. Avoid them by all means.

What's the problem? Many automated submission services will dump you into these resources. They keep their promises, but it can damage you in the long run.

Indeed ... We've seen it happen. When the potential new customer called, they had already been kicked off of a major search engine. We pointed out several problems they could solve. But even then this common retail store found themselves being listed on hard-core sex sites, auto repair shops,etc. ... anywhere the submitter could get a listing for free.

Go to next column