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Search Engines - Gconnect -
The Business ISP |
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Introduction to
Search Engines
Search
engines are the most common way for users to
locate information on the World Wide Web, if
you are reading this page, you probably found
us through the search engine systems. Search
engines use keywords entered by users to find
Web sites which contain the information
sought. |
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Search Engine Submission
is the process of
submitting your site details to search engines
via the ‘add site’ button on the search engine.
However, some sites, which are perceived as
search engines are in fact directories. The
difference between the two, are as follows:
A search engine, spiders the internet, reading
the text contained within HTML documents and
then compiles an index based upon the search
engine’s own formula. Each search engine has its
own special formula, and being number one with
one engine does not automatically make you
number one with the rest. It is possible to see
the path of a search robot through your web site
by analysing the log files from your site. The
major engines all have affectionately named
robots, some of which are called:
Slurp - (Inktomi)
Googlebot – (Google) Scooter – (Altavista)
The frequency of the visit
by the spiders is dependant upon the trade model
of the search engine company, the frequency of
which the site is updated and the popularity of
the site. |
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Pay for inclusion and Pay for spidering search
engines.
Some search engines require users to pay for
spidering, the most popular are Ask and
Inktomi. This payment, which is normally
fairly low is a price per page and the turn
round rate is normally around 48 hours. This
does mean that results of page changes can be
seen quite quickly, but it does make large
sites very expensive. The decision on whether
to use these services is very much up to the
individual and also is dependant on the
product type and the target customers.
Who are the big players in the search engine
world?
Google, All the Web, Inktomi, Altavista, Teoma |
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Directories
A directory is a physically compiled list of
web sites which are subcategorised by topic
and or location. The biggest and best is DMOZ
– the open directory project. It is free to be
listed here and the directory has tremendous
influence on the internet, is publicly
available and is replicated over hundreds of
other sites throughout the world. The most
significant of which is Google. The content of
directories is normally manually added and
checked prior to inclusion, this gives
directories extra significance over search
engines. Site owners can submit their own
websites for inclusion, but then must wait for
an editor to add the site, this wait can be a
very long time with large directories such as
DMOZ. |
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Pay for Inclusion Directories
Some directories require users to pay for
inclusion, no surprise really. A listing in
Yahoo! Will cost about £200.00 one off
payment. There are a few to choose from in the
market and your choice should reflect your
business needs. The payment model can vary
from directory to directory and sometimes
different plans are available in the same
directory. The two main models are:
1. Pay for inclusion – This is a one off
payment for life which is justified as an
administration fee. The position of your site
within the directory is independent of the
amount of money which is paid.
2. Pay per Click (PPC) is the latest and most
effective way of a directory taking money off
customers. You can set a budget per month and
each time your link is clicked, the money is
debited from your account.
The big directories are:
DMOZ – Free,
Zeal – Free (non-commercial arm of Looksmart),
Looksmart – Paid,
Yahoo! – paid,
Looksmart US - PPC |
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Submitting sites
The crux of this page is to explain that the
main search engines do not require users to
submit sites. The philosophy of the Google
engine is that if your site is to be included
in the index then Googlebot will find it
anyway. The submit URL function in Google.com
is there to make users feel better. The same
goes for the other engines. Inktomi are happy
to take your money off you straight away, but
if you have the patience, Slurp will find you
in the end.
Directories on the other hand need to be
submitted by hand to the most effective
category possible. Descriptions and titles
need to be carefully worded to create the
maximum impact. Knowing where your results
will show up on the internet is another
important factor, for more about the relationship between search engines and
directories,
click here |
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Gconnect Experience
Gconnect have a lot of experience in getting
the best out of search engines. Our staff edit
for both DMOZ and Zeal, so we know how the
system works, we can’t cheat the system, but
we can make the listing as smooth as possible.
For more details on our search engine
submission products
click here. |
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The complete Internet
solution for business in the UK |
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