Second Generation Search Engine Submissions
By Julian Lynch
Account Director
Search engine and directory submissions have always been an important part of any search marketing campaign. What started out as a simple “submit url” that accepted domains has become a registration process where the Search Engines interact with Internet marketers providing valuable insights into registered sites. This process is now called second generation submissions.
Directory submissions are also an important part of the submissions process. In fact a good open directory (www.dmoz.org) listing is still very important for your web presence. Directory submissions are less likely to be victims of spam, because they were human edited analogous to the Golden pages.
Another solution for indexing, submission, and spam problems was the innovation of XML feeds. Up until a number of years ago there were a number of paid submission programs which were utilised by Interactive Return for many client campaigns. However, through industry consolidations, the major XML programs have been reduced to just Yahoo’s Search Submit and Search Submit Pro programs. These can still be a valuable source of traffic with guaranteed Search Engine Index inclusion.
Google Webmaster Tools
Through Google’s Webmaster Tools, users are empowered with more information about the indexing of their site than ever before. There are also options to control certain aspects of the Web Site that could not be previously communicated to the search engine.
Diagnostic – This is the first section a verified search marketer would arrive at after signing into the domain. It includes valuable summary information and access to the Webmaster tools.
Tools – This section empowers search marketers with tools that provide information directly to Google’s spiders.
Statistics – This section provides reporting on site information that was previously unknown. This section sheds light on how Google sees the Web site.
Links – Through Google Wemaster Tools the engine provides full back link information which is no longer otherwise publicly available.
· External Links – This includes how many links are being counted towards each page, where the links are from and what text is in the links.
· Internal Links – This report shows the internal popularity of linking within the domain. It can be helpful for site architecture and linking.
Sitemaps – The sitemap file is a list of all URLS existing within a Web site. Google or XML sitemaps can be very useful for websites that are highly complex or where large portions of the site’s content changes very frequently.
Yahoo Site Explorer
Yahoo Site Explorer – This tool originally allowed anyone to track any site without verification. It also allowed for a channel to submit a “urllist.txt” file that could contain a list of every possible URL within the domain without any attributes.
If you authenticate your site in Yahoo Site Explorer, you can submit urllist.txt, xml sitemaps that fit the sitemap protocol, and sitemaps for mobile content. Other information provided:
· Pages indexed
· Inlinks
· Delete URL / Path – can delete up to 25 URLs from their database.
MSN and Ask already announced that they have agreed to the sitemap protocol and will build programs to accept XML sitemaps. MSN still has a free “add URL” option but ASK does not, instead it relies on Web crawls to find new information.
If your website is not already registered with Google and Yahoo, now is the time to do it. They continually enhance the reports and tools available to their registered sites. The ability for search engines to have direct contact with search marketers is invaluable. If a web site has been flagged for a spam penalty within Google, the Webmaster Tools facilitate correction and resubmission. The more these programs are used and the more feedback that is provided to the Search Engines for improvements, the better the Web will be in the future for finding Web sites that count.
Directory submissions are also an important part of the submissions process. In fact a good open directory (www.dmoz.org) listing is still very important for your web presence. Directory submissions are less likely to be victims of spam, because they were human edited analogous to the Golden pages.
Another solution for indexing, submission, and spam problems was the innovation of XML feeds. Up until a number of years ago there were a number of paid submission programs which were utilised by Interactive Return for many client campaigns. However, through industry consolidations, the major XML programs have been reduced to just Yahoo’s Search Submit and Search Submit Pro programs. These can still be a valuable source of traffic with guaranteed Search Engine Index inclusion.
Google Webmaster Tools
Through Google’s Webmaster Tools, users are empowered with more information about the indexing of their site than ever before. There are also options to control certain aspects of the Web Site that could not be previously communicated to the search engine.
Diagnostic – This is the first section a verified search marketer would arrive at after signing into the domain. It includes valuable summary information and access to the Webmaster tools.
Tools – This section empowers search marketers with tools that provide information directly to Google’s spiders.
Statistics – This section provides reporting on site information that was previously unknown. This section sheds light on how Google sees the Web site.
Links – Through Google Wemaster Tools the engine provides full back link information which is no longer otherwise publicly available.
· External Links – This includes how many links are being counted towards each page, where the links are from and what text is in the links.
· Internal Links – This report shows the internal popularity of linking within the domain. It can be helpful for site architecture and linking.
Sitemaps – The sitemap file is a list of all URLS existing within a Web site. Google or XML sitemaps can be very useful for websites that are highly complex or where large portions of the site’s content changes very frequently.
Yahoo Site Explorer
Yahoo Site Explorer – This tool originally allowed anyone to track any site without verification. It also allowed for a channel to submit a “urllist.txt” file that could contain a list of every possible URL within the domain without any attributes.
If you authenticate your site in Yahoo Site Explorer, you can submit urllist.txt, xml sitemaps that fit the sitemap protocol, and sitemaps for mobile content. Other information provided:
· Pages indexed
· Inlinks
· Delete URL / Path – can delete up to 25 URLs from their database.
MSN and Ask already announced that they have agreed to the sitemap protocol and will build programs to accept XML sitemaps. MSN still has a free “add URL” option but ASK does not, instead it relies on Web crawls to find new information.
If your website is not already registered with Google and Yahoo, now is the time to do it. They continually enhance the reports and tools available to their registered sites. The ability for search engines to have direct contact with search marketers is invaluable. If a web site has been flagged for a spam penalty within Google, the Webmaster Tools facilitate correction and resubmission. The more these programs are used and the more feedback that is provided to the Search Engines for improvements, the better the Web will be in the future for finding Web sites that count.
Interactive Return