What is a Directory?
A directory does not use robots to index a site. All sites that are indexed are directly done by people. You need to submit your web site under a particular category, after which an editor will review your site and then accept or reject your site according to its quality.
Guidelines while submitting to Directories
- Make sure your site is 100% up and running, with no “under construction” signs. Good site design, fast loading pages, and content are important, especially for Yahoo.
- From the homepage of a directory take your time and find the appropriate category your site fits into. You can do a keyword search using your most important keywords or key phrases and note the category that lists these sites. That will probably be the best category for your site. You may also have multiple categories, in which case you must submit under all the suitable categories.
- Once you have found a suitable category, look out for a “Suggest a site” or an “Add URL” link. Click on this link to submit your site.
- Before rushing off to submit your site, carefully read their suggestions on how to submit. They REALLY mean it. Follow their instructions to the absolute letter.
- Since Directories do not use robots, everything indexed into a directory is done by people. No META tags, ALT image tags, HTML comments or image maps will help your performance here. Your best bet is to describe your site accurately and the final decision of adding your web site to a directory’s database rests with the editor who reviews your web site. Best of luck!
Top Directories
Yahoo.com
Yahoo is without a doubt the single most important index on the Internet. Make sure you follow the guidelines given above and Yahoo’s submit page instructions while submitting your site. The effort you put in now will reap huge benefits in the long run. Submit carefully!
Submit to Yahoo
Lycos, AOL Search, AltaVista and HotBot feature Open Directory categories within their results pages. As ODP is now the directory listing source for many search engines, it is in the “big leagues” and is a must to submit to.
Read their instructions and submit
LookSmart
Refer to the site submission FAQ to learn more about the selection criteria and get answers to other submission questions.
Read their selection criteria here
Info Seek
Go/Infoseek lets you submit in two ways: by their add URL form, or by creating a list of all the URLs on your site and mailing it to them. ). Infoseek is currently way behind on indexing, so your pages may take weeks to show up in their index. Very important: never submit the same URL more than once per day. If you do, that page may never get indexed, and you might find it difficult to get other pages listed as well.
Netscape Search’s results come primarily from the Open Directory and Netscape’s own “Smart Browsing” database, which does an excellent job of listing “official” web sites. Secondary results come from Google. Use the following link to find out how to submit your URL.
Find out how to submit to Netscape Search
AOL Search allows its members to search across the web and AOL’s own content from one place. The main listings for categories and web sites come from the Open Directory and Inktomi. Your best bet is to get listed in Open Directory.
HOW TO SUBMIT
- Find the most appropriate category or subcategory within the AOL Directory.
- Click on the category and from that category page, submit your site information from the Submit a Site link in the green Open Directory Project box at the bottom of the page. In this way, you are determining where your site fits best, and then sending it to the correct place.
Note: If you have already submitted your web site to the Open Directory Project you don’t need to submit from here.