Directory Submissions - Yahoo! - DMOZ (The Open Directory aka ODP) - Zeal

Newer generation spider-based search engines employ complex mathematical algorithms in an attempt to assess a website’s theme. By reading visible
and invisible text found on a website and on other website pages that link to it, search engines are able to determine which words and phrases represent a website’s theme. Where as website optimization helps the search engines establish an intended theme, determining which keywords are best suited is an essential starting point for any website optimization campaign.

Using Zeal to Get into LookSmart and the MSN Directory for Free

With LookSmart and Yahoo! now charging $299 (U.S.) apiece to review your Web site for inclusion in their respective directories, it’s getting fairly expensive for the little guy to get listed.

However, if you’re a noncommercial site, there is some good news.
LookSmart recently purchased the directory and has merged its noncommercial listings seamlessly with LookSmart’s own listings. Previously, anyone wishing to be listed in LookSmart and its partner sites — MSN is the most recognized partner — had to pay the fee unless the Web site was a certified nonprofit organization. This left thousands of hobbyist Web sites, fan sites, educational sites and other noncommercial entities out in the cold. It also made the LookSmart directory not as comprehensive as it could have been.

In fact, many sites previously listed in LookSmart were dropped once the company instituted the pay-for-review program a couple of years ago. I know this because my longtime LookSmart-listed parenting site, the , disappeared around that time. Once it was dropped, we began receiving e-mails from LookSmart every few weeks, telling me we could submit the site through the paid program. This was disconcerting to say the least, as we had worked on this Web site as a hobby for many years for the good of all parents, and I did not make any money on it. In fact, we lost money due to the time and server space it took. Needless to say, it didn’t seem fair that we should have to pay to have it added back into the LookSmart directory. So, when we found out about LookSmart’s merger with Zeal, we set out to restore the Parentsroom site to its rightful place in LookSmart — for free!

A Little Zealousness Goes a Long Way

As it turns out, not just anyone can add or submit sites to Zeal/LookSmart. You must first register then pass a member quiz. This is not some sort of no-brainer deal whereby company officials are really just collecting your personal information. The quiz is 20 tricky questions regarding the proper formatting of submitted titles and descriptions, site selection, and category management. Zeal provides you a cheat sheet, available in the form of the company’s and you really do need to read carefully through these in order to answer most of the questions.

The test takes a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes, more if you don’t have a firm grasp of directory submission procedures. However, if, like me, you’ve submitted many sites to LookSmart and already have a feel for how the company formulates its descriptions, you should easily pass the test. we are proud to say we got 19 of the 20 questions correct.

With the quiz passed, we was now allowed to submit sites. we found the most appropriate category for my Parentsroom site and followed the relatively simple submission procedure, being careful to use the site’s name as the title and to write the description so it perfectly followed the editorial criteria. Within a few hours, we was notified by e-mail that my site had been accepted. It showed up immediately at Zeal and showed up a few days later in the LookSmart directory. Once in LookSmart, it took about five to seven days for the site to show up at MSN.

Hurray for LookSmart!

What we like about this whole having-to-pass-a-quiz thing is that LookSmart doesn’t let just anyone submit sites to the directory. The company also makes it easier on its senior editors because most submissions should be formatted correctly from the start. Yes, it’s a pain in the neck to be approved; however, because of this, LookSmart can be fairly certain the high standards of its commercial listings will continue to be met by noncommercial listings.

Zeal offers another, even trickier quiz, which you need to take in order to become a full-fledged “zealot.” Zeal calls zealots those who pass the member quiz, earn 75 , maintain a quality quotient of 6.0 or higher, and pass the zealot quiz. Just for fun, we decided to take it after getting such high marks on the first one. We didn’t have much time, nor did we feel like doing any more in-depth research through the guidelines, so I decided we would just take my best shot and guess as necessary. Unfortunately, we got only nine of the 20 questions correct through that method.

The zealot quiz was extremely difficult in that it delved deeper into how to properly categorize sites within the directory. Because that’s not something we normally do in a submission to LookSmart, I didn’t have much knowledge about it. It was pretty complicated stuff! But again, this is a good thing. This shows that in order to become a full-fledged zealot, you have to really study the guidelines and the directory itself, and truly have a strong handle on how they do things.

There’s a lot more to learn about Zeal and its relationship with LookSmart; I’ve only touched the surface. It looks like an interesting place to hang out, and I do plan on spending more time there when I get a chance. If nothing else, I need to exact my revenge on that zealot quiz!

Improve your search engine ranking for high website traffic and a successful E-Business

Is high website traffic, top search engine ranking, website profitability really possible?

Yes, even probable with the right knowledge, expertise and experience.

How can I gain that knowledge, expertise and experience?

Take Online Web Training and watch your rankings in the search engines soar and your traffic increase!

Online Web Training course offers a hands-on approach to Web promotion training with an experienced instructor standing by to assist at every step of the way. Students will learn the basic techniques for positioning their web pages in the major search engines and have a clear understanding of how to get a top search engine position.

• 8 lesson certified online training course led by the instructor
• One-on-one with a highly qualified instructor who will visit each site and offer suggestions as needed for optimum findability with the engines
• Online access to all lessons which are also sent out by e-mail
• Students have a week to complete each assignment
• Continuing Education Units ( from the University of Southern Mississippi and certification in Website promotion strategies for participants who complete all course and certification requirements
• More structured training with a closer association with an instructor begins on the first day of every month

This picks up where the Essential Foundations course ends and explains in detail how you can get your site ranked high in over 33 search engines and directories while also outlining more advanced search engine optimization tactics.

Upon completion of the search engine positioning training course, students will know how to get their pages ranked high in the major engines and connected directories, will have fine tuned their search engine optimization skills, and can be accurately called, Certified Advanced Search Engine Positioning Experts.

• 8 comprehensive lessons
• Close instructor interaction
• Course material updated monthly
• Weekly chat sessions on different topics
• Addendum sections: tips and strategies, charts, gu1406es and more

Search Engines and Title Tags

A title tag is essentially an HTML code snippet that creates the words that appear in the top bar of your Web browser.
The HTML code for a title tag looks like this:

<HEAD>
<TITLE>XYZ Company Home Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

The title tag belongs in the <HEAD> section of your source code, and is generally followed by your Meta description and Meta keywords tags. The order of these tags is not critical, so don’t worry if your HTML editor places them in a different position.
Some Web site design tools and content management systems (CMS) automatically generate the title tag from information you provide. You may have noticed Web pages that are labeled “Page 1,” “Page 2,” or “Home Page” in the browser title bar. You’ll often see titles like these being used by beginning Web site designers who simply don’t know how to use their software or their title tag for maximum benefit.
Search Engines and Title Tags

All search engines use title tags to gather information about your Web site. The words in the title tag are what appear in the clickable link on the search engine results page (SERP). What you put in this tag is a key factor in which search queries you will rank highly with in the major search engines. Title tags are definitely one of the “big three” as far as the algorithmic weight given to them; they are equally as important as your visible text copy and the links pointing to your pages.

Do Company Names Belong in the Title Tag?

For years I was adamantly against “wasting” precious title tag space on company names. However, now that I work with many well-known brands, I’ve altered my thinking on this. I’ve found that it’s fine to place your company name in the title, and *gasp*, even to place it at the beginning of the tag! In fact, if your company is already a well-known brand, I’d say that it’s essential. Even if you’re not a well-known brand yet, chances are you’d like to eventually be one. The title tag gives you a great opportunity to further this cause.
This doesn’t mean that you should put *just* your company name in the title tag. Even the most well-known brands will benefit from a good descriptive phrase or two added to this tag, as it will serve to enhance your brand as well as your search engine rankings. The people who already know your company and seek it out by name will be able to find you in the engines, and so will those who never heard of you, but who seek the products or services you sell.
For example, if your company is “Johnson and Smith Inc.” and you are a tax accounting firm in Texas, you shouldn’t place only the words “Johnson and Smith Inc.” in your title tag, but instead use something like “Johnson and Smith Inc. Tax Accountants in Texas.”

Title Tags Should Contain Specific Keyword Phrases

As a Texas tax accountant, you would want your company’s site to appear in the search engine results for searches on phrases such as “Texas tax accountants” and “CPAs in Texas.” You would need to be even more specific if you prefer to work for people only in the Dallas area. In that case, use keywords such as “Dallas tax accountants” in your site’s title tags. This is a key point: If you’re only seeking customers or clients in a specific geographical region, your keywords need to reflect that. People looking for a tax accountant in Dallas may begin their search by simply entering “tax accountant” in the search engine. However, once they see that their search is returning accountants from all over the world, they’ll narrow the search by adding “Dallas” to their search terms. When they do, you want your site to be right there on the first page of new results.
In DesignsSite accountants example, you might create a title tag as follows:
<TITLE>DesignsSite</TITLE>
or you might try something like this:
<TITLE>DesignsSite</TITLE>
However, there’s more than enough space in the title tag to include both of these important keyword phrases. (In fact, search engines will display 60 to 115 characters of your title tag.) Here’s an example of an approach I like even better:
<TITLE>DesignsSite- the complete soft ware solution</TITLE>
Today’s search engines are not case-sensitive; therefore I generally use initial caps in this tag because it looks the cleanest. I used to often use ALL CAPS in parts of my title tag because when the engines were case sensitive, it would give me a different variation of my phrase. However, ALL CAPS looks somewhat spammy in the SERPs, so I generally avoid this practice these days.
As for placing the word “DesignsSite” twice in the title tag, I have found this approach to be both permissible and effective. Just make sure that you don’t put the same words right next to each other. For example, a tag that reads “DesignsSite- the complete web solution provider” may trigger a red flag with the search engines, possibly making that word ignored entirely. (Search engines see hyphens and commas as spaces, which is why they would count that example as the same word next to itself.) In order to play it safe, it’s probably a good idea to not use any given word more than two times in the title.

Use Your Visible Text Copy as Your Guide

I personally would not be able to create a title tag for any page until the copy on the page has been written and optimized. I need to see how the copywriter integrated the keyword phrases into the visible text copy to know where to begin. If you’ve done a good job with your writing (or better yet, hired a professional SEO copywriter), you should find all the information you need right there on your page. Simply choose the most relevant keyword phrases that the copy was based on, and write a compelling title tag accordingly. If you’re having trouble with this, and can’t seem to get a handle on what the most important phrases are for any given page, you probably need to rewrite the copy.

The optimal approach when writing copy for a Web site is to think of the main phrases that best reflect your business, and then compose the text around them. When you write your title tag, you simply revisit these same phrases, and compose your keyword-rich title accordingly. I recommend that you *don’t* take an exact sentence pulled from your copy and use it as your title tag. It’s my preference to have a unique sentence or compelling string of words in this tag.
So what if a keyword phrase you want to use doesn’t actually appear within your visible copy? Does this mean you shouldn’t use this phrase in the title tag?
Well, yes and no. Since the title tag is given a lot of weight in the engines, even if you’re not willing to change the text on your page, you may be able to rank highly simply by placing your phrase in this tag. Just note that for any phrase that is even slightly competitive, having it in the title tag and not the copy will generally limit its overall effectiveness. You’d want to be sure to gain lots of keyword-rich links to your site in these cases, which can also work in conjunction with your title.
You’d be better off still if you’d rewrite the text on your page so that it utilizes the phrases that are important to you. This doesn’t mean to just stick keywords at the top or bottom of the page. It doesn’t mean to hide them in the background. Nor does it mean to put them in a tiny font so that no one will notice them. If certain keyword phrases are important enough that you want your site to be found under them in the search engines, they are certainly important enough to be elegantly incorporated into the body text of your page.
Once you’ve incorporated your phrases into the text of your site, you’ll find that creating brilliant title tags that help with branding as well as with getting found in the search engines is truly a no-brainer!

Optimizing for the Correct Keywords

To get listed correctly in the search engines each page of your site that you want listed needs to be optimized to the best of your ability. Since the keywords that you decide to target will be used throughout the optimization process choosing the right keywords is essential.
If you choose the wrong keywords you will not be found in the search engines. If you are not found in the search engines how will anyone find your site?

Since the keywords you choose to optimize your pages with are so important we have put together some tips to help you make sure that you make the right choices. You should utilize these tips when selecting keywords for each page that you plan to submit to the search engines.

1. Think “specific keyword phrases” not “keywords”. Why? Due to the extreme amount of competition for general terms in the search engines, if your keyword phrases are too general it is very unlikely you will rank well in the search engines. You stand a far better chance to rank well for specific phrases where there is less competition. The resulting traffic, since it is more highly targeted, should also be much higher quality too!

     2.  Try to think like your target audience. What would they search for when looking for the page you are optimizing? It is very easy to fall   the trap of coming up with a short list of what YOU would search for, but what about everyone else? They will not necessarily use the same keywords as you. You should try to come up with as many keyword phrases as you can think of that relate to the page you are optimizing. Try asking a few friends and family what they would search for when searching for a site like yours.

     3.  Check out your competition for ideas. Do a search using keywords that you already know you want to target and click through on the top sites that come up. Once on the site view the source HTML code and view the keywords they have in their meta tags - this should give you many more ideas! Make sure to only use keywords that relate to YOUR site or page. To view the HTML code simply click the ‘View’ at the top of your web browser then select ‘Source’, or ‘Page Source’.

     4.  You should develop a list of keyword phrases, following the tips on this page, for each page that you optimize for the search engines.

How Long Does it Take to Get Listed?

Here’s the length of time it currently takes to get listed at each of the major search engines once you have submitted your web page

Search engine optimisation (SEO): The basics

SEO is about making your website in such a way that it will appear higher in the search rankings. A website that’s optimized for search engines can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business.

• 42% to 86% of websites are found through search engines .
• There are 300 million searches carried out per day, every day.

Choose effective keyword phrases

Effective keyword phrases are frequently searched for (high demand) but not being targeted by many other websites (low competition). Please read the article, How to find good keywords for more information.

Use these keyword phrases effectively

Accessibility & CSS support packages

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Problem HTML and/or CSS code

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Now that you’ve found some great keyword phrases, you need to put them in the important places within each web page. Search engines give higher relevance to certain words and phrases within HTML documents so it’s essential that you put your keyword phrases in the correct places.

The more confident a search engine is about the subject of your website, the higher your web pages will be in the search rankings. If you only place your keyword phrases in the META tags your website will not get a high ranking.

Some of the best places to put keyword phrases are:

• Page title tag
• In headings
• As links
• In bold text
• In the first 25 words on the page (this refers to the first 25 words of text placed in the HTML document, which is often navigation)
• In the file name (i.e. the URL)
• META tags

HTML pages must be easy for search engines to follow

Search engines scour the Internet looking for web pages to index, following links from one web page to the next. To ensure a search engine ranking, all pages on your website must be accessible to search engines. Some search engines have problems with:

• Links accessible solely through frames, image maps, or JavaScript
• Very long pages
• Very short pages
• Flash pages
• Long JavaScript (JavaScript should be placed in an external document)
• Dynamic URLs

If any of these describe pages on your website then your web pages will probably not achieve a high search engine ranking.

Have a high number of quality links into the website

Inbound links to a website play a significant part in determining its position in the search engines. Be aware though, it’s not just the quantity, but also the quality and click-through-rate of links to your website which is of importance. To find out more about building up links to your website please read the article,

Ten Tips to the Top of the Search Engines

Having a Web site that gets found in Google and the other engines isn’t hard to do, but it can be difficult to know where to begin. Here are ten tips to get you started.

1. Start out slowly. If possible, begin with a new site that has never been submitted to the search engines or directories.
   Choose a domain name that best fits your brand, and start out by optimizing just the home page. (Many SEOs recommend purchasing a keyword-rich domain name; however, I’ve been optimizing sites successfully since 1995 without using them.)
2. Learn basic HTML. A lot of search engine optimization techniques involve editing the behind-the-scenes HTML code. Your high rankings can depend on knowing which codes are necessary, and which aren’t. Minimally, you should be able to view the source code of any page and understand what it all means, as well as be able to slightly edit it as necessary.
3. Choose keyword phrases wisely. The phrases you think might be perfect for your site may not be what people are actually searching for. To find the optimal words for your site, use a research tool such as Wordtracker. Decide on two or three highly targeted phrases for each page of your site. Never shoot for general keywords such as “travel” or “vacation” as they are rarely (if ever) indicative of what your site is really about.
4. Write approximately 200-250 words of visible text copy based on your chosen keywords. This is a crucial component to high rankings and a successful Web site. The search engines need to “read” keyword-rich copy on your pages so they can understand how to classify your site. Write the copy based on your keyword phrases, and not the other way around. Don’t be afraid to use your phrases as many times as it makes sense to do so. The optimal number of instances will vary by search engine, the number of words on your page, and also by how well the copy actually reads to a person. Simply sticking keyword phrases at the top of the page or only in headlines probably won’t cut it. (Purchase and read my “Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines” handbook for exact tips on how to do this.)
5. Create a killer Title tag. Title tags are critical because they’re given a lot of weight with all of the search engines. You must put your keyword phrases into this tag and not waste space with extra words. Do not use the Title tag to display only your company name, or to simply say “Home Page.” Think of this tag more as a “Title Keyword Tag” and create it accordingly. It should reflect exactly what your page is about, using the keyword phrases people might be using at a search engine to find your company.
6. Make sure your site is “link-worthy.” Other sites linking to yours is a critical component of a successful search engine optimization campaign, as all of the major search engines place a good deal of emphasis on your site’s overall link popularity. You can go out and request hundreds or thousands of links, but if your site sucks, why would anyone want to link to it? On the other hand, if your site is full of wonderful, useful information — other sites will naturally link to it without your even asking. It’s fine to trade links; just make sure you are providing your site visitors with only the highest quality of related sites. When you link to lousy sites, keep in mind what this says to your site visitors as well as to the search engines.
7. Create meaty Meta tags. Meta tags have some value, but they are not a magic bullet. Create a Meta Description tag that uses your keywords and also describes your site. The information in this tag often appears under your Title in the search engine results pages, especially if the keyword phrase that was searched upon in the engine appears in your tag. The Meta Keyword tag isn’t quite as important as the Meta Description tag. Contrary to what many people believe, what you place in the keyword tag will have very little (if any) bearing on what keywords your site is actually found under, and it’s not given any consideration whatsoever by Google. Feel free to use this tag for technical synonyms or common misspellings if you want to, but do NOT obsess over it; it definitely won’t make or break your rankings.
8. Be careful when submitting to directories such as Yahoo, DMOZ, JoeAnt, Gimpsy and the like. Having directory listings are a key component to getting your site spidered and listed by Google and the other search engines. Therefore it’s important to read each directory’s FAQ and follow it precisely. Making mistakes in the submission process could cost you dearly as directory listings are difficult to change later in the game. Be cognizant of the fact that you will be dealing with human editors, and always think about how you can make their job easier when it comes to listing your site.
9. Don’t expect quick results. Getting high rankings takes time; there’s no getting around that fact (even with paid-inclusion). Once your site is added to a search engine its rankings may start out low and then slowly work its way up the ladder. All search engines measure link popularity, and it takes time to really and truly become one of the most popular sites in your niche. Be patient and give your site time to mature.
10. Don’t constantly “tweak” your site for better results. It’s best not to make changes to your on-the-page optimization for at least three months after you optimize it. You certainly don’t need to sit on your hands or twiddle your thumbs during this period, however. You should constantly work on adding new stuff to your site to make it better and better, plus you should always be on the lookout for other sites that might be interested in making your site available to their site visitors.

If you’ve followed these tips and still can’t find your site in the engines, the first place to “tweak” would be your page copy. If you added less than 250 words of visible text on your pages, this could be your culprit. Also, double-check your keyword density, and make sure that you only targeted two or three phrases per page.

Eventually, you’ll see the fruits of your labor with many top-ten rankings in Google and the rest of the search engines!

Q. I get no respect from my current Web host so I’m switching providers. Will this affect my search engine rankings?

A. No, it won’t affect your rankings, but it wouldn’t hurt to leave your site up on the old host for about a month to ensure that the DNS propagates across the Web and that the search spiders are indexing the pages at the new host. Once you see the spiders in your log files at the new host, it should be safe to take down the site at the old server.

Is my submitted site banned?

Q. I submitted my site [manually] [automatically] [last week] [last month] [3 days ago] and it’s not showing up in any of the search engines. Have I been penalized/banned?

A. If the site you submitted doesn’t have any deceptive qualities, then no, you’re not banned or penalized. However, all the submissions in the world won’t get your site listed or bring search engine traffic if there aren’t links pointing to it from other sites — and if it’s not optimized for specific keyword phrases.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere submitting to search engines is not necessary nor even helpful. The search engines automatically find new pages on their own.
As with everything SEO related, the keys here are patience and time. If you don’t have both of those, you might as well get out of the SEO game right now and simply buy your way into the search engines through PPC ads.