It usually takes 4-6 weeks to get listed after you've submitted your site to free search engines. It can sometimes take less time for paid submissions.
» Google (Plus AOL, Yahoo, and Netscape)
Perhaps the most important search engine to be listed in is Google. Google is one of the most popular ways to search the Web. In addition, AOL and Netscape all use Google in their results, so you'll get listed with them, too. Submitting a site is free and there's no way to guarantee or speed up a listing.
» MSN
MSN ranks right up there with Google and Yahoo in popularity. They use LookSmart for their search results, which does charge for site submission, but there's a way around it if your site is non-commercial (see information about the Zeal directory below). If it is commercial, you'll need to submit your site to LookSmart.
A popular search engine that uses a pay per click model. Decide which search terms are relevant to your Web site, and choose how much you wish to bid on each search term. The amount you bid will determine how high up your site will be listed in Kanoodle.com's results. It can be a very effective way of driving traffic to your site.
Teoma and Ask are owned by the same company, so you can submit to both at once. They do not offer a free option, so you'll need to pay if you want to be listed.
This is another relatively popular search engine that requires payment for submission.
» Submit to InfoSpace / Excite
AltaVista has different levels of submission, so you can submit your site for free or pay for enhanced service.
Directories
It's important to also submit your site to directories. Here are the two most popular.» Yahoo
Yahoo is the most popular directory on the Internet. To get a non-commercial site listed, you can submit for free by going to the relevant category and clicking on "Suggest a Site" at the bottom of the page. It can take months to be added or Yahoo may decide not to add your site at all. If you want to guarantee a listing, you can pay $299/yr (called Yahoo Express). Commercial sites are required to pay the $299/yr.
» DMOZ
DMOZ is the Open Directory Project. It's totally free and run by volunteers. It's very popular and a lot of search engines use it for their search results. If you get listed here, you're guaranteed to be found on Google, for example. To submit your site, find the appropriate category and click "add URL" at the top of the page.
