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Companies Cash in *BIG* on People's Search Engine Ignorance

This article will cause many companies to stir, but it's about time people start speaking against these services.  

It really angers me when I see the numerous services that boast they will increase your traffic by submitting your web site to umpteen different search engines. When I was a web rookie, I used to buy into these claims and purchase such services only to be disappointed when my traffic did not increase as a result of these multi search engine submittals.

FACT: The search engines can do wonders for your traffic.  I attribute over 80% of my total Internet income from being found in the search engines.

FACT: Over the past couple of years, the search engines world has had a major overhaul.  It used to be that most of the popular search engines were independently run, now many of them get their search results from larger directories like Yahoo and the Open Directory. So if you're not listed in the larger directories, then you may not find your site in most search engines.  For more details on getting listed in major directories like Yahoo, click here.

FACT: The majority of these multi search engine submission services use some type of automated software to perform the submissions.  Most engine programmers have designed the engines to IGNORE these automated submissions.  What does that mean for you?  Yup....you probably aren't getting over half of the submissions that you paid for because the engines are rejecting them.

FACT: The key to getting results from the search engines is NOT from submitting, but monitoring!  After you submit, your next concern should be where you rank!  The majority of these services don't give a hoot where you rank, they'll just submit your site for you, collect your money, and move onto the next unsuspecting marketer - while you sit back and wonder, "Where's all the traffic I'm supposed to be getting?"

FACT: Spending hundreds of dollars on these multi-submission services is a WASTE of MONEY.  In fact, spending any amount of money on a submission service is a pure waste.  If you want to get real benefits from the search engines, subscribe to Danny Sullivan's newsletter at http://www.SearchEngineWatch.com and learn how the engines work and rank pages.

FACT: If you are in a referral/affiliate program and were given a web page to promote, DO NOT SUBMIT THIS TO THE SEARCH ENGINES. More than likely it will not get ranked because of 2 major reasons:

1) There are likely characters in the web site address that search engines can't read.  For example, % or ?.  The engines do not like these symbols so they ignore the page.

2) Also, this page is almost identical to everyone else's page in the affiliate program and the search engines do not want to clutter up their index by indexing duplicate pages - so they simply ignore them.

The BIG Yahoo Myth!

Don't ever let any submission service make you believe they can get you into Yahoo with the click of a button.

First of all, Yahoo is not even a search engine.  It's a directory and it's run by a group of human editors that decide whether or not a site will be accepted.  

The ONLY way to get into Yahoo is to submit yourself and if your site is commercial you have to pay a fee.

For more details on getting listed with Yahoo click here.

FACT: You should submit to all the search engines yourself.  Simply go to each engine - http://www.alltheweb.com for example - scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for the "Submit Your Site" link and submit from there.

And if you are one of these companies that promotes these types of multi submission services....SHAME ON YOU!  

Now that you know the facts, instead of focusing so much on submitting, you can focus more on how to design your page so you get a better rank.  Please make sure you read the search engine help page for tips. 

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