When it comes time to submit your website to search engines, it helps to have a list. The number and variety of search engines change rather quickly, but here is a general list of the top search engines with some information on where and how to submit to each search engine.
To help you submit your site, we’ve provided a downloadable EXCEL file we use for monitoring our website submissions and this list of the most popular search engines. We’ve also included a list of smaller websites as these can often grow quickly and every listing you can get will help spread the word about your site.
This list includes basic instructions for submission, the time delay before your site might be seen on the site, and any notes and comments. The file includes the lists we have posted on our web site as well as a listing of the top international search engines. Where possible, we’ve included the partners for these search engines. If you are listed with a partner, you usually show up in the main site. Be careful oversubmitting your site to such partnerships as it can be seen as “flooding” or oversubmitting, resulting in restrictions or a ban.
Before submitting your site, take time to read through our series of articles on Validating Your Web Page, especially the article on Getting Ready for Search Engines to maximize the quality of your submission and understand how the process works. The harder you work before you submit, the better your changes are later. It is much easier to change your site now then try to change it once the search engines have it in their databases. Do it right the first time.
Have your submission information ready before you submit your and category possibilities. To help you, we have an example form in our article on site submission and you can see our own submission form online.
Google
Partners: Dmoz
Submission Site: http://www.google.com/addurl.html
Submission Method: 4 weeks
Yahoo
Partners: Google (soon to end), Overture
Submission Site: http://www.yahoo.com/info/suggest/
Notes: Soon linked with Inktomi
DMOZ
Partners: Google, Netscape, Teoma, Hotbot, Ask Jeeves, AOL Search, Altavista, Alltheweb
Submission Site: http://dmoz.org/add.html
Submission Method: Manual
All The Web
Partners: DMOZ, Fast
Submission Site: http://addurl.alltheweb.com/add_url
Fast.com
Partners: Lycos, Hotbot, Terra.com, alltheweb, dogpile, Excite, Infospace, Overture
Submission Site: http://www.fast.com
Time Delay: 6 weeks
Altavista
Partners: Overture, DMOZ
Submission Site: http://addurl.altavista.com/addurl/new
Time Delay: 1-6 weeks
Notes: Submit 5 pages at once for free
AOL Search
Partners: Google, DMOZ
Submission Site: http://search.aol.com/aolcom/index.jsp
Time Delay: 2 months
Notes: Submit within categories
Teoma
Partners: Google, DMOZ, Ask Jeeves
Submission Site: http://www.teoma.com
Ask Jeeves
Partners: DMOZ, Teoma, (soon: iWon, Excite, My Way)
Submission Site: http://www.ask.com
Hotbot
Partners: DMOZ, Overture, Inktomi
Submission Site: http://www.hotbot.com
Time Delay: 2 months
Excite
Partners: Inktomi, Overture
Submission Site: http://www.excite.com
Time Delay: 2 weeks
Looksmart
Partners: Inktomi, SearchFeed, myGeek, ABCSearch, InfoSpace, Mamma.com
Submission Site: http://search.looksmart.com/
MSN
Partners: Inktomi, Overture, Looksmart
Submission Site: http://search.msn.com
Time Delay: 2 months
Overture
Partners: Inktomi
Submission Site: http://www.overture.com
Inktomi
Partners: Hotbot, About.com, MSN, Espotting.com, Looksmart, Soneraplaza, Go, Bluewin
Submission Site: http://www.inktomi.com
Lycos
Partners: Overture, Fast
Submission Site: http://insite.lycos.com/inclusion/searchenginesubmit.asp?co=undefined
Go
Partners: Google
Submission Site: http://www.go.com/
iWon
Partners: Google
Submission Site: http://www.iwon.com/
Time Delay: 2 months
Exactseek
Submission Site: http://www.exactseek.com/add.html
Aeiwi
Submission Site: http://www.aeiwi.com/
AllTheWeb
Submission Site: http://www.alltheweb.com/
AltaVista
Submission Site: http://www.altavista.com/
Submission Method: Manual
EuroSeek
Submission Site: http://www.euroseek.com/
Submission Method: Manual
National Directory
Submission Site: http://www.NationalDirectory.com/
Submission Method: Manual
SearchHippo
Submission Site: http://www.searchhippo.com/
Submission Method: Manual
SearchIt
Submission Site: http://searchIt.com/
What-U-Seek
Submission Site: http://www.whatuseek.com/
Submission Method: Manual
Splat Search
Submission Site: http://www.splatsearch.com/submit.html
Submission Method: Manual
Meta-search Directories
These are “search engines” that rarely send out robots or spiders to search individual web pages. They search other search engine databases. A meta-search engine uses the information gathered by other search engines, permitting the user to search more than one search engine’s database at a time. Some meta-search sites permit site submissions, usually with a fee.
Mamma.com
http://www.mamma.com
Partners: LookSmart, Askjeeves, Copernic and Internet.com and others
Submission Site: http://www.mamma.com/info/submit/submit.html
Submission Method: Submission Fee and Annual “maintenance fee” through WhatUseek
FindWhat.com
http://www.findwhat.com
Partners: Lycos, Hotbot, CNET’s Search.com, Excite, WebCrawler, NBCi, MetaCrawler, Dogpile, Go2Net
Submission Method: Paid Submission Fee (advertiser) only
Smaller Search Engines and Indexes
123 World
http://www.123world.com/
Submission Site: http://www.123world.com/url-submit/addurl.html
Submission Style: Manual
1st Global Directory (requires reciprocal link)
http://www.123link.com/
Submission Style: Manual
411Locate
http://www.411locate.com/
A Top Quality Site
http://atopqualitysite.com/
Submission Site: http://atopqualitysite.com/addurl.htm
About.com (formerly, The Mining Company)
http://www.about.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Enhance (formerly Ah-Ha)
http://www.enhance.com/
AllBusiness
http://www.allbusiness.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Allestra
http://www.allestra.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Best of the Net
http://bestofthenet.tv/
Bet a Buck
http://www.betabuck.com/
Submission Site: http://betabuck.com/banner.htm
BigWhat
http://www.bigwhat.com/
Brain Fox
http://www.brainfox.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Note: Pay per click only
CanLinks
http://www.canlinks.net/
Submission Site: http://www.canlinks.net/addalink/
Submission Style: Manual
Note: Canadian Focused, choose from 6 categories
Category Web
http://www.categoryweb.com/
Cheats.com
http://www.cheats.com/
Claymont
http://www.claymont.com/home/
Submission Site: http://www.claymont.com/myaccount/submitsite.asp?img=y
Click for Choice
http://www.click4choice.com/
CMN.com
http://www.web-cmn.com/
Submission Site: http://www.web-cmn.com/NotFound.asp?keyword=getlisted
Cyber Directory
http://www.cdnet.com/cd/
Submission Site: http://www.cdnet.com/cgi-bin/hyperseek/add_url_list.cgi
Cyber Web Search
http://www.cyberwebsearch.com/
Dewa
http://www.dewa.com/
Submission Site: http://www.dewa.com/submit/
Ditto
http://www.ditto.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Dygo
http://www.dygo.com/
Submission Site: http://www.dygo.com/signup.php
Enhance (formerly Ah-Ha)
http://www.enhance.com/
EZSearches
http://www.ezsearches.com/
FetchDog
http://www.fetchdog.com/
Submission Site: http://www.fetchdog.com/search/no_cat.html
Geekin
http://www.geekin.com/main.htm
Get Favorites
http://www.getusfavorites.com/
Submission Site: http://www.getfavourites.net/tell_us_about_your_US_site.htm
Gigablast
http://www.gigablast.com/
Submission Site: http://www.gigablast.com/addurl
Gimpsy
http://www.gimpsy.com/
Submission Site: http://www.gimpsy.com/gimpsy/searcher/suggest.php
GotoGeo
http://www.gotogeo.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Group Web
http://www.groupweb.com/index.html
Submission Site: http://www.groupweb.com/your/adinfo.htm
GTE Yellow Pages
http://yellowpages.superpages.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Guide Beam
http://www.guidebeam.com/
Hot Sheet
http://www.hotsheet.com/
Hound Dog
http://www.hounddog.com/
iLOR
http://www.ilor.com/
Insider.com
http://www.insider.com/
Jayde
http://www.jayde.com/
Submission Site: http://search.jayde.com/cgi-bin/submit.cgi
Jayde
http://www.jayde.com/
Submission Style: Manual
kazazz
http://www.kazazz.com/
Submission Site: http://www.kazazz.com/listing.html
Kool Pages
http://koolpages.com/search/
Link Master
http://www.linkmaster.com
Submission Site: http://www.linkmaster.com/add.php
Submission Style: Manual
Note: Free, must post link to site
LinkoPedia
http://www.linkopedia.com
Submission Site: http://www.linkopedia.com/submission/index.html
MSN Search Index
http://search.msn.com/
Submission Style: Manual
My Search7
http://www.mysearch7.com/
Submission Site: Submit
OneMission
http://www.onemission.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Open Directory Project
http://dmoz.org/
Submission Style: Manual
OpenHere
http://www.openhere.com
Submission Site: http://www.openhere.com/scripts/addurl.dll?/addurl
OpenHere
http://www.openhere.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Qango
http://www.qango.com/
Submission Style: Manual
QuestFinder
http://www.questfinder.com/
Submission Site: http://www.questfinder.com/search/s-ctm.cgi?s-addurl.ctm
QuestFinder
http://www.questfinder.com/
Rex
http://rex.skyline.net/
Submission Site: http://rex.skyline.net/add/
Scrub the Web
http://www.scrubtheweb.com/
Submission Site: http://www.scrubtheweb.com/addurl.html
Search Blazer
http://searchblazer.com/
Submission Site: http://searchblazer.com/cgi-bin/ppc/signup.cgi
Search King
http://www.searchking.com/
Submission Site: http://www.searchking.com/add_new.htm
SearchGate
http://www.searchgate.co.uk
Submission Site: http://www.searchgate.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/add_url.cgi?Category=
SearchHippo
http://www.searchhippo.com
Submission Site: http://www.searchhippo.com/addlink.php
SearchKing
http://www.searchking.com/
Submission Style: Manual
SearchTheWeb
http://searchtheweb.com/
Submission Style: Manual
ShopMyState
http://www.shopmystate.com/
Submission Style: Manual
SightQuest
http://www.sightquest.com
Submission Site: http://www.sightquest.com/how-to-submit.htm
Splat Search
http://www.splatsearch.com/
Submission Site: http://www.splatsearch.com/submit.html
Starting Point
http://www.stpt.com/
Submission Site: http://www.stpt.com/?L=submit_form
SurfGopher
http://www.surfgopher.com/
SurfSafely
http://www.surfsafely.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Top 50
http://www.top50.to
Submission Site: http://www.top50.to/register.php
Turbo 10
http://turbo10.com
Submission Site: http://turbo10.com/addyoursite.html
TurnPike
http://www.turnpike.net/directory.phtml
Submission Site: http://www.turnpike.net/directory.phtml?addit
Walhello
http://www.walhello.com/
Web Search
http://www.web-search.biz/
Submission Site: http://www.web-search.biz/add.html
Web Taxi
http://www.webtaxi.com
Submission Site: http://www.webtaxi.com/taxi/urlform.htm
Webbie World
http://www.webbieworld.com/ww
Submission Site: http://www.webbieworld.com/ww/webnom.asp
Whoisman
http://www.whoisman.net/
Submission Site: http://www.whoisman.net/submithow.htm
Submission Style: Manual
Note: $5 one time fee for listing, Family oriented search engine, submit by category
WiseNut
http://www.wisenut.com
Submission Site: http://www.wisenut.com/submit.html
WotBot
http://www.wotbot.com/
Zappo
http://www.zappo.com/
Zeal
http://www.zeal.com/
Submission Style: Manual
Note: Must register in advance
ZenSearch
http://www.zensearch.com/
Submission Site: http://www.zensearch.com/submit.shtml
Zenzibar
http://www.zenzibar.com/
ZippyFinder
http://www.zippyfinder.com/
Submission Style: Manual
To help you with your web page submissions, we’ve included this listing of the most popular search engines and directories, as well as lists for search engines and directories, specialty search engines and directories, Website award submission sites, and we even have a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet which combines all these lists into one easy-to-use layout form for downloading.
For more information on how to prepare your Website and web pages for submission to search engines and directories, take time to read our article series on web page validation and preparation for search engine submissions. We also have listed extensive information in our article series on web page design to help you create the best possible “search engine friendly” and user-friendly Website.
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[…] There are many search engine comparison charts and partnership charts that show you the partnerships between search engines. For example, DMOZ Open Directory Project permits Google, Teoma, Hotbot, Ask Jeeves, AOL Search, Altavista, and Alltheweb access to its directory. Altavista, on the other hand, gets its information from DMOZ and Overture. If you submit to Overture, odds are you will end up on a search on Altavista. If you submit to DMOZ, you could easily turn up on any searches on Google, Teoma, Hotbot, Ask Jeeves, and so on. And watch closely as many of these sites are being purchased by other search engine services and so the dance of the search engines continues. By the time you read this, some of these search engines may be defunct or no longer dealing with each other. […]
[…] Google is not the end all and be all of search engines. It is one of your many choices. And you don’t have to even search search engines to find information. Try a few directories. What about specialty search engines? And there are a lot of non-google search engines out there to try. […]