Directories
In the case of Yahoo directory you
will need to pay in order to be considered (with out any guaranty) for
inclusion. A good site with a yearly payment for inclusion will be
enough to stay in this prestigious directory.
In the case of Google, all you need is to submit your root URL; its
spider will visit your place and read all your pages to analyze them.
This visit will be sooner if your site is linked from an already well
ranked site by Google. But that’s not all, your site must meet the
leader engine’s guidelines, you may find them in: http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html.
Besides its own database, Google consults the human reviewed dmoz.org.
This directory usually takes months to revise your site but it’s very
important to do this submission very carefully and manually. The
difference between being or not in dmoz would be very big.
Another important player is msn. Apparently, it relies a lot on the
information in Looksmart. And this search uses the processed data in the
Zeal directory.
So, the presence in Zeal is very important but isn’t easy. In fact, to
propose a new site you must be a member of the community, or a “zealot”.
They have different levels of membership. In order to reach next level
you must study and pass some online tests. In the first level you can
send for consideration, a site with appropriate title and description.
Members of the next level will analyze that inclusion proposal. If it is
accepted, the proponent will receive points for doing a good job. These
points will be partial requirement to accede to the next level.
Other levels have important rights like creating a new category, or
split; or merging others. Each action will be evaluated by a superior
level and will be rewarded or punished. I personally found the Zeal
system extraordinary, perhaps one of the most intelligent hybrid
(human-machine) systems that exist.
However, despite my personal admiration for Zeal, and its influences
over Looksmart, I strongly suggest that you take your time to be
included there. But if your site has a commercial appearance, don’t
waste time, they won’t accept you and instead they will invite you to
pay any of the Loksmart programs.
Welcome to Spiders
