This is a guide to website submission services, which are generally individuals or companies who will submit your website to search engines or web directories, usually for a fee.

While it may be argued that there is no need to submit your site to a search engine because the search engine spiders will find it anyhow, there are services that will do that for you if you don't want to wait for the Google bot to come across your new website while following links. There is also the fact the search engine bot isn't going to come across your site unless it is linked to from some other site that is in its index.

More importantly, submission services will submit your site to web directories that are indexed by the search engines, thereby increasing the likelihood that a search engine spider will follow the link from the directory page to your site. Although search engine algorithms are changed frequently, among the variables that they have always used to determine the value of your site are the number and quality of the sites that link to your site.

While search engine optimization (SEO) involves a lot more than link building, links from other sites are taken in account in the algorithms that are used by search engines to determine the placement of a website in its search engine results pages (SERPs). As with any other type of site on the Internet, the search engines consider some sites to be more important than others, and some may be so lowly regarded as to be considered a bad neighborhood.

However, if your site is listed in the better web directories, not only will the search engine spiders follow the link to your site, but the listing may enhance your site's reputation and position in the SERPs.

The more reputable web directories are also visited by human beings so, if your site is properly categorized, you can expect to receive direct human traffic from these web directories, as well. Listings in such directories will send traffic to your site even before it has been included in the search engines' indexes, and it will continue to send you targeted traffic afterward.

Thus, a degree of discretion should be used when determining which directories to submit your site to. Links from poorly regarded directories are unlikely to actually harm your site's reputation, but neither will they help it. When a search engine regards a directory (or any other website) to be disreputable, it will not include that directory in its index, and will not follow links provided by that directory. If you have paid to submit your site to a disreputable directory, you have not received value for your money, but you are unlikely to have harmed the reputation of your site in any significant way. Link diversity is a plus, and a few links from lesser directories may provide this.

While there are some free ones, most reputable web directories require the payment of a fee. A submission fee reduces the amount of spam or junk submissions that the directory editors would otherwise have to deal with, and it also pays for them to properly maintain the directory. This may be a nominal fee, intended to discourage spam, or it may be a significant amount, and the cost for the submission is not necessarily in direct proportion to the value of the link.

Reputable web directories are also selective about which sites they choose to include in their categories, and where they are placed. The payment of a submission fee will be seriously considered for inclusion in the directory, but it does not guarantee acceptance.

Unlike search engines, web directories are maintained by human editors. They will review both your submission and they will also look at your website. They may change the description that you provided so that it more accurately describes your site, and they might move to a more appropriate category if this appears necessary.

Business owners may opt to submit their own websites to the web directories of their choosing, or they may hire a submission service to do this for them. Use even more discretion in choosing a submission service than you would in choosing a directory to submit to. If the submission service promises to submit your site to a thousand directories, move on because there aren't a thousand directories worth submitting your site to.

Some submission services use an automated process to submit client's sites to a large number of directories at once. A better choice would be one that promises to submit your site manually. Since web directories are independently owned and operated, the submission process will differ from one directory to another, and automated submissions don't behave well in that environment.

There is also the matter of the fee, required by most of the best directories. A professional submission service may have arrangements for discounted prices with some of these directories.

Recommended Resources

Search for Submission Services on Google or Bing