Search engines and web directories (such as Yahoo! and LookSmart.com) are one of the best sources of targeted web site traffic. Recent changes in the functionality and submission process of several search engines and directories are detailed below.

The biggest change in the search engine landscape has been a move towards paid submissions by several services. While some may consider it a bad thing that services that were once free now charge for submission, it's actually an improvement in many ways. Most notably, the time it takes to get listed is usually drastically reduced with a paid service, meaning your site can start receiving traffic within days of submitting. And the potential traffic you can receive from the various search engines that use paid submissions usually far outweighs the cost. That's more than can be said for most other marketing efforts, which carry a much higher risk.

Information on paid submissions to Inktomi is available at: http://www.positiontech.com. This service has just been released; as I find out more and test its effectiveness, I'll mention my findings here.

Yahoo! has for quite some time featured its "Business Express" option of paid submission. LookSmart.com recently moved to accepting only paid submissions, doing away with its free submission process altogether. However, if I were going to spend only $199 to market a Web site, I would spend it on a LookSmart submission. LookSmart's data is used by MSN, Excite, AltaVista, CNN.com, and others, and the results have been very good in my experience.
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