Which Search Engine gives you the best results?

[Doni FN]

I know most people would probably say Yahoo!

But, what if you try n try but just cant seem to get listed.

What other engines send in good results. Recently I have heard alot of Buzz about ask.com and I seem to fare fairly well on altavista.

I'd like to know whih ones are successful for you.

Doni

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FreeWebTemplates (http://www.freewebtemplates.com)

[brobe]

Well to be honest...Yahoo of course...

Anyway, Getting in DMOZ.org has brought me the most traffic as their engine data is being used like crazy all over the net. Besides it is much easier to get into DMOZ than Yahoo. Not only is DMOZ distributed to AOL but there are tons of free cgi programs out there now that a lot of sites are using that pull live DMOZ data. So DMOZ is great also if you get in.

Getting your site in GO GUIDES (go.com) is quite easy and quick if you are a GO GUIDE already. You get consistent traffic but nothing to say hooray about.

I only get a few straggle searches from Altavista so nothing consistent for me there. Their results change so much it is hard to predict them.

It was once believed that if you could get your site listed by the INKTOMI engine that you could get hits from them mainly because Yahoo used their results before the switch to Google. Inktomis engine data are spread over the internet with such engines as Goto.com, Anzwers.com, Iwon.com, etc... It is believed that AOL is beginning to use results from them as well as Ask.com.

I usually target those directories that have multiple sites using the same data first. Google.com is an obvious submit as well because Yahoo uses their data for their Non-Categorical listings.

Just my 2 cents

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Brett Roberts
Programmer / Analyst
http://www.mp3-search-portal.com

[Ian]

Nice post Brett, I couldn't agree more.
I think a lot of it depends on the type of site you have. You can get a link in almost any search data base you submit to, but the chances of your site coming up in the top 20 takes some doing and getting a listing in search engine directories is even harder and something to be proud of.
DMOZ is an excellent one to secure, as their editors fuel many search directories, Netscape and AOL to name a few.
Altavista seems to be a site you have to submit to often and check your listing regularly because it just seems to disappear after about 6 weeks. Keep this listing up, and it can be worth while.
Google in my experience from A1 JavaScripts is a big fish to catch, seems very popular and is currently the top referer followed by altavista and Lycos third.
The top five I think would have to be
Yahoo (of course)
Google
Altavista
Lycos
HotBot or Exite


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Ian

Web Development - BIG Resources Inc
Head Guide - 123Webmaster.com (http://www.123webmaster.com/)
ian@123webmaster.com
BIG Resources.com (http://www.bigresources.com)
ICQ: 25828668

[jalouda]

i use google a lot myself and i can understand why it is so popular. i only get a trickle of traffic but i get a fair proportion of it from there.

i can't get into yahoo yet (even though i have read tutorials on it, i am submitting to the smaller uk and ireland index and there are very few free web design sites in it). however, via google i show up quite high in results, probably because free design services are rare. so if you offer something unusual, it's not the end of the world if you are not in yahoo. just get into google.

dmoz is important. it took me a few attempts for some reason, but now i am in aol and netscape because i am in dmoz. and i have been getting second highest referrals from aol. i never realised that was an important one!

but my highest referral is still from the first place i listed mny site 123webmaster!!! so my advice is, if you have a site appropriate for listing get to it as soon as possible.

thanks for the traffic :)

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~jalouda~
moderator 123webmaster (http://www.123webmaster.com)
* jalouda@iol.ie
* http://www.geocities.com/jaloudasworld/

[Margerine]

I like google myself.

[jgraves00]

Amazing stuff guys. I was on htmlforums.com for less than 5 minutes and already gained years of experience. Thanks!

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J.
jwgraves00@hotmail.com

[Jason]

Imagine where you'll be 5 minutes from now? :D

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Jason M. DesRoches
Co-Founder / Business Development
Big Resources Network (http://www.bigresources.com)
jason@bigresources.com
ICQ: 17947522

[whkoh]

Google (http://www.google.com) is a good search engine. The Open Directory (http://www.dmoz.org) is what many search engines use, so if you register there your site will be viewed by many search engines.

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Koh Wei Han
Contact: whkoh@apexmail.com

[retro]

google is good because there entries now show up on yahoo ! and it is still reletively easy to get a good ranking.

[tony10]

well, the meta engine (google, altavista) will come up with more results, but may not be as accurate as directoires such as (Yahoo) .

[Wabanaki Web]

Originally posted by tony10
well, the meta engine (google, altavista) will come up with more results, but may not be as accurate as directoires such as (Yahoo) .

You're right, Tony. I only use Yahoo for really specific searches, but for most searches I go straight to Google.

Ok, how about this, I haven't even submitted my site to any search engines yet and I am listed at some already. How did that happen?

[Unregistered]

The spider will go through every lin on your site. So if your home page was spidered and there was a panal on the left said for the e-mail page, it would pick through that too. So, this is prolly cuz of a affiliate site.

[Wabanaki Web]

Do spiders go through messageboards? Just asking since I might have gotten listed because the URL to my page is HERE! In that case I owe Jason a big thank you, perhaps even my first born. He's being a brat today, so Jason, if you want him you got him!

[jollyfactory]

I read somewhere that Yahoo brings in the most traffic to any website talking percentages though.

If you are unable to get listed on these search engines, most Webmasters use reporical links and that brings in a lot of traffic.

[whkoh]

Originally posted by tony10
well, the meta engine (google, altavista) will come up with more results, but may not be as accurate as directoires such as (Yahoo) .

But Google updates the pages everyday, unlike Yahoo, and the searches are much, much more accurate.

[Unregistered]

i've submitted to over 70 search engines and the ones that bring in the most hits are
Google
Excite
and Altavista

[pixelmonkey]

has anyone had an internal search engine installed on their site via... ask, google, or any other server that does a remote search? (while keeping your layout and not adding an additional banner or frame) We are considering using ask jeeves, however the cost with our site is around the $100,000 range now. The numbers are being collected and now it's just a question of how much we want to spend for the search power!

grunting, ...the imitation tool man taylor
chris<pixelmonkey>:monkey:

[SteveS235]

I get most of my hits from AOL, so I guess that DMOZ gives me the best traffic. I have also found that sites have listed me without me submitting a URL (if they want to list me, go right ahead!). But with those, the listings are added by hand after your site is reviewed.

Google, Netscape, Metacrawler and Looksmart send hits as well, but not as much as AOL.

[Christian1972]

I made a site for metal detectors in germany.
It is top ranked on altavista.de with differnt according keywords.
Means that, Altavista is best?
I had to wait over 2 years to come into german yahoo catalog. So Yahoo is ****?
I think this is much more difficult.
The searchenginges can't be good or bad for a webmaster!
It's only that some ar more important(millions of visitors) than others(few visitors)
Yahoo is famous and worldwide, makes commercials everywhere. Altavista? no commercials..., but also mass of visitors.
People know yahoo for more clean index, becouse human-reviewed. Altavista gives much more results for same asking..., more to choose from.
You have to wait 3 or 4 months, but than you CAN GET top rankings in altavista. Otherwise in yahoo: nobody can be sure to come in. Maybe the viewer don't like your design... and over!
I think it is important to be there where your customers are searching! A **** working engine can be much important for a webmaster...

and so on... and so on... bla...bla...bla...

Christian

[whkoh]

Originally posted by pixelmonkey
has anyone had an internal search engine installed on their site via... ask, google, or any other server that does a remote search? (while keeping your layout and not adding an additional banner or frame) We are considering using ask jeeves, however the cost with our site is around the $100,000 range now. The numbers are being collected and now it's just a question of how much we want to spend for the search power!

grunting, ...the imitation tool man taylor
chris<pixelmonkey>:monkey:
Google does have a feature-limited free version, but it is feature-limited. At http://www.google.com/services/free.html

[Greg]

I run a site which lists the best chat sites on the web and gives each link a description. I'm listed in the perfect yahoo category "Chat > Web Directories" I've been there for more than two years and there are only 10 other sites in the category and I think I've gotten less than 100 hits in over 2 years.

Why!!!?

[cloud9]

Amazing stuff guys. I was on htmlforums.com for less than 5 minutes and already gained years of experience. Thanks!



Originally posted by Jason
Imagine where you'll be 5 minutes from now? :D


... In the SPAM box ofcause, forgetting all of that new knowledge. :bounce:

[Dave Swift]

Originally posted by cloud9





... In the SPAM box ofcause, forgetting all of that new knowledge. :bounce:

LOL!

[jollyfactory]

Originally posted by Greg
I run a site which lists the best chat sites on the web and gives each link a description. I'm listed in the perfect yahoo category "Chat > Web Directories" I've been there for more than two years and there are only 10 other sites in the category and I think I've gotten less than 100 hits in over 2 years.

Why!!!?

maybe your site isn't up to scratch? mind posting the addy?

[Wabanaki Web]

Since he has WebArrow in his signature, my guess is that it is this one:
http://webarrow.net/chatindex/

Looks good to me.

[Paul]

I get most from dmoz. I got listed under the keyword Britney Spears and got found in AOL thanks to dmoz. Just from this keyword I'm getting about 300 hits a day. I think I'm gone from there now, haven't cheked and only receive about 100 hits from aol.
Good Luck,
Paul

[Wabanaki Web]

I think dmoz is used by several search engines, I know that the Netscape search engine also uses dmoz. I doubt if you have been unlisted (? delisted? LOL) anyway, I think what is happening is a combination of things, perhaps the people who searched for your site now have it bookmarked and don't need to go through AOL to find it anymore, also you may have gone down in the rankings at dmoz since there are probably newer sites or possibly more updated sites, something like that. Just some thoughts, I'm not an expert on how search engines work, but I think it's something like that.

[jollyfactory]

personally, on my new site jollyfactory.f2s.com, my site gets about 80% from google and the rest from reciporical links

[thefluiddruid]

Originally posted by Doni FN


But, what if you try n try but just cant seem to get listed.


I have never had any problem getting listed on Yahoo.
The trick is submitting it under the correct catagory.
That isn't always where you think it should be, but where THEY think it should be.
A good trick is run a search for a website that covers the same type of website as yours and see which catagory it is listed under.
Also be sure that your not spamming key words, and that your submitted page obviously is about the subject of that catagory.
Remember that the Yahoo links are all checked by a person, and if it don't look kosher you won't get added.
I had one client that had been trying to get into Yahoo for years and couldn't. I got him listed the first try just by doing a basic re-design of his page and submitting it under the proper catagory.

[Disco]

Just for the record, DMOZ data is used in Netscape Search, AOL Search, Google, Lycos and HotBot amongst others.

[tubby]

If this is usefull I am happy to post it here. This comes from my old site www.gladstone.8m. this site is slowly being disintegrated in preference to my newer address, (no submissions posted for this site for over 2 years) there are included a few self referals, but I hesitate to post a 'doctored' list.

I think you will find that different search engines, vary in effectiveness according to the subject.
If you have multiple access pages, I recomend GOOGLE, If you can evolve around fifty or more pages with a 'apt and honest' title and compatable content, google will supply a steady flow of traffic.

I see I have one referal from htmlforums, that must have been of of you lot looking at my 'sell your car' page. . (thank you for the appraisals). . I have yet to learn how to make a cgi script on the new site, so have been content to leave it alone on the old site because it works)


Referring Domain Name Number of Page Views
No Referrer 235
restored-classics.com 110
gladstone.8m.com 50
search.netscape.com 47
search.yahoo.com 43
www.gladstone.8m.com 32
search.excite.com 32
www.google.com 30
www.restored-classics.com 23
au.search.yahoo.com 20
google.yahoo.com 14
aolsearch.aol.com 12
www.global.net.au 9
au.yahoo.com 8
www.altavista.com 7
webferret.search.com 5
search.ninemsn.com.au 5
www.jagclub.com 5
dir.yahoo.com 4
search.aol.com 3
www.arabvista.com 3
teensearch.aol.com 3
search.dogpile.com 3
www.iaccess.com.au 3
global.net.au 2
www.carsweb.nu 2
www.worldnet.att.net 2
extra.newsguy.com 2
www.rise12.freeserve.co.uk 2
restored-classic.com 2
www4.tpg.com.au 2
dmoz.org 2
au.altavista.com 2
www.automobile-portal.com 2
www.cardealsamerica.com 2
au.dir.yahoo.com 2
www.ask.com 2
www.islandnet.com 2
www.openhere.com 1
www.buyclassiccars.com 1
venus.beseen.com 1
www.google.de 1
www.links2go.com 1
www.mamma.com 1
www.ozsearch.com.au 1
www.aj.com 1
search.sli.sympatico.ca 1
ca.dir.yahoo.com 1
aolsearch.aol.ca 1
click.hotbot.com 1
www.goeureka.com.au 1
search.excite.ca 1
www.bomis.com 1
www.gladstonshs.qld.edu.au 1
altavista.com 1
fantomcrew.com 1
www.restored-classic.com 1
www.iaea.org 1
gladstone.ws 1
htmlforums.com 1
www.google.co.uk 1
www.directhit.com 1
www.askjeeves.com 1
www.senet.com.au 1
www.hotrodscustomstuff.com 1
search.metacrawler.com 1
209.235.102.9 1
directory.netscape.com 1
directory.google.com 1
srd.yahoo.com 1
www.webbrain.com 1
www.indianmotorbikes.com 1
www.search.com 1
www.car.lt 1
www4.tpgi.com.au 1
search.lycos.com 1
askjeeves.com 1
www.pingalink.com 1
search.aol.com:80 1

Tubby
www.restored-classics.com

[SWD]

google always , alltheweb sometimes!