When we talk about search engine optimization we normally think of the regular search engines. These are using robots crawling the Web looking for text. They don't care a bit about how your site looks like, and although they are looking for content rich sites, they cannot truly understand that content.

A search engine directory editor does, and in order to get listed in one of these indexes you must convince the editor that you have a professional, useful and informative site.

A search engine directory listing in Yahoo! and the Open Directory is imperative for several reason.

First of all Yahoo! and the Open Directory (through the Web sites that uses ODP, Google and Pandia included) will send you visitors directly.

At the same time Google and the other major search engines consider a listing in Yahoo! and the ODP a mark of quality. A site listed in ODP will soon be included in the regular Google search engine index. Moreover it will be given a boost in the rankings.

To be frank, we are not convinced a LookSmart listing has the same effect. Nor are we sure that the investments needed to get listed in LookSmart directory are worth it for a small business owner. It has for all practical purposes become a pay per click search engine and a listing there will not boost your rankings in Google.

However, if you have a non-commercial site, you may be able to get listed in the LookSmart directory for free through the volunteer based Zeal directory. Go for it!

Getting listed in Yahoo!, the Open Directory and LookSmart

Search directory listings are gathered by editors, human beings like you and me. Editors -- or "surfers" as Yahoo! calls them -- have visited all the websites contained in these directories. The editors decide whether the site is good enough for inclusion; they write the titles and descriptions and decide which categories sites should belong to.

When you are optimizing your pages for search engines, you are actually trying to outsmart a machine. The world of machines consists of numbers and database fields. When you approach a search directory, on the other hand, you are "face to face" with an extremely powerful human being.

In this relationship you have to use all your psychological wisdom and personal courtesy, and learn to think like a directory editor. If you can do that, the chances are that you will get your site listed in the directory.

Moreover, if you are really good at what you are doing (and have a sufficient amount of luck), you might even get the site description you want, as well as a good ranking.

As Yahoo! is the most important search directory on the Web, our main focus will be on this "mother of all search sites". It is definitely more difficult to get into Yahoo! than LookSmart and the Open Directory. On the other hand, if your site is ready for Yahoo!, you will normally have no trouble getting listed in the two others.

Remember that even if you choose to pay to get listed, it is not you who are the search directory customer -- the Web searchers are. The editor's focus is on the searchers' need to find relevant high quality websites. If the visitors discover that they find what they are looking for when visiting a directory, they are more likely to come back, which means more ad revenue for the directory company.

If you pay for your submission, the editor is obliged to visit your site and consider it for inclusion. Apart from that, she owes you nothing. This is why you must be very careful when submitting your site. Make sure you fulfill all the conditions mentioned by the directory, and then some.

Impeccable code

The directory editors are extremely busy people, having to visit up to a hundred sites every day. So, the first impression counts. If your site looks amateurish and unfinished the editor will leave immediately. The site must not only look professional, it must be professional.

Most search engine experts will argue that the site should have flawless HTML-code, and rumor has it that Yahoo! editors are using HTML-checkers to see if your page is perfect. Yes, you should use a code-checker to control your pages, but as most professional webmasters will tell you, a perfect code does not necessarily bring you the best results. In order to make your pages look good on as many browsers and platforms as possible, you sometimes have to bend the rules a little bit. That's OK if you know what you are doing.

The important thing is to look at your pages using as many browsers and platforms as possible. They must look good on a PC as well as a Macintosh, in the Internet Explorer as well as in Netscape. We are told that some Yahoo! editors browse the Web using Netscape for Mac.

Did you know that Internet Explorer 4.5 and Netscape 4.7 and 6.0 for the Mac renders the fonts in smaller sizes than the Windows 98 versions of Explorer or the Explorer 5.0 for the Mac? On Windows NT and Windows 2000 the default font sizes are normally larger than on Windows 98, meaning that the larger text may break up your carefully measured tables.

The sizes of form fields may vary a lot, and the PC renders colors a bit darker than the Mac. This is why you should test your pages in at least fifth and sixth generation Netscape and Explorer on a PC as well as a Mac. Add the latest version of the Opera browser for good measure. If you cannot afford to buy computers of both platforms, visit a friend, a public library or computer store to test your site. Macintosh users can buy the VirtualPC Windows emulator.

Of course, there must be absolutely no broken links or missing images! All scripts should function properly. Because we tend to become blind to our own mistakes, try to get other people to test the pages for you.

Professional Web Design

What constitutes good Web design is a subject for discussion, and it's hard to predict what the directory editor feels about this matter. However, here are some guidelines that may be of help.

The directory editor looks for content-rich sites that bring the searcher to the relevant information in an efficient way. You may get away with your stylish Flash-intro, but if it takes minutes to download an animation that tells you nothing about what the site is about, and gives the visitor no clue about how to navigate the site, you might as well forget it.

The site must be well structured and easy to navigate. The navigation links -- whether they are based on graphic files or plain text -- must give useful information on the content of the subsections of the site.

The site must look complete, and there should be no "under construction" signs. Looking complete does not mean that the site should be static, however. Editors like sites that are constantly updated with news and new information.

Your graphic elements should look professional. In general you should use GIF-files for logotype and JPEG-files for photographs. PNG files are also OK. You should reduce the file size of the pictures as much as possible, as a slow-loading webpage may be the kiss of death.

When designing GIF logos and banners you should use the Web safe color palette of 216 colors to avoid unprofessional dithering. Use antialiasing to avoid chunky lettering. If you cannot afford professional programs such as Photoshop or Fireworks, at least go for semi-professional programs such as Paint Shop Pro for the PC and GraphicConverter for the Mac.

If you haven't understood a word of these last paragraphs, you should either get a professional to design your pages for you or do some serious reading on Web graphics! If you are not a professional, keep the design as simple as possible.

You may include some limited use of JavaScript, but make sure it works on the browsers and platforms mentioned above. You really don't want the editor to meet an error message. Avoid Java (which is not the same as JavaScript) altogether. It is better to use server-based CGI-scripts that cannot crash the surfer's browser. If you do use Java, test it -- then test it again, especially in the major browsers on a Mac.

It should be possible to experience the site with Java turned off. Shockwave, Flash and other technologies that demand special plug-ins may also get your site rejected by Yahoo! Yahoo! likes sites that are easily accessible. If you really need this technology, put it back in after the site has been listed.

Amateur sites often include the following,, and should be avoided:

A lot of clutter
Too many type faces
Too many colors
Crazy color combinations
Cheap cartoon-like clipart (Moderate use of professional looking clip-art -- preferably photos -- is fine)
Annoying animated GIFs (Animated banner ads can normally not be avoided)
Centered text all over the place
Bad spelling and grammar
"Noisy" background graphics
Horizontal scrolling (If the whole width of the page is to be visible on a 640x480 pixel Mac-screen, the page should fit into a browser window no more than 600 pixels wide.)
Very large fonts (Don't use the H1-tag on your home page unless you can make it smaller through the use of the FONT-tags or cascading style sheets.)
Hit counters

Guest books (A personal home page, however, may include a finely tuned guest book)

Too many advertising banners and buttons (Commercial sites should avoid banner exchange banner codes that includes graphic elements that clearly signifies that this is a link exchange banner. Even the banners should look professional!)
Avoid any code that might indicate that you are trying to spam search engines, including white text on a white background, unnecessary repetition of keyword phrases using a small font and irrelevant keywords in the metatags. If you really want to go for unorthodox techniques, add them after the directories have listed you.

According to Yahoo! the site must be up and running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Now, no Web hosting company can guarantee a 100 percent up time. Still, make sure you use a host that is known for its reliable Internet connections. If you are using your own Web servers, make sure they are stable before submitting your site.

Here are some helpful design resources that you might want to investigate:

A useful list of HTML tutorials can be found at: http://html.about.com/compute/html/msubtutorial.htm
WebMonkey Web Developer’s Resource: http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/
Learn how not to design webpages at Web Pages That Suck: http://webpagesthatsuck.com/
Jacob Nielsen’s site on Web usability contains some very useful advice on Web design. We won’t follow him all the way, though. His own site design is boring! (http://www.useit.com/)
The browser-safe color palette: http://www.lynda.com/hex.html
Include Important Information
You should think that a human edited directory like Yahoo! was spam proof. The fact is, however, that webmasters do try to get listed on the wrong terms. Yahoo! wants to make sure that the submission is from a legitimate company or person. The editor may compare the information given on the site with the WHOIS-entry of the domain name owner, therefore the owner's name given on the website should match the information found in the WHOIS database.

This information should be easy to find, and until the site has been listed, the company's or owner's name should be listed on every page of the website. Include the company/owner address (street address, not P.O. Box only) and email address. It will not hurt adding telephone and fax numbers as well.

Include clearly visible links to return and privacy policies, if that is relevant. In order to look "serious" commercial sites might consider adding links and logos to secure server certificates and services such as The Better Business Bureau and Public Eye. Commercial sites should accept credit cards, and credit card miniature logos should be included. Use an SSL (secure sockets layer) Web server for shopping carts and credit card handling.

The home page should include a clearly visible statement on what the site is about.

The site must not contain any content, products, services or other information that may be illegal to sell, which might infringe or violate anyone's rights or that Yahoo! would consider inflammatory or offensive.

The Better Business Bureau: http://www.bbb.com/
Public Eye: http://www.thepubliceye.com/
Pandia's domain lookup page at http://www.pandia.com/optimization/domain.html
Original Content
Yahoo! is looking for sites with original content -- sites that can bring the visitors information that is not already covered by other sites. Actually, very few sites are able to fulfill this requirement, especially in the commercial categories. After all, there must be room for more than one site selling cameras. On the other hand, it certainly helps providing a lot of relevant information beyond what is found in sites already listed.

A site should normally contain more than a list of products or a list of links to other websites. If you have a commercial site, you should include content rich articles and useful reviews of relevance to the products you sell or the services you provide. It won't hurt adding reviews of relevant websites as well, as the editors do like sites that can function as "information hubs" for the topic covered.

Yes, there is a lot of work involved, and providing links to other sites may lead your visitors elsewhere. On the other hand, the visitors will know that your site has the information they need, which means that they are more likely to bookmark your site for later visits. There's nothing better than a returning customer! A content-rich site will also lead to better rankings in the traditional search engines.

The content should be up to date. If you are unable to refresh the site's content on a weekly basis, you should avoid text phrases like "Last update April 1st 1997".

For links to directory registration forms, go to the Pandia Submission and Registration page.

To learn about how to get listed in search engines (as opposed to search directories) see our Search Engine Marketing 101 tutorial.