There have been recent changes in search engine submission policies. Today to get your site indexed quickly, the most cost effective, and in some cases, the only way to get on certain search engines, is to pay for a guaranteed site review. The two best places to apply are through the Looksmart search engine network and the Yahoo directory.

The cost for each of the above reviews is $199. Plus, you are paying for a review only, with no guarantee of being listed. Also, these services do not guarantee where your site will be positioned, just that if accepted, it will be indexed.

Lastly, on this point, keep in mind your fee of $199 is not refunded if your site is not accepted. You may get a rejection notice like the following from Yahoo!:

“Dear Business Express Client,

Yahoo! has reviewed the URL you submitted with Business Express order #. We're sorry to report that we've decided not to include your site in the Yahoo! directory at this time. We base our evaluation of each site solely on the content it has on the site at the time of evaluation. When we reviewed your site today, we found that it did not have enough content to support a listing through the Business Express program.”

To lessen the potential for your site submission being rejected, and to insure your share of the Internet search engine traffic, hire a company that specializes in positioning. The most cost-effective things to consider with this approach in order of importance are:

1. A guarantee that your specified keywords will achieve a position on page one, two or three of the search engine results.

2. A written outline of the entire program.

3. No charge should be made for any placement below page three.

4. There should be a sliding fee charged based on actual results.

5. There should be a maximum fee stated.

6. Prior to hiring any firm you should verify their actual prior results.

Another approach is to do your own Web site positioning. With a little time and a modest investment you can achieve some very respectable results yourself. There are a few programs available, but the best one is WebPosition Gold. Their free thirty-day demo down-loadable program has an extensive help section alone, and provides invaluable insights into top search engine positioning.

There will always be site owners who do not devote the time or place the investment into their sites to achieve top rankings. With the application of the proper techniques, top search engine positions can be obtained and real estate web sites can achieve huge amounts of search engine keyword directed traffic.

Published: June 12, 2001

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Bob Schwartz is a Certified Residential Specialist, San Diego real estate broker & co-owner of an Internet search engine optimization firm, specializing in domain name registration and Internet domain website hosting. Bob received his BBA majoring in real estate & computer programming. Bob is an expert witness for major San Diego law firms, has served on the Consumer Affairs Community of the San Diego Association of Realtors, is past president of a local HOA and co-owner of a condominium management Co., and directs a multi-state high traffic network of legal directory sites. Visit Bob's San Diego real estate blog.