Is Teoma/Ask Jeeves really worthwhile?

[Jastor]

I agree that $30.00 for inclusion into Teoma is not a lot of money to pay for inclusion into an index when compared to what LookSmart, Yahoo! and some of the others are asking, but is it really worthwhile?? :confused:

Does Teoma feed results to any other indexes or directories??
Does Ask Jeeves feed results to any other indexes or directories?

How does Direct Hit fit into the mix??

How popular and / or affective is Ask Jeeves and Teoma in the U.S. compared to other indexes and directories?

I am new to this whoe web site promotion thing.

I'm just trying to decide whether Ask Jeeves and Teoma is worth the effort. I have already paid for inclusion into Fast Search, Inktomi, and LookSmart. Further I have mannually submitted my site to several other indexes and directories including the Opend Directory Project.

Thanks

:hi:

[webgator]

Teoma is now out of Beta as of 5:30 Eastern US time and apparently DirectHit is no more. There seems to be very target publicity today in the popular media in preparation for the Teoma launch.

I am not sure if its worth paying for inclusion yet, but this will definetly be something to watch over the next month or two.

[Advisor]

They're hoping to make a run at Google, so it's always good to be included if/when they ever get popular!

I submitted a site through their paid inclusion program last week, however, as of now, it's not yet in. I also submitted to Inktomi through PositionTech, and to Lycos/Fast Insite select around the same time, and both of those are in. Got a bunch of top 3 rankings already at Lycos and MSN to show for it!

I decided not to do AV, but I might if the client is set on being in there. I figure for $30 or whatever, it's always nice to show the rankings even if no traffic comes from it.

Jill

[Jastor]

Hi all. :hi:

I decided to go ahead and pay for inclusion into Ask/Teoma.

I figure that if it's no longer in Beta and Directhit is no more, then I definitely would like to be in on the ground floor so to speak; especially if the search engine really starts to give some of the big boys a run for their money.

All things considered, I guess $30 is a small price to pay if it helps with my site rankings. Not only that, I figure that down the road it is possible that the major search engines may enter into new agreements with each other in which their search results can be shared. (Like the situation with FastSearch and Lycos).

Not only that, I want all the edge I can get in the face of all these PPC indexes like Overture. I currently am not planning to get involved with PPC.

SeeYa

[Advisor]

a small price to pay if it helps with my site rankings. Jaster, I hope you realize that paying the $30 doesn't actually help your site rankings. If you're already in Teoma, it won't do you much good (other than the frequent respidering if you change your site a lot). Paying simply gets you in the index...nothing to do with rankings. Same with Inktomi Search Submit and Lycos Insite Select.

Also, I don't believe Direct Hit technology is dead. Just the Direct Hit site. Ask is still using it in conjunction with their other products. MSN and HotBot use it, as do many other sites. It works alongside their other algorithms from my understanding.

Jill

[Jastor]

I appreciate your reply Jill.

Yes, I do realize that the submission only gets you into the index. My site was never in Teoma.

I already, paid for the Inktomi Search Submit and Lycos Insite Select quite a while ago myself.

Now, just for clarification .....

It is my understanding that what helps site rankings once you get your site into an index, is how well your site has been optimized. (i.e. Metatags, Keyword rich copy (including key word use in image <ALT> tags), search engine friendly design (i.e. search engine robots are able to actually read your site's content when they spider it), etc.

Am I missing some funamental piece of information?

SeeYa Later Alligator.

:hi:

[Advisor]

You've pretty much got it, Jaster! To me the 2 most important things are your Title tag and your body content. The rest is just gravy! Of course, any credible links you can get to your site sure doesn't hurt either.

Jill

[Jastor]

Hey Jill,

I just realized that two posts back, I said:

I guess $30 is a small price to pay if it helps with my site rankings

I didn't even realize I made that statement. I know I typed it but my brain must have been sleeping at the time. :sleep:

I meant, if the $30 helps to get my site indexed.

I never made it into AskJeeves or Teoma even though I had submitted my site several times to Direct Hit over the past year.

I would very much like to get my site listed on other sites.

I was thinking about setting up a page on my site specifically for giving other related businesses links on my site, provided they give me a link on theirs.

Typically, how do you get other sites to give you a link?? :confused: