There are several hundred search tools on the Internet. The difference is primarily about the way in which they gather information for their database.

Some of these tool are Guides or Directories like Yahoo. These directories do not search the Internet looking for sites to add to their database. Rather, they increase their database through submissions. Generally, directories take much longer to show up in the database because they are verified, filtered, and categorized by people. You'll notice that several of the directories are beginning to charge a $200 fee to be considered for inclusion in their database; this, of course, does not guarantee placement, nor position.

Another type of search tool is often called a MetaSearch. It searches only other search engines to increase its database.

A search engine actually sends out little programs called 'bots throughout the Internet, going from link to link collecting keywords and their respective web site addresses for inclusion in their database.

Each of these search engines rank keywords differently according to what they consider to be important. For instances: Rankings include page titles; Header values; Font size, text emphasis; frequency of the keyword; correlation between the keyword, the meta tag listing of keywords, and the site description. Some also consider keywords used too often, keywords that are the same color as the background. The list and method goes on and on.

Should you register with all of them? No. The vast majority of traffic is generated by 10 to 15 search engines such as: Yahoo, Google, Alta Vista, Excite, WebCrawler, InfoSeek, AOL, Netscape, MSN, and NorthernLight. The placement changes from month to month, but usually the same players are listed. There are others that are geared toward specific, more specialized markets. The key is knowing which ones to submit to, how to design the page for higher ranking in that search engine, and how often to re-submit.

You can manually submit your site if the search engine has an "Add URL" link on the site. There is software available that performs this task for you, however not all search engines accept registrations through that method.

Some search engines penalize the registrant if they try to register too often. Others charge a fee for registration. Still others allow you to bid on a keyword within their search engine. How often should you register? That depends on your industry. Check out your web site's ranking in the engines and register it when the ranking begins to drop.