One of the challenges facing Jamaican webmasters and even for any new business in general, is how to stand out in a crowded market. This problem can be especially acute given that there are actually thousands of similar Jamaican web sites littering the Internet landscape today.

It is a fact that many people turn to search engines and directories to find what they are looking for - Media Metrix (September 2001) reported that 47% of online shoppers use search engines to find products online. If you're serious enough about your online presence, that simple stat should open your eyes to the importance of making sure that your site turns up in the first couple pages of search engine results for specific keywords.

If you are not considering the search engines and directories in your online marketing mix, it is as if you were advertising in the offline world and chose to ignore a major medium such as the TV, radio or newspaper.

Try to get listed in these engines and directories

Google.com

If you're like many, Google has become your primary search engine. If you're like many, Google may even be your homepage. "Search hours" can be defined as the total time spent by visitors searching at an engine. According to a Nielsen/NetRatings report, by this measure, Google easily topped all other engines with its users spending nearly 13 million hours searching during March 2002. In simple terms, Google is possibly the single most important engine to get your site listed. If you're not listed in Google, you're likely to be missing out on a lot of traffic.

Yahoo.com

If you want visitors quickly, and can afford the US$299 recurring annual fee for your site to be reviewed (inclusion is not guaranteed), then you should definitely go for the paid listing option at Yahoo. Getting listed there serves dual purposes - (1) Yahoo itself has an immense reach and you're likely to get many surfers who will find your site via a Yahoo listing (2) A listing in Yahoo can potentially help your ranking in other engines such as Google because they may view a Yahoo listed site as being 'more important' than a site that's not listed.

Dmoz.org

Although the average web surfer has probably never heard of it or actually used it, DMOZ is a search directory that has an important role to play in the search world. Why? Because it provides data and directory results for many search engines and portals including Google, AOL, Lycos, HotBot, Netscape, and the list goes on. It's a known fact also that some engines including Google give a large 'boost' across the board to sites that appear in DMOZ versus sites that do not. As long as DMOZ's data and directory listings continue to be used by the majority of the major search engines on the Net, a DMOZ submission will remain one of the most important for webmasters looking to get search engine traffic.

Other engines and directories

alltheweb.com - boasts that its index of web sites is bigger than Google's but doesn't necessarily guarantee a flood of traffic.

teoma.com - powers one of the major search portals on the web - AskJeeves.Com. The Teoma spider MAY find your site on its own but rates for guaranteed inclusion start at US$30 per URL (lower if you're submitting more than one URL).

altavista.com - a former powerhouse in the search engine world, many Surfers have seemingly abandoned this web search pioneer. Despite this, it still has a base of diehard users, thus submitting to Alta Vista is definitely not a waste of time.

looksmart.com - the cost of inclusion in Looksmart's directory may actually outweigh the value of the traffic that it will eventually send you. But, if you can afford it, go for it.

INKTOMI - provides primary and secondary results for a number of engines including MSN, Hotbot and Overture. While free ('backdoor') means of inclusion are available for this engine, your best and safest bet might be to pay for inclusion using positiontech.com

Sandor Panton ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is a Jamaican currently working as a Search Engine Optimizer for an Intenet Marketing Company in Ontario, Canada. He is also the owner of www.top5jamaica.com, a Jamaican search portal.