Q. Why not submit to hundreds or even thousands of Search Engines?

A common myth on the Web is that submitting to thousands of "engines" will gain you all kinds of new traffic. In reality, there are not even thousands of "engines" to submit to. The bulk of those submissions go to what are called FFA (Free for All) sites that are not search engines at all. Instead, they are simply a list of links to the last fifty or so URLs that were submitted to them.

Nobody ever uses these lists to find anything because they are just a random list of web sites, generally with no organisation. The primary purpose is to gather e-mail addresses so you can be sent offers for other products and services. By submitting, you are unknowingly giving your consent for them to 'spam' you.

Q. So why do other companies submit to these "junk" sites?

Because the general public perceives that "more is better." Many of our competitors spend the bulk of their resources trying to add more junk sites to their list so they can say they submit to more than the next person. However, 95% of the traffic on the Web is going to come to you from the top 16 engines and that's only if you rank near the top.

The other argument for bulk submission tools is that it will increase your link popularity. The more sites that link to you, the higher rankings you can achieve. Link popularity does influence rankings, however, the problem is that the search engines do not normally spider these obscure databases - that's assuming someone actually takes the time to submit each FFA page. Google actively bans this type of site.

In conclusion, your position on the major engines is what matters, not how many submissions you make. Focusing on efforts to optimise your pages for the major engines will reap far more rewards that bulk submission.