EPages // FAQ: How To Announce Your New Web Site

The purpose of this FAQ is to help show you how to publicize your new Web site. Although there are many sites listed here, the purpose is not to show you where. If you follow the hints and guidelines below you will certainly increase you readership.

If you have comments, additions, suggestions, subtractions, please mailto faq@ep.com

The authors of this FAQ will provide every effort to verify the accuracy of this document. No guarantee is made that any of the sites listed below will list your new Web site, even if you follow every instruction exactly.

This is an html version of the FAQ posted regularly to the newsgroup comp.infosystems.www.announce. All html links are spelled out so you can easily print this document.

Table of Contents

1. What's New Web Pages
2. Web Directory Pages
3. Web Search Engines
4. Newsgroups
5. Newsletters & Mailing Lists
6. Books that have Web sites listed
7. Magazines that have Web sites listed
8. Miscellaneous, List of Lists

2. What's New Web Pages. A "What's New" page lists sites that have only recently come online. This used to be the only way to advertise your new Web site, and it is still quite popular. Check out the following locations:
   • Netscape What's New. Netscape has a what's new page but only publishes sites that are "unique" or that represent a good example of Web Page. [http://www.netscape.com/home/whats-new.html]

   • Open Market. This site provides a daily listing of new commercial sites on the Web. They turn around their new submissions in about a day. [http://www.directory.net/]

   • EPage Classifieds. Under the category "announcements", there is a "web announcement" listing where you can take out a classified advertisement for free. They can also create a FREE classified service for your site. [http://ep.com/]

3. Web Directories. Web Directories are indexes to various places on the Web, listed alphabetically, by region, or by subject. The most effective sites list by subject or category. Since you want the most people to see your site listing it is very important to carefully choose the category for your site. We strongly recommend that you be totally familiar with each directory service and how it works before you submit your site. This will help you choose the best category for your site, and might mean the difference between 10 hits/day and a 100 hits/day.
   • Yahoo. A very popular site, this is a must location for listing your new Web page. Yahoo will place your site in their directory as well as on their "What's New" page. Suggestion: have your link start with a letter low in the alphabet. [http://www.yahoo.com/]

   • Infoseek. Infoseek, similar to Yahoo, contains listings of sites by categories. A good place to have your site listed.
   • Internet Mall. If you sell a service or product over the Internet, they will list your site for free. [http://www.mecklerweb.com/imall/]

   • Galaxy. A must for any Web site. As with Yahoo, choose your category carefully. [http://galaxy.einet.net/galaxy.html]

   • W3. A very comprehensive "by subject" directory of many Web sites. [http://www.w3.org/hypertext/DataSources/bySubject/Overview.html]

   • Starting Point. A great place to have your site listed. [http://www.stpt.com/]

   • TheYellowpages. You can submit your site only by E-Mail to admin@theyellowpages.com Include category, URL, and a 2-4 sentence description. [http://theyellowpages.com/]

   • The Virtual Tourist. This site lists what is on the Web by subject or region (graphical). [http://wings.buffalo.edu/world/]

   • ISP Internet YellowPages [http://www.index.org]

   • WWLib A comprehensive catalogue of WWW pages at sites in the United Kingdom [http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/wwlib]

   • Web411 A combination listing and search engine.

4. Web Search Engines. Web search engines are quickly becomming the most popular way to find sites on the Web. Users type in what they are looking for, and the search engine lists all the sites that it thinks you might be interested in. If a user types "used Mustangs for sale" they might get 100 possible places to look!

   There are two important techniques to incorporate on your page before you list your site. First, make sure the "Title" of your html document is descriptive. It should stand on its own. Example, instead of "Pete's Page" use "Pete's Mustang's for Sale".

   The second trick is to think of the keywords you want people to type to find your site, and make sure that they are included near the top of your Web page (easier said than done). If you want people to find you if they type "used Mustang's for sale" you should make sure some or all of these words appear on your page (near the top but not necessarily in any order).

   • Lycos. Lycos get's its listings by automatically searching the Web. The entire Web. Do nothing and it may find you anyway! But you can "ask" the Lycos program to search/list your site ASAP. Lycos has 11,000,000 listings, so ASAP may be 3 weeks... [http://www.lycos.com/]

   • Alta Vista.Up to 21,000,000 sites indexed, Alta Vista is another "must" for your site. They used to be accessible internal to DEC only, but since they have allowed public access their popularity is increasing quickly. If you go to this site, there is a link to "add" your url. Pay close attention to the instructions: you only need to add your "top" page and Alta Vista will find the rest! [http://www.altavista.digital.com/]

   • WebCrawler. A robot search of the Web. [http://webcrawler.com/]

5. Newsgroups
   • comp.infosystems.www.announce A moderated Newsgroup. The place in the Usenet Community to announce your new Web site. A must. Please read the charter completely before posting (It will save you time) [http://boutell.com/%7Egrant/charter.html]

6. Newsletters
   • Net-Happenings. This is a newsletter sent out to a mailing list, also archived on the Web. You can announce anything about the net here; all postings are moderated. To subscribe, E-Mail to majordomo@is.internic.net, with the phrase "subscribe net-happenings" in the body. [http://www.mid.net:80/NET/]

   • Net Surfer Digest. Promises an overview of new and interesting Web sites. [http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/index.html]

   • Scout Report. Mailed to about 20,000 people weekly, with an additional Web site, the Scout Report welcomes suggestions for their newsletter. E-Mail to scout@internic.net [http://rs.internic.net/scout_report-index.html]

   • New Product News. Daily newswire on AOL and Delphi that can include Web Site Announcements. Write to Robert Baker for details and guidelines for submission. [rbakerpc@delphi.com]

7. Books that have Web sites listed
   • New Riders Official World Wide Web Yellow Pages The 1995 edition lists over 4000 sites in 672 pages. Front of the book says to write to internet@newrider.mhs.compuserve.com if you have suggestions. [http://www.mcp.com/nrp/wwwyp]

   • http://www.vmedia.com/shannon/shannon.html The most recent edition is 322 pages, 200 of which have listings of web sites. The author (Shannon R. Torlington) provides an extensive writeup for each site listed in the book. Published by Ventana Press. [http://www.vmedia.com/shannon/shannon.html]

   • Internet Roadside Attractions Also published by Ventana Press, this book specializes in things to do on the Internet. [http://www.vmedia.com/ira.html]

   • Free Stuff from the World Wide Web This book contains many sites that provide "free" stuff on the Web. [http://www.coriolis.com/coriolis]

   • World Wide Web Bible This Book on the Web includes a chapter of interesting places to visit. [No known contact]

   • How to Grow Your Business on the Internet Another book by The Coriolis Group, this book has a chapter on some Web resources. E-Mail to vince@emery.com [http://www.coriolis.com/coriolis]

   • What's on the Internet E-Mail to P00553@psilink.com

8. Magazines that have Web sites listed
   • Netguide by CMP Publications. Bills itself as "The guide to online services on the Internet". Write to the Webmaster at rsantale@pipeline.com [http://techweb/cmp.com/ng]

   • Internet User by L'Agora Srl. A bimonthly magazine published in Italy and dedicated to the Internet and the World Wide Web. [vertigo@well.com]

9. Miscellaneous, List of Lists
   • Banister's Submit-It. One Stop Shopping to submit your site to MANY places on the Web. Excellent time saver; however you can't tailor your listing for each site. Great for those that want a lot to happen fast. [http://www.submit-it.com

   • Qwik Launch. Similar to Submit It, this site is a good quick way to get listed (or at least see where you can be listed)
   • Add It. Another site that will list your site for you on many other sites.
   • Nexor List of Web Robots. An up to date list of all the Web Robots out there. [http://web.nexor.co.uk/mak/doc/robots/active.html]

   • A1 Index of over 650 Free WWW URL Submission & Search Sites Here is a list of Web sites that will take your announcement. Very comprehensive list, no descriptions (so you have to search aroundto see what is appropriate). Great for ideas. [http://www.vir.com/~wyatt/index.html]

   • onLine Business Over 650 sites to promote your Web site for free. [http://online-biz.com/links/freelnks.htm]