Background
The latest version of AOLSearch was launched in September 1999 to coincide with the launch of Internet Explorer 5. This new version superseded AOL Netfind. Used as the default search engine by millions of AOL users, AOLSearch has a large penetration with users new to the Internet. Using a combination of Open Directory Project www.dmoz.org and Inktomi www.inktomi.com data, AOLSearch presents users with a potential 110m web pages. This represents 11% of the overall 1 billion total estimated number of web pages. This is considerably less than Google at 500m, AltaVista's 340m and Excites 250m pages.
Results
AOLSearch divides search results in 'Web Sites' results which are drawn from the Open Directory Project database and 'Web Pages' results which come from the Inktomi www.inktomi.com database which is also used by LookSmart, HotBot and other search engines. Users are also presented with AOL channels, related book searches by Amazon.com and ODP category choices in the results.
Web Sites Results
The Open Directory Project (ODP) is a web directory similar in many ways to Yahoo. 20,000 volunteer editors maintain their own small part of the directory structure, adding sites which they find or which are submitted by others. To submit to ODP you need to identify the most appropriate category for your web site. Guidelines for submitting are at http://dmoz.org/add.html Try searching for your main keywords at ODP to spot potentially appropriate categories, then check each one to see if they contain similar sites to your own. Always drill down to the most appropriate category. An ADDURL link appears at the top of each page which allows you to suggest your site. You will need to add a TITLE, usually the company name, and a DESCRIPTION, this should be objective, without too much sales pitch. Aim to include your main keywords in the description, constructing a short sentence of 15-25 words which sums up the site.
Avoid submitting too many times as this may irritate the editor. This is easily done as several other search engines such as HotBot, Google and Netscape encourage ODP submissions. These all land at the InBox of the same editor. The category editor will review each submission and may edit your entry if necessary. Lead times vary by editor, some are very quick reviewing sites the same day, whilst others may only edit once a week. Wait for 4 weeks and if still not listed, resubmit. Once listed in ODP, the AOLSearch spider will visit the site and list it in the AOLSearch Web Pages results ranked according to the words in the ODP listing and how these correlate with the site contents.
Web Pages Results
The AOLSearch Web Pages results are generated using the Inktomi database. Neither AOLSearch or Inktomi accept submissions directly. Instead submit via the HotBot ADDURL page at http://hotbot.lycos.com/addurl.asp Sites should appear within 5-6 weeks on AOLSearch and the Inktomi spider SLURP will look at other pages on the site as it finds links.
Use of Metatags
Inktomi gives prominence to keywords in the TITLE, DESCRIPTION and KEYWORD metatags of each page on the site. Repeat your keywords regularly throughout each page in combination with other related phrases. Aim for between 5 and 10% of the words on the page being keywords. Inktomi also reads comment tags but not image ALT tags.
Spam
Duplicate sites, pages which refresh to another page and tiny text will lead to exclusion as will text coloured the same as the background to make it invisible.
Regional
AOL UK http://search.aol.co.uk still uses the Inktomi database in combination with UK Directory, Infospace and ODP data. Results are filtered for UK sites. There is an ADDURL feature at http://search.aol.co.uk/help/add_url.adp which submits to Inktomi.
Top Ranking Secrets
A keyword laden description which entices users to click is crucial. Your ODP listing together with basic site optimisation will help with AOLSearch. Inktomi listings however demands a combination of overall site optimisation, links and a themed site approach where the whole site revolves around a central keyword topic. |
