Search Engine information by Hard Web

The companies whose logo's appear below operate the most used search engines.
Judging a search engine is easily done. Does it work?
That means "Does it find the webpage that you need when you put in the words that you think should lead you there?"
My patience is fairly short for search engines and if they don't find what I need then I try another one.

Problems include that they start to charge money for rankings (see Mamma at the bottom) thereby ruining objectivity and sometimes they just go bad. Altavista used to be good, now it doesn't seem to be able to find anything.

This means that using a particular search engines is not a lifetime habit so get used to trying different ones.

Using the search engines is supposed to be easy but it all depends on what words you input to search. It takes a bit of practice to think like a search engine. They rank sites firstly on the content (words) of the webpage. Then the title (words right at the top in the blue bar) then the meta tags (in the code of the website) the alt (alternative) tags "underneath" the pictures and also other factors such as "popularity" which is how many other sites link to a website.

It is hard sometimes to jig the website so that it will rank highly in the search engines because you have to use the words that you think people will use to search for the website, within the copy of the page. This leads to a less free flowing copy.

Anyway for better or for worse this is one of the ways that people find websites. Check "the biggest" for who really gets the traffic and ideally these are the main ones where you want your website to be listed.

Another interesting fact is that people use search engines only 25% of the time when researching new websites, others places people will find you are newspapers, magazines, TV, other advertising, Yellow pages, letterheads, business cards and all the other ways we can come across a website address.
P.S Don't forget word of mouth!
(Used to be)The BEST (check this page for another opinion)
Glossary: Meta Engine; Searches a selection of other search engines and directories.
Directory; Different from a search engine because it has categories
Good search engine

3 meta search engines, I don't use them much anymore.

The BIGGEST (check this page for stats on who gets the most traffic)
They may not give you the best results.. But most people use them.

The biggest (consistently gets the most traffic in the world)
Could be as big as Yahoo in Australia, gets loads of traffic.
AOL is America Online and is an ISP - Internet Service Provider as well as a (not very good) Search Engine/Directory.
3rd biggest search engine based on how many people use it.

These search engine have lost in the marketplace and barely scratch the scale compared to the big 3 (or 4 counting AOL)
Lycos and HotBot are owned by the same folk but supposed to be different and unique(different league to the top three) Directhit partners with them but is also separate (it is owned by AskJeeves) Use Lycos if you have to.
Netscape which makes the formerly most popular browser (Netscape Navigator) gives you a choice of engines when you go there (including Google) and also owns DMOZ (which is a directory not a search engine and has an excellent reputation) which in turn gets searched by other search engines such as Lycos and AOL (confused yet?)
AltaVista used to be good, now it charges money to be listed and is pretty hopeless but still gets a lot of traffic
NBC uses GoTo and together they are mega! Go.com has been swallowed by GoTo.com
It looks good! A meta engine with grunt.
Ask Jeeves or Ask.com is pretty cool and on the rise. Very USA-centric and a bit slow sometimes.

I like their line "the strength is in the search results" I couldn't agree more but I think their engine (powered by Inktomi) is biased towards USA results (see Jeeves above also)
It is in some sort of trouble but still works.
Iwon is a newcomer and on the rise, it gets a fair bit of traffic but is partnered with a lot of "pay to get registered" people
Still well thought of, good for research outside of commercial stuff
. Infotiger- I like it! also Meta Tiger , another meta is QBsearch also QuerySearch (interesting) also Profusion, also Vivisimo

In theory you shouldnt even have to submit your page to the search engines because little robots go forth every day and find your page eventually and index it for you. Well that's the theory anyway.
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So, anyway if you're a client , CHECK THEM ALL OUT!, plug in the words you want to find your company and see if you come up! If you dont come up near the top, maybe we can work something out so email me thatch@hardweb.com.au

The Rest

Kind of cool but I don't use it regularly

Australian Search engine (uses Alstavista )
Another Aussie Search Engine (Yawn)
Wisenut is new but unremarkable
Mamma is definitely on the decline now that it charges to list. It's results have fallen off too. A previous meta engine favourite of mine.
Galaxy works (sort of) but is not great
Chubba is meta-search engine and is pretty useless nowadays with it's "premium listings" all paid for. (mainly uses whatuseek)

Not as good as Ixquick (see top)
Not bad, partnered with and DirectHit see above.
Very average meta engine
Dogpile gets some traffic but is low on results

HardWeb - making websites work

thatch@hardweb.com.au
www.hardweb.com.au

07 5526 2939
0401 352 269

Home/Office Address
-- 25 Savoy Drive --
Broadbeach Waters
Gold Coast Queensland 4218