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Search Engine Articles
Using Zeal to Get into
LookSmart and the MSN Directory for Free
by Jill Whalen (The Web Whiz) Written September 2001
With LookSmart and Yahoo! now charging $299 (U.S.) apiece to review your Web
site for inclusion in their respective directories, it's getting fairly
expensive for the little guy to get listed.
However, if you're a noncommercial site, there is some good news. LookSmart
recently purchased the Zeal directory and has merged its noncommercial listings
seamlessly with LookSmart's own listings. Previously, anyone wishing to be
listed in LookSmart and its partner sites -- MSN is the most recognized partner
-- had to pay the fee unless the Web site was a certified nonprofit
organization. This left thousands of hobbyist Web sites, fan sites, educational
sites and other noncommercial entities out in the cold. It also made the
LookSmart directory not as comprehensive as it could have been.
In fact, many sites previously listed in LookSmart were dropped once the company
instituted the pay-for-review program a couple of years ago. I know this because
my longtime LookSmart-listed parenting site, the Parentsroom, disappeared around
that time. Once it was dropped, I began receiving e-mails from LookSmart every
few weeks, telling me I could submit the site through the paid program. This was
disconcerting to say the least, as I had worked on this Web site as a hobby for
many years for the good of all parents, and I did not make any money on it. In
fact, I lost money due to the time and server space it took. Needless to say, it
didn't seem fair that I should have to pay to have it added back into the
LookSmart directory. So, when I found out about LookSmart's merger with Zeal, I
set out to restore the Parentsroom site to its rightful place in LookSmart --
for free!
A Little Zealousness Goes a Long Way As it turns out, not just anyone can add or
submit sites to Zeal/LookSmart. You must first register then pass a member quiz.
This is not some sort of no-brainer deal whereby company officials are really
just collecting your personal information. The quiz is 20 tricky questions
regarding the proper formatting of submitted titles and descriptions, site
selection, and category management. Zeal provides you a cheat sheet, available
in the form of the company's User Guidelines, and you really do need to read
carefully through these in order to answer most of the questions.
The test takes a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes, more if you don't have a firm
grasp of directory submission procedures. However, if, like me, you've submitted
many sites to LookSmart and already have a feel for how the company formulates
its descriptions, you should easily pass the test. I'm proud to say I got 19 of
the 20 questions correct.
With the quiz passed, I was now allowed to submit sites. I found the most
appropriate category for my Parentsroom site and followed the relatively simple
submission procedure, being careful to use the site's name as the title and to
write the description so it perfectly followed the editorial criteria. Within a
few hours, I was notified by e-mail that my site had been accepted. It showed up
immediately at Zeal and showed up a few days later in the LookSmart directory.
Once in LookSmart, it took about five to seven days for the site to show up at
MSN.
Hurray for LookSmart!
What I like about this whole having-to-pass-a-quiz thing is that LookSmart
doesn't let just anyone submit sites to the directory. The company also makes it
easier on its senior editors because most submissions should be formatted
correctly from the start. Yes, it's a pain in the neck to be approved; however,
because of this, LookSmart can be fairly certain the high standards of its
commercial listings will continue to be met by noncommercial listings.
Zeal offers another, even trickier quiz, which you need to take in order to
become a full-fledged "zealot." Zeal calls zealots those who pass the member
quiz, earn 75 member points, maintain a quality quotient of 6.0 or higher, and
pass the zealot quiz. Just for fun, I decided to take it after getting such high
marks on the first one. I didn't have much time, nor did I feel like doing any
more in-depth research through the guidelines, so I decided I would just take my
best shot and guess as necessary. Unfortunately, I got only nine of the 20
questions correct through that method.
The zealot quiz was extremely difficult in that it delved deeper into how to
properly categorize sites within the directory. Because that's not something I
normally do in a submission to LookSmart, I didn't have much knowledge about it.
It was pretty complicated stuff! But again, this is a good thing. This shows
that in order to become a full-fledged zealot, you have to really study the
guidelines and the directory itself, and truly have a strong handle on how they
do things.
There's a lot more to learn about Zeal and its relationship with LookSmart; I've
only touched the surface. It looks like an interesting place to hang out, and I
do plan on spending more time there when I get a chance. If nothing else, I need
to exact my revenge on that zealot quiz!
Contact Jill Whalen by e-mail at jill@highrankings.com, or by phone at
508-309-3037.
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Jill Whalen of High Rankings is an internationally recognized
search engine optimization consultant
and editor of the free weekly High Rankings Advisor
search engine marketing
newsletter
She specializes in search engine optimization, SEO consultations and seminars.
Jill's handbook, "The
Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines" teaches business owners how
and where to place relevant keyword phrases on their Web sites so that they make
sense to users and gain high rankings in the major search engines.
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