To do it right, you need to know a few things about search engine optimization before you take it anywhere near a search engine.

How can you know if your site is ready to submit? First, make sure:

-Your keywords are in your title tag

-Your keywords are in your description

-Your keywords are in your content smoothly and naturally

Make sure you're site is tightly focused on only one or two keywords. You should also check for broken links, as these can cause big problems with search engines' spiders.

Once you've submitted your site, be patient. It may take weeks before your site is indexed.

The following are "Rules of the Submission Road:"

1. Submit your site only once. Despite the hype, you should never resubmit your site unless it gets dropped entirely. This doesn't apply to new pages, however. If you have created a few hundred pages in

the last month or so and you don't think that they will be indexed quickly enough via links to them it is a good idea to submit them manually rather than waiting for your site to be indexed again. If you are using a Google Site map, simply adding them to this document will get them indexed pretty quickly.

2. Do the submission right the first time. Be thorough, especially to directories. Take the time to

research and find the most appropriate category for your site. If your site would fit into multiple

categories find out what the policy is on multiple submissions. Some directories want you to submit to

every relevant category, others want no more than one submission or they reject all submissions. Some

want every page, others want your index page and nothing more.

3. be brief in your site description. Get right to the point in two short sentences. Most directories

will actually restrict the number of characters that you can use. If they don't it is still a good idea

to try to wrap it up within twenty-five to thirty words. This is one of the largest differences between

directory listings and search engine listings. In the directory you only get a short line to attract

visitors; this is static for every visitor.

4. be as accurate in your site description. Don't try to trick people into visiting your site, as it'll only backfire. Most directories are actually monitored by a team of editors. These editors will visit your link and red flag you if you are trying to deceive visitors or if you are trying to cheat in any other way. When it comes to directory listings, there are even less avenues for cheaters than there are in search engine listings as directories are checked out by hand.

5. Make sure that all your information is relevant. Make it appealing to humans as well as dense with keywords. Directories don't care about your key words very much. If your site isn't attractive to human beings it will be listed poorly. When human beings edit, human beings rank, and human beings get what they want.

6. Be patient. Let the search engines take their time.

7. Don't submit any more than your homepage. The crawlers are quite capable of following your links

and indexing your whole site from just your homepage's URL.

Finally, submit your site to the powerful DMOZ site Directory. It is a very large, powerful, all encompassing web directory. The key to being listed is to submit your site once and correctly. It can take up to a year to get DMOZ to list your site. Use the following guide for follow up with them.

1. Submit your site.

2. Write a follow-up email to the category's editor, explaining that you've been waiting and would like to know your site's status.

3. Email the next category editor up, in case there's a problem with your category's editor.

4. Seek assistance at the Open Directory Project's public forum.

5. Email DMOZ senior staff seeking help. This is pretty much the last resort.

Submissions can be time consuming at first, but you'll quickly get it down to a science. If you work

hard on your SEO before you submit your site you'll get to the top more quickly.

Learn how to submit your site to the search engines correctly. Being indexed and listed is the lifeblood of a website and you can do it once and right.