Getting your web site listed in major search engines is an absolute necessity. Why? Because 80% of all people on Internet use them when searching for information.

Finding correct information on major search engines can be very frustrating. Search engines keep changing their strategies. Some which were free, are now charging high fees. Previous ones, have been bought out by others.

This article will give you most current information concerning major search engines since these have most searches. Some of them are still free, whereas others are fee-based. Pay per click search engines will be addressed in future articles.

Here are major search engines, listed in alphabetical order.

1. AllTheWeb.com (Fast Search) http://www.alltheweb.com/add_url.php This is one of largest indexes on Web.

Free - It takes 2 weeks for your site to be indexed. There is no guarantee to get listed.

2.. Altavista. http://www.altavista.com/addurl

Free - this gives you a basic submission. You can add up to 4 URLS and be considered for inclusion in 4-6 weeks. There is no guarantee of inclusion.

Paid - AltaVista Express Inclusion. Guaranteed submission within 48 hours. Price $39.00 I URL for a 6 month subscription

3. Ask Jeeves. http://static.wc.ask.com/docs/addjeeves/submit.html

This is powered by Ask.com and Teoma.com. It takes 7 days to be included.

Price. 1st URL$30.00 URLs 2 - 1000$18.00 each

4. Google: http://www.google.com/addurl.html

Google is top choice for searchers.

Free – it is free to submit but there is no guarantee of a listing. Allow 1 month for your listing to appear.

Paid What is Google Adwords Program? This is where you purchase highly targeted advertising based on keywords and phrases you select. When a person enters that keyword you selected, your ads are displayed.

Price $15/ thousand ads shown for position 1 $12/ thousand for position 2 $10/ thousand for position 3 $8/ thousand for positions 4 through 8

5. Infospace. http://www.infospace.com/info/submit.htm

Free to submit, however you need to fill out a form to get listed.

6. Inktomi. http://www.inktomi.com/products/web_search/submit.html

Inktomi's search engine has an extensive network of Web search partners, including AOL, iWon, MSN and HotBot. It refreshes your site every 48 hours, to keep your content up to date in index.

Price First URL costs $39.00/year. Each URL thereafter costs $25.00/year.

7. Looksmart. http://www.looksmart.com

The LookSmart Network consists of partner sites that use content of LookSmart directory in their directory search results. Partners include more than 370 ISPs and following top portals: MSN, Altavista, Netscape, Infospace, CNN.com, CNet. According to their web site, they reach 77% of all Internet Users.

To submit your site, go to bottom of page, where it says "submit a page".

Price $49 Listing Set-Up Fee. $150 minimum refundable deposit for new customers. LookSmart tracks number of clicks your listing receives across LookSmart Network. Every click received by your listing results in a $0.15 deduction from your account balance.

Of course, client (or maybe your boss?) is thrilled with dazzling presentation, and they rarely fail to mention what a "small fortune" it cost to produce before adding "it's worth it!...don't you agree? All it needs now is for YOU to optimize it for findability in search engines."

Isn't it funny? ... how they fail to notice color rushing to your face as you suppress urge to scream and opt instead for tactful approach, patiently explaining (once again) that FLASH doesn't score well in search engines.

Don't panic -- there IS a solution!

Here's a solution you can use to get best of both worlds - search engine findability and professional image enhancement that FLASH can provide.

The strategy involves using an absolute positioning technique called Z Order within your Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). For this to make sense, you must first understand what Z Order is. Microsoft's MSDN (http://msdn.microsoft.com) site explains...

The Z order of a window indicates window's position in a stack of overlapping windows. This window stack is oriented along an imaginary axis, z-axis, extending outward from screen. The window at top of Z order overlaps all other windows. The window at bottom of Z order is overlapped by all other windows.

In non-technogeekspeak, Z Order allows you to place content partially, or even fully, on top of other content. Since only content on top is viewable, it's entirely possible to place an unintelligible-to-search-engines FLASH movie on top of an easy- to-index-layer of relevant text content. And, by doing so, your site visitor sees only FLASH movie while engine sees only your relevant keyword-laden text.

How to create Z Order using CSS

To accomplish magic it's helpful to first understand what a very basic CSS using Z Order source code might look like. To view basic example, visit complete article online at: http://www.academywebspecialists.com/newsletters/0702.html

Source of example: http://www.htmlref.com/examples/Fig10- 14.htm

Notice that highest value --