Major Crawlers And Directories
Posted on | March 9, 2006 | No Comments
If you conduct business online, you certainly know how indispensable search engines have become, both to their users and to the businesses jockeying for position within their rankings.
But what about human powered directories? How do they differ from search engines and what, if anything, do they offer the online entrepreneur?
The Web Crawler Vs. The Human Directory
The main difference between the search engines or web crawlers and the human powered directories is that search engines use a search engine bot or spider to seek out information from all over the Internet. Then the pages collected by the web crawler go into a massive index. Finally, a software program sorts through the index to rank and deliver each webpage according to the keywords entered when users conduct a search. No human input influences this process. It is purely “mechanical”.
The most popular search engines these days are: Google, Yahoo MSN and AOL, but there are hundreds of others.
On the other hands, human powered directories are just what they sound like – their listings are evaluated and compiled by human editors. These editors select sites they think are valuable resources and organize them by subject or category so users can search within a specific area of interest. Most directories deliver results only from within their own database, not the whole web. As one directory, LookSmart, states on its homepage, you get “essential, not exhaustive information.”
Because of the time and effort involved, there are many fewer human powered directories than search engines. However, the major human powered directories include: the Open Directory Project (ODP), Google Directory (which uses ODP data ranked according to Google’s algorithms), LookSmart, and Zeal.
These days, many of the larger directories sell/share their results with search engines.
Blurring the Lines: Hybrids
Then, just to confuse things, there are the hybrids! For example, Yahoo! used to function solely as a directory (which still exists). Its main service became a search engine / portal in 2002, and now it offers all three functions.
Lycos is another hybrid… it provides spider-based results from Yahoo! combined with listings from the human powered directory, LookSmart.
A more recent contender in the search engine / directory wars is Apexoo. It offers three channels: web search, directory, and news listings, with results pre-sorted into categories of interest. It gives the user access to information from the web, but promises more relevant results that are organized for easier use.
How Important Is a Directory Listing?
Since most people seeking information online gravitate towards the search engines, you may be rightfully wondering if it’s worth trying to get your site listed in directories. The answer depends on which directories you’re talking about.
- A listing in the major catch-all directories, like ODP and Zeal, can provide you with valuable incoming links to your site. Just don’t expect these vehicles to drive significant traffic your way.
- The more focused business directories that help users locate specific kinds of products or services can direct targeted, pre-qualified traffic to your site. And, as long as their mandate is relevant to yours, it can also help your link popularity. Just beware of purchasing listings on directories that have nothing to do with your type of business. The search engines are getting better and better at detecting this and they consider it spam.
Some directories, like ODP and Apexoo, accept submissions for listings at no charge. Others, for example Business.com, charge advertisers either by the click or an annual inclusion fee of $199.
How To Get Listed In Human Powered Directories
Each directory has its own criteria for entry. The best way to get listed in the free directories is to follow their guidelines carefully when submitting your site or risk being profoundly ignored. Most human powered directories prefer you to use non-promotional language in your listing, avoid superlatives and don’t mention free stuff or special offers.
Good sites with excellent content have a better chance at a free listing, especially with the major players like ODP whose editors are very discerning (and some would say very slow).
So while search engines and their impartial web crawlers will continue to dominate the online marketing scene for the foreseeable future, human powered directories serve a useful purpose. When used correctly, they can help contribute to the traffic and inbound links your site enjoys.
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