Search Engines Vs Directories

Figuring out how Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines work will give your website the best possible chance of achieving good search ranking success. Once you understand the basic concepts of what a search engine is looking for, it becomes easier to give this to the search engines and thus increase the visibility within search engines as a whole.

What’s the difference between a Search engine and a Directory website

The basic principles are the same, to deliver relevant results for a search, it’s they way they collate the information that differentiate them.  Search engines physically explore the internet, looking for new websites, or changes to existing ones using a piece of software called a ‘Search Engine Spider.’ The entire process is automated without any human intervention. Spider software is controlled by complex mathematical processes called algorithms which are unique to each search engine.

Exactly how these algorithms work is a closely guarded secret, but through experience and following published rules, a website that assists the spidering process and conforms to the needs of an algorithm, has a greater chance of being listed highly within a search engine’s results.  Take a look at www.google.co.uk/webmasters for Google’s guide to what their Spider looks for.

Directories do not index the web using Spider software like search engines in order to establish their entries, but instead rely upon humans to manually add entries to their databases. Directories generally group entries or websites that are similar to each other, together into subject and regional categories e.g. “Accountants in Scarborough ” or “Hotels in Filey.” SEO (Search engine optimisation) has no impact upon the results you may find in an online directory. Getting your site listed in a particular directory is usually a matter of submitting your website’s link to it. Look for a “Submit My Site”, “Add My Site” or a “Get Listed” link somewhere on the directory’s website.

The downside to directories is they often charge an inclusion fee in order to list a website link; however this can often be worth the cost if you feel a particular directory is popular amongst your target customers.