Balaji Ramanathan | Balaji Chennai SEO Expert

Search Engines Vs. Directories

Many people think of search engines and directories as the same thing. In reality there is a big difference between them. While the difference between them is pretty much un-noticeable to a person who is searching the web, understanding the difference is critical to getting your site displayed highly in the search results.A directory is a searchable database of web pages that are reviewed, selected, and categorized by humans. A search engine “crawls the web” by following links from web page to web page and website to website. You don’t even have to submit your site to a search engine in order for it to “find” your site and place it in the index for searching.Yahoo is the most well known directory on the web. Yahoo searches provide a major source of traffic (visitors) to a website. Submitting your site directly to Yahoo is an option, but for a commercial site there is a $299 fee just for having Yahoo evaluate your site quickly and give you a yes or no answer. Paying the fee in no way guarantees that your site will be accepted for inclusion. It only guarantees that your site will be considered and a decision will be made. Later on you will find out why submitting directly to Yahoo is unnecessary.

Google is by far the most used search engine on the web. Getting listed in their massive database is an absolute must for any commercial website. Another very important search engine is Lycos. You may submit your site to Lycos, but they charge a fee of $31 or so. But if you are patient, your site will be crawled and added to their listings automatically after following the instructions in this guide.

When submitting to any directory, be sure to keep your reviewer in mind and treat your submission with kid gloves. Always read the submission guidelines before submitting, and follow them closely. As with everything in life, being polite and following the rules will get you far. Being rude and arrogant will most likely result in unfavorable alteration of your description — or a completely ignored submission. Reviewers can change the content of submissions at will, so think about your Web site as objectively as possible and prepare accordingly.

Choosing the best category must be done judiciously. One good method involves doing a search using the most relevant keyword phrases for your site, and noting which categories pop up. Look for the most appropriate category, analyzing your site as an outside observer would. Choose the category your site truly belongs in, not the one where you’d prefer to see it.

Choose subcategories over top-level categories. If you submit to a top-level category even though appropriate subcategories are available, there’s a good chance your submission will be denied. Similarly, if your site is local in nature, be sure to submit it to the appropriate geographic region.

Once you’ve decided upon the most appropriate category, find and click the “add a site” (or submit URL) link. Now you’re ready to begin the submission process.