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| Business Web Directories |
| Posted: 01-04-2006 | Views: 126 |
| Author: Adrian Lawrence |
Business Web Directories
An important tool in organizing and presenting the plethora
of websites available on the internet is the use of Directories
– an alternative to Search Engines that links and categorizes
sites on the web. The main advantage to Directories as
opposed to Search Engines is that directories are edited
by humans, whereas search engines simply return automated
results based on keywords which may not always be the
most effective way to quickly find a website that is apropos
to the topic being searched for. Websites are submitted
to directories by the webmaster, where they are reviewed
by neutral editors, evaluated, sorted into categories,
and ranked within category according to relevance. They
are then listed in a directory form that is simple to
read and navigate for the average browser. For a website
to create and maintain high web visibility – and therefore
attract a high number of visitors – it is essential to
be listed in a number of quality Directories.
The best known directories are Yahoo, Dmoz and Google,
but it is worth being aware of the quality of the directory
before submitting a site. The average browser will not
explore beyond the second or, at most, third page of directory
results for their searched for topic, but if the Directory
is not of quality some websites listed in those all-important
first few pages may not deserve to be there. The usefulness
of Directories to return appropriate search results to
be valuable to a site is under debate.
If links are being sold across the entire site, that may
be indication of a lower quality Directory. Google is
one of the worst culprits for targeting sites that sell
links, and sites that appear to promote the Google page
rank of their pages. This may not be indicative of how
relevant a site is to the topic searched for – it is all
too easy for crafty webmasters to manipulate keyword SEO
to gain a higher Google page rank than their site deserves.
This is time-wasting and frustrating for browsers, and
may result in them losing patience with the Directory
all together. Another common problem with Directories
to be avoided is that pages within the site may be linked
only internally and not to other, relevant, quality, external
pages. Search Engines will not find such pages if they
are low on keyword content and they will be skipped over
entirely.
Dmoz, the Open Directory Project (ODP,) editors are volunteers
– they are naturally third-party neutral and will review
and consider each submitted website on its own merits.
Each editor applicant is screened for any conflict of
interest, so any search results returned by Dmoz Directories
can generally be trusted. The main downside to submitting
a website to Dmoz is that the submission process can be
interminable – although ultimately worth it in terms of
relevant traffic directed to any website included in their
directory. The Yahoo! Directory rivals Dmoz for size and
comprehensiveness, and was in fact Yahoo’s initial reason
for existence. It has since evolved away from the fundamental
classic human edited format of Directories, by instituting
crawler-based listings in 2002, but remains a quality
Directory that can be trusted. The Yahoo! Directory is
very clearly displayed on its homepage. LookSmart, and
Zeal – LookSmart’s non commercial arm – are other famous
examples of quality directories.
For a website to be listed in a trustworthy Directory
such as Dmoz or Yahoo! can be one of the most important
quality-assurance seals of approval and can be the essential
difference between focused and relevant traffic to the
site and random hits by frustrated browsers.
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Adrian Lawrence is the webmaster of Allthebizz a very
popular business web directory covering a wide range of
topics.
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This article is free for republishing
Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/ |
| Adrian Lawrence is the webmaster for
Discount Domains one of the UK's leading Domain Name Registration
companies. His articles can be freely reproduced provided
this bio is included together with a working hyperlink |
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