How Directories Help Search Engines
|
|
At the beginning of the web era, users would go to directories to find sites relevant to their interests. In fact, Yahoo!, the web's number one destination, started as a directory. Nowadays, most users rely on search engines, not directories, to find what they're looking for.
When search engines started to become popular, they relied on web pages' 'keyword metatags' to determine the topic and relevance of the page (the keyword metatag is a section within a web page's HTML code where webmasters can insert words that are relevant to the page's content). Webmasters discovered that by stuffing their meta tags with popular search terms repeated hundreds of times, they could propel their pages to the top of the search results.
Search engines caught up to the abuse and decided to ignore the meta tags and rely instead on web page copy. Webmasters then started to overstuff their page copy with popular search terms, often writing them in the same color as the web page's background, so that they could be detected by search engines while being invisible to users.
Again, search engines discovered the trick and decided that the best way to rank a web page's content and its topical relevance was to rely on inbound links from other pages. The rationale behind this is that it is much more difficult to influence other people to link to you than it is to manipulate your own web page elements. In fact, inbound links are the foundation of Google's Pagerank? algorithm.
There are several ways to get inbound links, among them writing articles that include your bylines with a link to your page, exchanging links, and listing your site in directories.
Listing your sites in good directories is probably the best way to get quality links that are highly valued by the search engines. Since directories rely on human editors who enforce strict criteria to list a site, and since directories organize the information in highly focused categories, they are an invaluable resource for search engines to measure the quality and the relevance of a web page.
In summary, directories are important not because they generate significant traffic (they don't), but because they are given great importance by the search engines to qualify and rank web pages, and to determine their topical relevance.
You should definitely list your site with quality directories if you want to increase your chances of success with the search engines.
About The Author
Mario Sanchez: http://www.theinternetdigest.net. For more search engine tips go to: http://www.accordmarketing.com/seotips/
|
|
|
Created & Maintained by Empower! CMS Web Sites
Host2Sell Web Hosting | Emarketing Workshops | Site SEO Review | FREE NewsletterGoogle Pagerank Explained
PageRank - an exclusive technology developed by Google which can have a major impact on the success of your website. This article will attempt to explain the concept of PageRank and how your ranking can be improved without spending any money at all.How is PageRank beneficial?Google refers to the technology as a way of evaluating the usefulness, importance, and quality of a website. The PR of a webpage can mean different things for different people.For a webmaster, a high PR is a sign of accomplishment. It shows that your website is moving in the right direction and has the potential to become successful. PageRank also directly effects your Google search engine listings. Acquiring a higher PR than your competition could mean more t...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
How To Top Google By Writing Articles
Search engines determine their rankings based on two things:
History Of World / Regional Search Engines And Directories
Computers have become a way of life for people around the world. They are used to research term papers, check weather forecasts, track military progress, exchange ideas (blogs and chat) and to find the cheapest price on items etc. It is no surprise that as the computer age takes hold computer usage has increased. The number of websites that are being developed on the World Wide Web is growing at an ever increasing exponential amount. And because we live in a quick-fix society, with limited time on our hands, we need something to make surfing the web a lot easier, something that will sort out all this influx of information i...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
Mlm And Seo - Bad Business! No Business!
MLM has been around way before the Internet. It is a few steps above a chain letter. Well, maybe more then a few steps. MLM has paved the way for people to have their own busi...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
Give The Folks At Google What They Want
Recent developments on the Google front have web marketers and SEO specialists talking even more than usual. What they're talking about is the changing Search Engine Optimization landscape. Some of the traditional assumptions about what gets good Googl...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
Search Engine Marketing: 20 Nitty-gritty Strategies To Compel People To Link To Your Website
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to knowthat having quality inbound links from websites withhigh page ranks can help you attain high rankingsin all the Search Engines.But achieving this can be more difficult to do than canbe imagined.Why will a website with high page rank link to you,a website with low page rank?That is the million dollars question.And I have a million dollars answer for you.Below are a few search engine marketing secrets to help you.1. Offer other web sites free content to post ontheir web site. Include your link on all of your content.The content should related to your web site becauseit will be in front of your target audience.2. When you visit a web site you've enjoyed a lot,write a review for th...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
Search Engine Strategies For Affiliate Websites
The major search engines are always on the lookout to improve their search results and to weed out websites with duplicate content. They are also weeding out websites that mainly contain affiliate links. This is going to affect quite a few businesses on the Internet that depend on affiliate links to generate revenue.Especially the last Google update kicked some major affiliate players out the index - leaving those websites out in the rain. Loss of traffic was immediate and loss of revenue was dramatic. Future updates can be even more dramatic - therefore threatening the existence of online businesses depending on affiliate marketing. It can also affect the actual company running the affiliate program as their sales would go down if affiliates fail to generate leads.
What In The World Is This Google Sandbox Theory Thing? And How Do I Beat It?
Ok, so over the past month or so I've been collecting various search engine optimization questions from all of you. Today, I'm going to answer what was the most frequently asked question over the past month.You guessed it... What is the Google Sandbox Theory and how do I escape it? When you finish reading this lesson, you'll be an expert on the good 'ole Google Sandb...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
Pagerank For Websites: Is There More To The Web?
Google's PageRank has been around for years, and in the opinions of a lot of e-business owners, it can make or break a site. Lately, with Google's fingers in every pie, it seems important to remind everyone that there is more to a website than just PageRank. PageRank is a term that relates to the algorithm that Google uses to rank a website in its search engine. Coined by Larry Page, one of the engineers ...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
An Introduction To Google Sitemaps
... and why I 'm dying to get finally in the Google SERPHave you also experienced that getting indexed on Google, despite the Google crawler visits each day your site, is getting tougher and tougher, not to say it's apparently almost impossible in short term?! Between us, in the corridors of Google, they're talking about the notorious 'Google Sandbox' theory. According this theory, a new website is first 'sandboxed' and doesn't get a ranking when the keywords of that website are not incredibly competitive. The Google Sandbox is in fact a filter placed in March of 2004 which new websites prevents from having immediately success in the Google search engine result pages. This filter "is only intended to reduce search engine spam". The ...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
Why Search Engine Marketing Has A Passion For Web Site Usability
Watching a recent football game, I imagined two very different teams: one called â??The Hordersâ?? and the other, â??The Huntersâ??. In the game, it takes planning and skill to carry a football a few yards. Thereâ??s interference and distractions. Scantily clad dancing girls are screaming cheers nearby.How different, I wonder, is this from finding something in search engines? You have ads on the sidelines and pages to push through while...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
Seo Expert Guide - Black Hat Seo - Activities To Avoid (part 8/10)
In parts 1 - 7, you learnt how to develop your proposition, identify your key words and optimize and promote (for free) your site and pages on the world's search engines. You were also introduced to our mythical Doug (who sells antique doors, door handles, knockers, door bells or pulls and fitting services) in Windsor in the UK.There are some search engine optimization and promotio...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
What You Did Wrong With Your Domain Names!
Trying to improve search engine rankings is just like a rubics cube. A puzzle that can keep you occupied for hours. How many times have you heard "They keep changing the rules?," and the frustrating part is...they don't even tell you what the rules are in the first place!It's a proven fact, in trying to improve search engine rankings, that growing your site thru link popularity, by slowly acquiring incoming quality links, adding small amounts of fresh relevant content on a regular basis, using proper keyword density and placement, along with making your site "sticky" so your visitor's stay longer.But now, there's something else that you have to know about! (an...(related: Search Engine Optimization)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 Empower! Web Design | All Rights Reserved. | Search Engine Optimization