Search Engines and Directories

Getting your site listed in search engines and directories is an important part of building a successful site. Most people tend to think of search directories and engines as one in the same.However, they are actually both quite different. The only similarity between the two, in fact, is that they both serve thesame purpose: to help people find web sites of interest to them.In this newsletter, we will talk about the various searchengines and directories, what their differences are, and why each is essential to delivering traffic to your site.
Search Engines:
By far the most popular search engine around is Google. Othersearch engines include Inktomi, AltaVista, AlltheWeb, and MSN.
Directories:
Probably the most popular example of a directory is Yahoo. Otherdirectories include Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) and Gimpsy.
The Differences between Search Engines and Directories
Difference index.html1: Search engines are run by robots; directories are run by human editors
The most notable difference between search engines anddirectories is that search engines aren’t updated by human editors like directories are. Instead, search engines are
updated bi-monthly or monthly by robots-spiders and crawlers.What are spiders and crawlers? They are programs written by programmers at a particular search engine that basically locatea page, browse it, and then report whatever it finds back to the search engine’s database. What is found is then listed on the search engine.
Directories, on the other hand, are completely updated by human editors. What usually happens is that a person submits their site to the directory and then the editor will visit the site
and see whether or not it is worthy of being listed in the directory. If it is, it will be grouped with other relevant sites in the directory. If not, it won’t be listed at all.
Directories are typically harder to get listed in than search engines are for this reason. Human editors won’t allow in unworthy sites; search engine bots will. Directories are usually updated very frequently by the editors.
Difference index.html2: Search engines are free to get listed in; some directories are not
Many directories charge money for each submission. Search engines never charge a dime because their bots are solely responsible for listing web sites. There are, however, free
directories which you can submit your site to.
Difference index.html3: Search engines are more popular and more used People want convenience. Search engines offer this. All people have to do is type in a keyword into the search engine and relevant sites come up. Those who use directories have to go through the hassle of going through categories and sub-categories. This takes time and patience, both things that many busy people just don’t have.
Difference index.html4: Directories have listings grouped together by topic; search engines can sometimes be disorganized When someone visits a directory, all they have to do is choose a category that interests them. Then, all the sites are relevant to that category will come up on the page. While search engines are usually effective, unrelated listings can sometimes come up in a search for a particular thing. There’s nothing worse than doing a search for cars and having an unrelated listing for cats come up. Unfortunately, this is occasionally the case with search engines because they are updated by robots, not humans.
Why are Search engines and Directories important to your site?
There are a few reasons for why both are important to your ite’s traffic. The most obvious reason is that the more you are listed, the more likely it is people will visit your site. If
people see your site in both search engines and directories,they are more likely to visit it than if they just saw it in a search engine.
Even though directories aren’t as popular now, they are still well-used by people because they neatly group together sites in a particular category. So if you run an online web design business and are listed in the web design category of the directory, everyone who looks for web design in that directory will see your site.
Search engines are also important to your site because they will show your site if a particular keyword(s) is typed into the engine. If your site is listed in both directories and search engines, you will have more traffic than if your site were listed in one or the other.
Be sure to do whatever it takes to ensure that your site gets listed in both and you will reap the benefits.
Search engine bots and easy directory submission make it quick and painless for your site to get maximum exposure from both of these wonderful tools. So go ahead and take the steps necessary to get listed.

- Paid Submission and Pay For Performance Search Engines
Pay-for-performance (PFP) search engines allow you to bid for placement of your chosen keywords on a per-click basis.
If you're the highest bidder for a particular keyword, such as "legal services," your site shows up at the top of the search results. Each time someone clicks on your link, you're charged the amount you've bid, up to the limit of cash in your account. If you bid less, your site's ranking will fall accordingly.
To determine how much you can afford to pay for a keyword, you'll need to estimate your conversion rate. A conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who make a purchase once they've clicked through to a site.
Once you decide how much you should pay to acquire each new customer, you'll know how much you can afford to bid for your keywords. Here's how it works.
If you make $50 (U.S.) profit per sale on a product that costs $100 and your average conversion rate is one sale per 100 visitors, then you can pay up to $50 for 100 click-throughs &index.html65533; a 0.50 percent click-through rate (CTR) (50 divided by 100 equals .5 percent).
PFP advertising of any kind can be vulnerable to fraud. For instance, someone could simply click on the link to your site many times, and you'd have to pay for each click. When investigating these search engines, find out whether they have fraud protection mechanisms in place.
Advertise on Pay-for-Performance Search Engines
Many advisors have had success advertising on pay-for-performance search engines like Overture.com. It's a great place to start experimenting!
How do they work?
When a customer searches on a search engine for a specific topic (e.g. tax advice), they'll see listings of advertisers for that topic. Listings are ranked by the amount each advertiser bid for clicks. Advertisers with the highest bids are shown at the top. When a customer clicks on an advertiser's listing, the advertiser is charged the amount they bid (e.g., $0.30). Note: this type of advertising is often called cost-per-click or CPC.
What are the largest Pay-for-Performance Search Engines?

• www.Overture.com - The top advertiser listings for each topic on Overture are also shown in search on Yahoo, AOL, Lycos, Infospace and AltaVista.
• www.FindWhat.com - The top advertiser listings for each topic on FindWhat are also shown in search on CNET, Infospace and Momma.com.
• www.Google.com - Google is one of the top search engines on the Internet. They offer a variety of advertising options. The pay-for-performance option is called Adwords Select.

How do I advertise on one of these sites?
First, create a list of search topics that a person might logically use to find your listing. Then go to one of the above websites and try searching on those topics. What advertisers are listed? How much would you need to bid to get one of the top spots? What sales pitches are they using?
Next, click on the "List Your Site," "Advertise with Us" or "Advertiser" link. Follow instructions to create your account and deposit money. You'll need to select topics, create a sales pitch, and add a link to your Keen home page or your top listing. Then you'll be asked to enter a bid for each topic.
Measure your results! Several days later, go back to your advertiser account and see how many people clicked on your listing. If not many have, try changing your sales pitch or increasing your bid. Are you getting more calls on Keen? Ask new customers how they found out about you.
From Yahoo! and LookSmart to Inktomi, the directories and search engines are entering the paid submissions phase of the indexing game.
In light of this development, we have to ask ourselves several questions.

• Can we expect other search engines to follow suit?
• Is paying to submit your site worth the cost?
• How does this affect us - the search engine optimizers?   After all, if all we have to do is "pay" then, is optimizing necessary? ...should we be looking for another job? (Answer: nope ...read on)

Here's an obvious question...
"Will other engines adopt the 'paid submission' model?"
Certainly! Within the framework of the search engines, Inktomi tested the waters, and GO.com quickly followed the leader. Now that a workable model has been created, you should expect the other engines will certainly jump aboard. The question is "when," not "if."
Since paying to submit is clearly a reality, the question becomes,
"Is it worth the cost?"
Shortly, we'll examine each of the engines and directories that are currently charging for submissions and we'll outline the benefits involved on a case by case basis. Right now, let's look at what the new model means to the process of optimizing pages.
In light of paid submissions, will qualified SEOs still be needed?
Yes! ...actually, more than ever. Here's why. Getting a site into a search engine or directory is only a tiny portion of the battle. The fact that we can now PAY to guarantee indexing is a blessing to those of us who are tired of having our so-called free submissions ignored. Now that getting IN is guaranteed (in exchange for a fee) we can get on with the REAL battle, which is...
getting our site to the top of the rankings!
If you happen to be a professional "optimizer" here's some more good news. Companies will need you even more because few businesses will want to pay a fee for inclusion only to be buried in the listings. The new policy means that a company can pay to remove the most frustrating aspect of your job -- getting in. Now you can focus on pure optimization strategies without being encumbered by having your strategically optimized pages ignored at the entry gate.
Frankly, we professional optimizers think that is terrific. Bottom line, whether you are in the SEO business doing this for others or if you are a do-it-yourself-er the art of SE optimizing is, and will continue to be, needed now more than ever -- just to insure that submission fees are not being wasted.
In Conclusion
For companies who are serious about creating an online presence and able to maximize the potential of search engine optimization, the pay for submission model is ideal -- provided that the submission fees are considered "affordable" for you or your company. In most cases, the cost can be looked at as very cheap, yet effective, advertising.
Now, more than ever, it is important to evaluate which engines and directories are most effective as traffic sources and focus on optimizing for those portals first. It's also important to understand that, without optimization, you may be wasting your entry fees.
Finally, if you happen to be a professional search engine optimizer, rest assured that your services are likely to be even more in demand for the foreseeable future.
- Who Owns Who?

Yahoo! owns Overture, AllTheWeb, and AltaVista. Yahoo! also owns and uses Inktomi's technology and database for all the partnering engines under its wing. Google doesn't own any other search entity worth mentioning here, however it is a major result provider for many large engines because of its own cutting-edge technology. Ask Jeeves (Ask.com) owns and uses the Teoma (formerly DirectHit) engine, results and crawler. MSN does not own anybody and uses its own database (since February, 2005). AOL does not own anybody. Lycos owns HotBot and Tripod. Netscape owns DMOZ. Who Feeds Who The most outstanding work in the field of relationships between search result providers and consumers is Bruce Clay's SE relationship chart known by all SEO experts. Here we provide a static representation, and the dynamic (and much more convenient) version is available at
- Who Powers Whom?
This table shows major search engines in the world; who they power, and who powers them. Pay Per Click Search Engines other than Overture have not been included.

• How Search Engines Index Pages

Every search engine relies on a database of web sites in order to provide search results. When a search is performed, the search engine's software scans the database and retrieves relevant results. It is the database on which the search engine relies.
There are two fundamental ways of compiling a database: automated indexing or manual indexing.
Automated indexing involves a piece of software called a spider or robot which continually processes web sites by scanning them and indexing them according to content. The spider acts like an AI web surfer, reading over the content of pages to determine how they should be categorized. It will even follow links to other pages scanning those as well. With the vast number of web pages in existence, spiders perform a task that would exhaust a human.
Spiders are not perfect, however, as they can only judge a page according to its programming. Hence, there exist some human compiled directories which rely on manual submissions and updates by real people. These directories have the advantage that sites are more likely to be indexed correctly and the quality of sites tends to be higher. But because of the time involved in manual indexing, human-indexed directories tend to contain outdated information compared with spider-indexed directories.
Most users rely on search engines to find information and products on the Internet. Knowing this, search engines can become a powerful tool in marketing your web site to potential customers.
When people search for information, they want it in the least amount of time possible. So while search engines typically return hundreds or even thousands of results for a web search, users typically only look at the first or second page of those results. If your site is not listed on those pages, they aren't likely to visit it. The key to high traffic from search engines is to become listed on that first or second page.
Achieving high search rankings is only possible knowing how search engines index pages and what criteria are required for good rankings. Different search engines use different techniques for indexing pages, so it's important to have a strategy that will achieve good results in a variety of engines.
- How Search Engines Rank Pages
Search engine rankings are based on a combination of factors including content, site size, and link popularity.
The content of the site ultimately determines how the site is categorized and what sites it will be competing with in the indexed hierarchy. How your site is categorized is a result of specific keywords within the page content.
When you submit your web site to a search engine, the text is scanned and the site is categorized based on the frequency of particular words on your site. For example, if you had a site that sold antique furniture, then the words "antique furniture" determine how your site is indexed. And therefore your site will compete with all the other sites related to "antique furniture".
Another prime factor in determining placement in search rankings is popularity. This is calculated based on the number of other sites linking to yours. And links from popular sites are typically weighted more heavily than links from unpopular sites. So being linked to by a handful of popular sites would boost your site's ranking moreso than being linked to by hundreds of unpopular sites.
It's important to keep this in mind: after you have made your page attractive to visitors, ask yourself whether you have also made it readable for the search engine spiders.

- Google Page Rank

Introduction
Google runs on a unique combination of advanced hardware and software. The speed you experience can be attributed in part to the efficiency of our search algorithm and partly to the thousands of low cost PC's we've networked together to create a superfast search engine.
The heart of our software is PageRank™, a system for ranking web pages developed by our founders Larry Page & Sergey Brin at Stanford University. And while we have dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect of Google on a daily basis, PageRank continues to play a central role in many of our web search tools.
PageRank Explained
PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at considerably more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; for example, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important." Using these and other factors, Google provides its views on pages' relative importance.
Of course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don't match your query. So, Google combines PageRank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that are both important and relevant to your search. Google goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines dozens of aspects of the page's content (and the content of the pages linking to it) to determine if it's a good match for your query.
Integrity
Google's complex automated methods make human tampering with our search results extremely difficult. And though we may run relevant ads above and next to our results, Google does not sell placement within the results themselves (i.e., no one can buy a particular or higher placement). A Google search provides an easy and effective way to find high-quality websites that contain information relevant to your search.
- The Google Dance
The name "Google Dance" has often been used to describe the index update of the Google search engine. Google's index update occurred on average once per month. During an index update there was significant movement in search results and Google showed new backward links for pages. However, in mid-2003 Google started to update it's index continuously. It appears that, still, there has to be an update of the complete index once in a while and during this time new backward links are shown. But, because of the continuous update, the effects on search results seem to be rather insignificant.
We will keep this site up running because it provides some information beyond the Google Dance. But there will no longer be a monitoring of updated data centers during a "Dance".
- Web Site Relevancy Factors
Most of the major search engines referred to by this web site work by sending an automated crawler, known as a spider or bot, around the Web to find new pages and existing, updated pages. Examples of such search engines are Google Bot, Fresh Bot (Google), AltaVista, Excite and Fast etc.
The crawler in question makes a copy of each page found and so builds a copy of the Web in its index.
When a human actually uses a search engine to find a specific product or service, the search engine looks at its index of the Web and displays a list of results. That list of results is in order of direct relevancy, with the most relevant results first.
A properly optimized web site with relevant keywords and keyphrases will receive highly targeted traffic from serious prospective buyers, which in the end, will better help those visiting prospects convert into buying customers.
Content relevancy is the search engine’s measure of how well a particular website or web page accurately matches a searching question. For example, a query for car insurance would list pages that were on the topic of car insurance above pages that were just about insurance, generally, because the pages about car insurance would be much more relevant.
Some search engines quote relevancy as a percentage but many don’t quote it at all. Each search engine uses a different algorithm to calculate relevancy. Most use a combination of on-the-page and off-the-page factors. Examples of on-the-page factors are whether the keywords (the words searched for) appear in the page title or meta tags, and how early and often the keywords appear in the body copy of the page.
Examples of off-the-page factors are the number and quality of other Web pages that link to the page, otherwise known as inbound links, or whether somebody has paid to have the page included in the search engine's index (PTBL or Pay to be Listed) or in PFI (Pay-for-Inclusion) search engines and directories.
For any website to produce consistent and relevant search results, there are two important factors that need to be implemented:
     It needs to be optimized on the right keywords and key phrases
     It needs the right amount of keyword density or keyword occurrence

Conclusion
Content relevancy can literally “make or break” the ROI of any website, large or small. Always remember that search engine optimization and positioning is an art as well as a science. If you go about doing all of what I explain in my articles published on this website, you will do very well.
Make certain you are always using the best and most relevant techniques I have shown you in this article, along with the right techniques in keyword density or keyword occurrence and I can guarantee your website’s rankings will improve by a large factor
- Algorithm Chasing is for the Birds
People have been trying to reverse engineer search algorithms in a quest for top rankings for nearly as long as we've had search engines. Some swear by chasing the algorithm, while others see it as a short term effort that requires a constant time investment. Does going "natural" make more sense? Is there really such a thing as natural SEO? Or as with many things in search, is there a middle ground to consider? This panel explores the issue.

Properly optimized web sites can achieve top rankings in web search results. But when search engines change, should you follow suit? Even the experts disagree.
A special report from the Search Engine Strategies conference, August 8-11, 2005, San Jose, CA.
Search engine marketing is based on algorithms—those unpublished formulas by which search engines determine how to rank websites. Most search marketers spend a fair bit of time contemplating algorithms—how they work, what they're looking for, how they might change and constantly ask: Can you beat them at their own game?
Some search engine optimization (SEO) experts focus on decoding and beating these complex, ever-changing formulas. They find clever ways to capitalize on algorithm idiosyncrasies. Other search professionals prefer to concentrate on improving general website effectiveness and visibility, without necessarily trying to gain an advantage over the algorithms.
Which is the best approach?
This very issue was debated at the recent Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Jose. With friendly sparring and lively debate among panelists who hold very different opinions on this key question, a candid, insightful, and entertaining discussion ensued.

Jeff Watts, Search Manager at National Instruments, explained that his company takes a long-term approach to search engine optimization. They focus first and foremost on providing quality content for customers. While he admitted that they occasionally fall behind competitors who are "reverse engineering" their sites to take advantage of algorithms, he also explained that National Instruments has enjoyed consistent high rankings over the long haul.
David Naylor, SEO Expert at Bronco in Yorkshire, England, provided a different perspective. He described projects where the sole purpose of his efforts is attaining a top ranking. How does he manage this? David proactively searches for "holes" in the algorithms and capitalizes on these weaknesses to win that top spot, and make money for his clients and himself.
Shari Thurow, Webmaster and Marketing Director at Grantastic Designs, countered that she has never found it necessary to engage in questionable practices or techniques designed to take advantage of algorithm weaknesses. In contrast, she has been able to obtain excellent visibility and high rankings for her clients by focusing on customer needs, quality content, and sound website usability principles. Shari humorously used the phrase "ALGOholics" to describe those marketers who are obsessed with beating the algorithms to obtain a top rank. Needless to say, several panelists readily admitted to this newly-identified addiction!
As many search marketers have experienced, optimization is becoming more difficult. Mikkel Svendsen, of Red Zone Global, believes "things are not as easy as they used to be." He asserts that search marketers must now look at each SEO challenge individually, study the competition, and figure out which strategic approach will work best for each website.
Web Guerilla's Greg Boser, supported this position. "Things were easier when there was more focus on on-page factors. It's harder now." That said, opportunities definitely do exist. Greg described "glaring holes so large you can drive a Mack truck through them." These algorithm glitches can deliver big money, and not just for the short term. One thing many people don't realize is that "algo-chasers" DO care about conversions—not just rankings. "This is because most of us are compensated on an affiliate-type payment model. We don't make money unless our clients make money."
Jill Whalen, of High Rankings, believes that many marketers are looking for a cookie-cutter approach—a single recipe to follow—a silver bullet. "Unfortunately, search engine optimization is not a paint-by-numbers process," cautioned Jill. Her advice: "Don't drive yourself crazy watching small, daily changes. Position will change. It's inevitable. Marketers should try to think longer-term."
Holes? What Holes?
Greg Boser explained that engines implement what he called "fillers" to fix algorithm problems as they are identified. Google has had the most time and experience filling these holes, followed by Yahoo, and finally MSN. Greg also noted that the engines' top priority is to fix the problems that impact the most people. So, holes are usually patched first on US search engines. Often times these same problems are not corrected on foreign engines nearly as quickly. In the same vein, it can be easier to find opportunities in the B2B world, where searches involve a very specific, smaller audience. Many of these opportunities fly "under the radar" and are not fixed as quickly as algorithm problems impacting masses of consumers.
One conference attendee asked the panel to elaborate on all these holes they'd been mentioning. Moderator Danny Sullivan explained, "You'll never get that kind of specific advice during a formal SES presentation." Why?

• Search engine personnel are in the room
• Once a major hole is identified, it will be fixed, and
• Algorithms are constantly changing. A hole today is not necessarily a hole tomorrow.

Want some real counsel? Sullivan suggested, "Befriend an SEO expert at the bar after conference hours!"
What the Experts Can Agree On
Panelists were asked to summarize "the most important things" for SEO success. This group of experts gave the expected responses:

• Do your keyword research.
• Select 3 - 5 phrases to optimize each page against.
• Write unique, compelling Titles for each page.
• Focus on unique content that adds value to users and incorporates sound SEO copywriting techniques.
• Ensure site architecture and design do not prohibit thorough search engine crawling.
• Build high-quality, in-bound links.
• Keep working on it. SEO is not a one-time project. Continual growth in content, links, and pages is required for long-term success.
• And finally, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"