Online Directories: The Real Path Of The Internet
- By Michael SeoVida Francis
- Published 02/14/2011
- Tools and Resources
- Unrated
Back in the early days of the Internet, there were clearly only human-edited directories. They were found primarily in specialized browsers like the Archie or Veronica systems. Later, Yahoo! used the same essence to create a descriptive listing of websites. This was the birth of the first major on the web directory for the public World Wide Web.
Online directories have been around since the first days of the World Wide Web, and without them and search engines we'd don't have any simple method of navigating through the sites. These days, there are thousands of directories online, which can make it really perplexing to determine which are providing you with the very best quality information.
The truth is, many online directories are no better than junk. Unfortunately, with Google's AdSense program, it has become very lucrative in some cases to construct a directory just so you can run ads on it. These websites are automated and certainly no better than you might think.
The best directories are the type edited by dedicated humans, not dedicated servers. That's because a human being knows what you actually need to understand, while a computer doesn't care. Instances of these are Yahoo!, that features a search engine component, but still maintains its directory content; and Dmoz, an open listing run by volunteers that also offers very good quality content material. These directories, and the many quality paid directories that exist, will be around for a very long time.
Search Engines or Directories: What's The Difference?
To understand why directories may be the future of online searching, you need to understand the distinction between a search engine and a directory.
Search engines catalogue the entire text of a web site. This text is stored in a database and made completely searchable. The information appearing next to a link is dependent upon the metatag information in the web page, or upon the section of the text where the search term first appears. There isn't any human intervention, and no guarantee of quality.
A directory is q
uite different. Human editors place every site in the directory. They've gone out and analyzed the sites in question, put data collectively to clarify what the site's truly about, and ranked it more fairly than a search engine might. And the new era of directories consists of wiki technologies and content material that helps establish a topic as well as shows you where to go for further information.
What About Wikis?
Wikis are community-edited informational sites, and they're showing up all over the place. The first was Wikipedia, recently known for an act of vandalism that made up one person's history. This incident was heavily covered in the media, and may have tinted the opinions of numerous people. However, this incident was atypical of wikis. Nature magazine and other science editors recently did a quick review of Wikipedia's science content, and determined that it was at least as accurate and up to date as the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Wikis are proving themselves to be both valuable and accurate. Also , they are a great place to go for directory-style as well as in-text links to sites to deepen your information. Pretty soon, a wiki is going to be a natural place to go to search for information on almost anything.
Paid Versus Unpaid Directories
There are both paid and unpaid directories as well. Some of these directories are basically clones of Dmoz and other popular directory sites; this means the owner licensed with the directory to duplicate it, and then sold advertising on it. The website owner gets directory content with little or no work on his part, as well as the advertising revenue.
Not all unpaid directories are like that, obviously, but you do get what you pay for. A paid directory is both original and human edited. It can also afford to pay for extras like advertising and marketing, ensuring the directory is known by the public. Paid sites can also employ SEO experts who can work toward increasing the search engine rating of the site, and traffic experts who can monitor and increase the traffic to the website.
Ultimately, listing with all the unpaid directories is okay, but itemizing with paid directories provides you with an edge. And in today's marketplace, you need every edge you may get.
Online directories have been around since the first days of the World Wide Web, and without them and search engines we'd don't have any simple method of navigating through the sites. These days, there are thousands of directories online, which can make it really perplexing to determine which are providing you with the very best quality information.
The truth is, many online directories are no better than junk. Unfortunately, with Google's AdSense program, it has become very lucrative in some cases to construct a directory just so you can run ads on it. These websites are automated and certainly no better than you might think.
The best directories are the type edited by dedicated humans, not dedicated servers. That's because a human being knows what you actually need to understand, while a computer doesn't care. Instances of these are Yahoo!, that features a search engine component, but still maintains its directory content; and Dmoz, an open listing run by volunteers that also offers very good quality content material. These directories, and the many quality paid directories that exist, will be around for a very long time.
Search Engines or Directories: What's The Difference?
To understand why directories may be the future of online searching, you need to understand the distinction between a search engine and a directory.
Search engines catalogue the entire text of a web site. This text is stored in a database and made completely searchable. The information appearing next to a link is dependent upon the metatag information in the web page, or upon the section of the text where the search term first appears. There isn't any human intervention, and no guarantee of quality.
A directory is q
What About Wikis?
Wikis are community-edited informational sites, and they're showing up all over the place. The first was Wikipedia, recently known for an act of vandalism that made up one person's history. This incident was heavily covered in the media, and may have tinted the opinions of numerous people. However, this incident was atypical of wikis. Nature magazine and other science editors recently did a quick review of Wikipedia's science content, and determined that it was at least as accurate and up to date as the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Wikis are proving themselves to be both valuable and accurate. Also , they are a great place to go for directory-style as well as in-text links to sites to deepen your information. Pretty soon, a wiki is going to be a natural place to go to search for information on almost anything.
Paid Versus Unpaid Directories
There are both paid and unpaid directories as well. Some of these directories are basically clones of Dmoz and other popular directory sites; this means the owner licensed with the directory to duplicate it, and then sold advertising on it. The website owner gets directory content with little or no work on his part, as well as the advertising revenue.
Not all unpaid directories are like that, obviously, but you do get what you pay for. A paid directory is both original and human edited. It can also afford to pay for extras like advertising and marketing, ensuring the directory is known by the public. Paid sites can also employ SEO experts who can work toward increasing the search engine rating of the site, and traffic experts who can monitor and increase the traffic to the website.
Ultimately, listing with all the unpaid directories is okay, but itemizing with paid directories provides you with an edge. And in today's marketplace, you need every edge you may get.
Michael SeoVida Francis
Mike is an expert in business lead generation and the owner of Global Matrix Leads, a lead generation company, lead broker, and global & geo lead specialist. Subscribe to his website: to get free leads courses and learn the secret of sales leads generation.
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